With over 25% of properties on the market for over 6 months in some countries and nearly 10% on for almost a year, it is worth investing time in knowing what helps to rent a property and what your potential renters are looking for. We can see from the figures around that these haven’t changed in the past few years, with changes between two and three percent each year that can be put down to general market fluctuations. Our property expert from a London estate agent has put together a few tips for improving the appeal of your property.

Know your strengths

If you own a beautiful historic looking building with period features but with a kitchen or bathroom that hasn’t been updated in a while, be sure to focus your letting on the historical aspect of the property. Just because other properties in the local market might be competing using their top of the range kitchen, doesn’t mean this is something you have to be trying to equal. Make sure you highlight your winning features and what separates you from the competition.

De-clutter

That might be cherished memories and items with sentimental value to you, but to anyone simply viewing your property they are clutter and stopping potential buyers from visualising their own items in the property. Don’t take this to the extreme and remove all but the essentials from a room, but make sure it isn’t overwhelming and allows visitors to view making drastic changes to the room.

Different Tastes

Similar to decluttering, but more focused on the design aspect of a room, it might be clear that not everyone will love the zebra striped wallpaper you have, complemented by the leopard print cushions. While this is an extreme example, we have all seen the episodes of changing rooms gone wrong! This has been seen by our estate agent who specialises in houses for rent. “With the standard of houses we often deal with you see lots of ‘elaborate’ and ‘bold’ choices made in the decoration. Obviously, this isn’t to the taste of all, so we make a point of telling the owner of the property that their tastes might be putting others off. From here we reach a common middle ground that we hope shows off a property’s personality while leaving scope for prospective buyers to make their own changes.”

Which Rooms?

Research compiled by one of Zoopla’s property partners, shows that different rooms bring different responses from potential renters. It showed that 28% of all renters would be open to increasing their monthly budget if the property had a well equipped and designed kitchen. The bathroom also ticked the box for almost 50% of would-be renters while a well maintained and appealing garden would sway 26% of them into increase their spend.

A spokesman for Zoopla commented “Many renters keep an eye out for particular renovations when searching for their next home. These can add significant value to a property and therefore add value to the rental value.”