Are Netflix and Broadband good incentives?

[James Champkin]

Hi everyone!

I own two apartments in a large block in Liverpool, which tend to rent to Middle Eastern students and young professional tenants. I have found the rental market in Liverpool to be rather challenging over the last year, with the repeated lockdowns causing problems with sourcing new tenants. There have also been a lot of properties on the rental market, giving rise to competition. As a result of this, I have been forced to reduce my rents considerably in order to attract new tenants quickly enough.

I have been considering ways to make my apartments stand out from the crown and have been thinking of paying for a Netflix account and broadband for the tenants. I am hoping this would allow to me to charge a better rent once again and, probably more importantly, source new tenants faster.

Does anyone have experience of doing this? Do you think it is worth the additional hassle?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks,

James.

[James Champkin]

Hi Richard,

Many thanks for your very helpful reply! Based on your personal experience it sounds like Netflix may not be worthwhile, but I may trial including broadband in the rental package and assess whether this helps the apartment let faster.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Cheers, James.

[EvolutionBlogger]

On 12/16/2020 at 10:40 AM, james champkin said:

Hi everyone!

I own two apartments in a large block in Liverpool, which tend to rent to Middle Eastern students and young professional tenants. I have found the rental market in Liverpool to be rather challenging over the last year, with the repeated lockdowns causing problems with sourcing new tenants. There have also been a lot of properties on the rental market, giving rise to competition. As a result of this, I have been forced to reduce my rents considerably in order to attract new tenants quickly enough.

I have been considering ways to make my apartments stand out from the crown and have been thinking of paying for a Netflix account and broadband for the tenants. I am hoping this would allow to me to charge a better rent once again and, probably more importantly, source new tenants faster.

Does anyone have experience of doing this? Do you think it is worth the additional hassle?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks,

James.

I tried to do this, but it hasn't worked so well. The problem you have, is that this information is difficult to showcase on a lettings advert. Someone has to click on to your property page, and scroll down to that information.  

The two deciding factors that tenants use are as follows:

• Price
• Photos

You need your property to be inside the price range that people search for on Rightmove/Zoopla. You also want to photos to sparkle, when people look at them. 

If the photos of your property aren't great, then why not get a cleaner and a photographer round to take some great photos? You can stage the property with flowers, cushions and other accessories

This is a link to a property that I staged for a photoshoot

[Mark Rocks]

Hi James

It's definitely an interesting discussion - while a lot of tenants would really enjoy not having to wait on their broadband to get sorted when they move in, as Richard says most people already have their own Netflix accounts sorted.

Were you only considering smaller items like broadband, or had you considered offering a higher cost service like a cleaner? Some tenants might not take advantage of it, but I would imagine that would be a service that lots of potential tenants would be happy to have included.

Mark

[James Champkin]

Hi both,

On 12/18/2020 at 11:19 AM, Mark Rocks said:

Hi James

It's definitely an interesting discussion - while a lot of tenants would really enjoy not having to wait on their broadband to get sorted when they move in, as Richard says most people already have their own Netflix accounts sorted.

Were you only considering smaller items like broadband, or had you considered offering a higher cost service like a cleaner? Some tenants might not take advantage of it, but I would imagine that would be a service that lots of potential tenants would be happy to have included.

Mark

Really appreciated your input on this. I hadn't considered including high-end services like a cleaner. Have you any experience of that, Mark?

Thanks,

James.

[DezzaT]

Hi James

As you've noted yourself, it's a case of supply and demand. Most likely due to Covid lockdowns, demand for apartment living has reduced which increases the supply. Add on the number of new builds available in Liverpool, creating further supply that can no longer be met at previous prices. 

What is the competition / other available properties like? Put yourself in a tenant's position - if you were searching for a place, what would make you choose your property over the next one on Rightmove?

Can you offer other options like reduced first month's rent, or perhaps utilise a zero deposit scheme that the other ones being advertised might not be offering?