Property Management Brisbane

It’s safe to say that we live in a digital age. Today’s technology gives us the opportunity as consumers to shop for just about anything, anywhere and at any time.  

Trawling the weekend classifieds is a dying activity, and when you drill down into various data related to the ever-increasing amount of hours people spend ‘online’, it’s obvious that the Internet is a medium property investors would do well to exploit.

Given that most of your tenant market consists of tech savvy Gen Y’s and X-ers, you can bet your bottom dollar (literally) that an online marketing campaign to promote your investment property will reach a far broader audience than comparable print forums.

A new age

Modern life looks a lot different to a generation ago, when baby boomers were introduced to evolutionary advances like the Commodore 64. For a start, twice as many Australians now rent than in 1981, with about 1.8 million households (or 23.4%) consisting of private rental accommodation.   

Not only are there more prospective tenants, they also behave very differently to their eighties and nineties counterparts, with quality properties and responsive management high on their priority list.

An increasing number of tenants are paying premiums for the right rental and committing to longer term leases in order to reside in their preferred location, where they might not be able to afford to purchase but can comfortably rent.

They’ve also been indoctrinated into a world where there’s an expectation that anything you want can be found at the other end of a keyboard (or smartphone screen). Consider that in 2012-13, 83% of all Australians aged 15 years and over had accessed the Internet, and anecdotal reports suggest that 70% of today’s tenants start their property search in front of a computer terminal*.

This brave new online world is a move forward for property investors, providing greater opportunity to:

• Promote your property to a broader tenant pool with minimal effort and cost;

• Access your tenants in ‘real time’ and streamline the entire application and leasing/management process for maximum efficiency; and  

• Show off your property with multiple media options, including video.

A more discerning demographic

Today’s discriminating tenant is better informed than ever. All sorts of suburb facts and figures, including median rents, are literally at their fingertips and they can easily compare properties across multiple browser tabs.

They are generally time poor professionals who want the convenience of advertised inspection times, or online booking systems linked in with your property management team, and are certainly not prepared to jump through hoops to book a viewing.

In order to attract this more judicious tenant demographic, you should…

• List your property across multiple online channels;

• Impress with quality, up-to-date internal and external photos;

• Provide a clear and description of the premises that doesn't just list the features but also sells the benefits;

• Provide prospective tenants with an online booking system for inspections; and

• Provide agent contact details for enquiries.

A search could leave you in the lurch

Another consideration is the search functionality provided by different online portals. Market leading realestate.com.au, which boasts over 40 million site visits per annum to its five international real estate portals, incorporates price filters that work in $ 50 increments. This means if your property is listed at $ 355, a tenant looking within the $ 300 to $ 350 price range won’t see it.

Thankfully, today’s professional property managers can be just as tech savvy as the audience you want your investment to appeal to. At Rental Express, targeted market pricing, high quality photos and advertising copy that sells your asset’s key benefits are the core components of our Internet marketing campaigns.

We also offer an online inspection booking system, giving tenants the capacity to view your property when it suits and allowing us to capture more enquiries, thereby fielding a larger number of quality applications in a shorter period of time and streamlining the tenancy process.

Australia’s property investment landscape is undeniably changing, and we believe for the better. Our role, as your property management partner, is to support this change and provide investors and tenants alike with on-demand information for greater accountability and peace of mind. Find out more about how Rental Express is using technology to bridge the gap.

*Data from Australian Bureau of Statistics & Business in Review article

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Property Management Brisbane