I’d really appreciate some advice from more experienced landlords.
I have a 1-bedroom flat in W2 (Central London) listed on OpenRent. It’s been online for 36 days and has had around 10 viewings so far, but no successful let yet.
A few details:
• 1-bed, furnished
• Good central location (W2)
• 4th floor, no lift (clearly stated in the listing)
• Current rent: £2,249 pcm
• Listed during the Christmas / New Year period (which I know is not ideal)
Most viewers say they like the flat, but it hasn’t converted into an offer.
I’d be very grateful for any honest feedback, especially on pricing, photos, listing quality, or market conditions at the moment. I’m trying to understand whether this is mainly a timing/market issue or something I should actively change.
photos look good… the place is a premium offering though so I would expect that’s why you’re not seeing too many viewings. What interest have you had when you’ve advertised it previously?
Hi Demi, what are your competition charging, are there lots of rentals in the same road/ part of Notting Hill?
is your price correct for the locality ? , If you want swift occupancy, drop the price to attract interest.
Are the competition Unfurnished? why did you furnish yours? what research did you do?
4 floors up with no lift maybe a prime reason nobody is biting? Beware lots of tyre kickers and no shows on OR who will waste your time irrespective if the property is pitched just right.
Flat looks good, so my opinion in these situations is simple… Price. Its simple Supply & Demand. If its not renting as quickly as you would like, reduce the price.
Much much too long and too detailed. Cut it back to 2 short paras and 4 or 5 bullet ‘key points’. Think about max 6 or 7 things you want to tell people. Not what brand TV you have
Text duplicates info lower down eg distance to station, when available.
Try re writing as if you were being charged 100 quid per word
Far too many photos pick one per room. Use wide angle from corner of room.. Why on earth are you showing a photo of plates/bowls in a cupboard- delete
Add a floor plan except living room the current photos make the rest look small/poky, people like to know how big each room is
Offer furnished or unfurnished. People paying a premium rate more likely to have own furniture and want to bring it with them. While some furniture may help people visualize they may have different taste to you. People will worry that white sofas easily marked.
Thank you for trying to help but you have not seen the flat - maybe you are not familiar with the street and area otherwise you would know that what you are suggesting is way too far down under market price.
It was originally up for 2.400 to start. I always had enquires and viewings but tenants were not proceeding. I took it down gradually and at 2.200£ it’s crazy, I get constant messages and requests for viewings.
I already had 2 offers that didn’t meet my desired length of tenancy and I am currently progressing with a third offer, while new enquiries and requests keep coming.
er… but from May the maximum length of tenancy that you can expect is 2 months. There’s zero point in insisting on more than the current standard of 6 months right now.
@tatemono but what they say they want/are planning for still matters irrespective of the notice they are actually going to be able to give.
If someone says they are nearly ready to put a deposit down and are looking to buy a house in the next 6 months, thats different from a long term renter who says they never want to have the hassle of owning and maintaining a place, which is different again from someone with a 1 year visa who plans to move back home after it. They all ‘could’ give 2 months notice on 1 may of course.
But wouldn’t you take account of what they say their plsns are.. ?
eh? Don’t get your message really. Here we have a person who cannot let their flat and says
I’m saying, “Yes, understand that because of the RRA removing all certainty of any tenancy lasting more than 2 months, you should actively ditch your policy of refusing applicants who don’t meet your “desired length of tenancy”.”
If you’ve got applicants falling over themselves to rent your place, be as picky as you want. But if you’ve got to the point where you’re asking complete strangers for advice on how to let your property and want “honest feedback” then you need to consider that you’re being too picky.
Difficult for us to judge. Think it was somewhere in between that, price had been dropped and now got multiple offers received. In those circumstances if someone told me they were only planning to stay 6 months because after that theyd be going home as their visa would be expiring, and I was hoping for a more long term arrangement I might well if not reject them give it a few days as now at right price and offers coming in. Then if someone else at same price who wanted to rent for at least a year offered I’d choose them instead.
