Important aspects of property investment

Leasing out your property is probably the most obvious component in managing your investment. Naturally, your rental returns are used to keep your investment(s) afloat, and ideally, to keep them flourishing. However, it’s important to look at the bigger picture in property investment. This extends to property market research, advertising/marketing of your property, and much more.

What you should know about the property market

It’s crucial to understand and to keep track of market indicators and fluctuations, especially in relation to how your property is positioned within this overarching landscape. Don’t overlook the market research stage. This phase should happen well before your property is marketed to a pool of potential tenants, and its significance in the entire process of property investment should not be underestimated.

Through rigorous market research and analysis, you can understand key factors that will affect the exact approach you take in your advertising and marketing. In-depth research allows you to gauge critical elements, such as typical price-points and audience demographics for your property. This can assist you with maximising not only the value of your rental returns but can also allow you to minimise (potentially even negate) the time your property is left vacant between rental periods.

As an owner/landlord, it’s advisable to take an interest in these facets related to property investments. However, as this is exactly what good property managers specialise in, they can easily take over most of the burden on your behalf. After all, property managers usually will look after a lot of properties in the same area, ie. they have a deep understanding of their local market. This should flow onto an instinctual understanding of the potential ballpark rental return any given property might achieve, taking into consideration demographics, market conditions and seasonal peaks and troughs.

Independent property appraisals from proper management

Ultimately, a property agent should be able to undertake an independent appraisal of your investment property. On this basis, the information that they share with you will be your best guide moving forward. When you work with our team at Proper Management, we guide you from the start with our professional and fully-independent property appraisals.

Feel free to contact us before you purchase any property for a fair and transparent appraisal, from a 100% objective stand-point. Your independent appraisal report will form a fundamental guide-post to equip you best as a property investor over the long-term. However, we won’t stop there. We’ll give you an even clearer picture with market comparison reports, investor newsletters and by checking in with you every quarter.

Standard considerations in marketing your property

When it comes to renting out your property, what is it that makes for a successful marketing campaign? We’d have to say it’s when prospective tenants feel confident and happy in their expectations, especially in feeling optimistic about what living in your property will look and feel like. The rent you are asking for also seems reasonable and warranted. To achieve this, you’ll need tailored marketing that shows off your property in its best light and cuts through the noise of the competition. That’s why it’s so important to get your property marketing right from the start.

Online advertising

The main players in today’s rental marketing platforms are realestate.com.au and domain.com.au. With the dominance of digital advertising, other mediums (like traditional printed booklets and material posted on the real estate office window) pale in comparison to the scale of audiences both these online giants can attract. That’s in terms of both properties for sale and for rent.

These marketing tools have a different focus depending on where your property is located:

• For those with QLD properties, realestate.com.au is more likely the more comprehensive choice for you (as it covers enquiry from the majority of Australian states and territories, with domain.com.au being the dominant property platform in New South Wales).
• Other free advertising options include GumTree (the ‘Properties for Rent’ section in particular). However, unless you enhance your ad ranking by paying for upgraded features, the audience reach here is usually pretty limited.

Professional photography

When it comes to marketing your property in a visual sense, anything less than professional photography won’t do the job. Some landlords might think they can get away with snapping images on their smartphone, but the quality of the finished product will generally speak for itself. In today’s world of high competition and advanced technology, amateurish looking photos are virtually inexcusable.

Properties advertised with professional photographs are likely to receive more enquiries and rent at a higher price (in a quicker time frame) than those without. Consider the upfront cost of photography (usually a few hundred dollars) versus the money you stand to lose in the process of having your property remain vacant/receiving less rent than you otherwise would have. Multiply this over an entire tenancy period. This is where the true value of the initial investment in professional photography really starts to reveal itself!

Any money spent on marketing your property can be deducted in tax come EOFY, and naturally, this includes the cost you expend on professional photography.

proper management’s edge in creative marketing

At proper management, we provide professional photography that highlights the most desirable features of your investment property but also shows high attention-to-detail. In the digital age, compelling and relevant visual content and other creative forms of online advertising are absolutely essential. Our tech-forward approach is one of the biggest point-of-differences in our service to you.

Quality, targeted photography and online advertising gets your property seen by the right people. We use only the most professional services in photography. This highly visual approach is enhanced by our creative marketing techniques that utilise the power of social media and other digital platforms/mediums. The high shareability of social media means that (when your online marketing is full of useful and engaging images and written materials) that your audience reach and engagement can be increased exponentially.

Find out how proper management can help you with the important aspects of property investment. Contact us today.