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How can independent landlords advertise on Rightmove and how it can be done in the most cost-efficient way possible?
Written by
Ben Luxon
PUBLISHED ON
Nov 7, 2022
You have most likely come across Rightmove when looking for options to advertise your buy to let properties for rent.
Listing on Rightmove, Zoopla and the other top UK sites is essential to maximising your chances of finding a tenant fast. However, many of these top sites don’t deal directly with landlords meaning you have to go through a letting agent; a process that can quickly become expensive. How then, do you avoid high street letting agent fees but still list on Rightmove or Zoopla?
In this article, we take a look at how you can advertise your rental on Rightmove, what you need to know, and how it can be done in the most cost-efficient manner possible.
No, these portals don’t deal with private landlords directly, choosing instead to deal with only letting agents. Because of this, you, as an independent landlord, can’t go directly to the portals to create a listing for your vacant property. However, don’t be disheartened because we’re going to tell you how you can affordably get your property onto the top portals.
There are plenty of alternatives, for example, you can create rental listings on Facebook, Gumtree, or even choose a different portal. However, if you want to find quality tenants and you want to find them quickly, then statistically, your best bet is to advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla. This is simply because these platforms have the largest pool of prospective tenants.
Instead of going through a traditional high street letting agent, you can now use online letting agents. For example, by listing your property with OpenRent (or one of the other top online letting agents) you can get your listing on the top portals like Rightmove for a fraction of the cost that it would cost to list with a traditional letting agent.
Key Features
Price
30 days free and then £29 for an additional 30 days
Key Features
Price
New customers: 5 days free and then £24 for 3 months
Returning customers: £29 for 3 months
Key Features
Price
£29 until let
Key Features
Price
£49 for 3 months
Key Features
Price
£59 for 3 months
Key Features
Price
£149 for 2 months
Featured and Premium listings cost additional fees but what are they, and why should you consider them?
A featured listing on Rightmove means that your property gets highlighted at the top of each page for searches in the area your property is located. You also get to upload more photos than a standard listing. This essentially brings your listing to a tenant’s attention and maximises the possibility that you will rent out your property faster.
A premium listing is similar to a featured listing in the sense that it gets highlighted so tenants are more likely to click to view the details. However, it doesn’t get pinned to the top of the page, instead getting positioned in the same order as a regular listing.
If your property is located in a central area, like in the middle of London, where you’re competing with a large supply, upgrading your listing to featured or premium will give you a boost, helping you stand out, and giving you an extra chance to grab interest and inquiries. However, if there isn’t a massive supply in your area or you’re not competing with hundreds of other listings, then it probably isn’t worth it to pay the extra.
According to Rightmove, premium listings achieve on average 33% more views and featured listings achieve up to 40% more views. With that in mind, it definitely can be worth it. However, as we mentioned above, it depends on the market that you’re in and the budget that you have.
A word of warning on this front. Before boosting your listing make sure your listing is of high quality. You need to make sure you’ve got great photography, a well-written ad, your rent is a fair price for the area, and the property itself is well presented.
Rightmove is the most popular property portal in the UK, attracting the most prospective buyers and tenants. Zoopla is second and will certainly generate a decent level of inquiry. Gumtree may also deserve a mention as it’s a popular website and of course it’s free. However, the quality of the lead is often lower than from Rightmove or Zoopla.
While not necessary – there are plenty of Landlord Studio customers that advertise their buy to lets on other platforms – Rightmove and Zoopla dominate the listings space. As such, it makes sense to get your rental up on these platforms as soon as possible. Thankfully, you can now use online listings via Landlord Studio to create a professional listing on these platforms and find high-quality tenants fast.
Finally, always make sure you put your tenants through a rigorous referencing process to help avoid any problematic tenancies. The worst-case scenario is that you could end up needing to pursue an expensive and time-consuming eviction.
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