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One of the questions I get asked most is "How do I rent my property quickly", to which there is no straight forward simple answers, but rather a combination of things that will all contribute to getting your property rented out quickly.

So, should you accept a reduced price, or hold out for the asking price ?

An empty property can destroy your business when it comes to maintaining your cash flow on your property portfolio, especially if you only have a few rental properties. The cost of having to pay for the mortgage each month the property is empty soon starts to add up.A lot of landlords tend to hang out for the ideal price that they think the property is worth, but often this can backfire on them.

For example, we had a property on the market at f500, and an offer of f475 is мейд by a potential tenant. The landlord has rejected this offer as they want to hold out for the right price. In some circumstances, I can understand this, especially if the property has already been brought down in price. But the property may only be worth f475 per month for most tenants, perhaps f500 for a tenant willing to pay more, but waiting for that right tenant to pay the full asking price can take a while longer. Assume we have a tenant who wants to pay f475 per month, but the landlord is holding out for f500 per month. The property is left empty for a further month until rented they get their desired f500 per month.

But its not only a months rent he's lost, as he's also had to find the money to pay the mortgage from his own pocket. Just to pay the f475 in lost rent would take 19 months to cover the lost rent. (assuming no more voids of course). Often, its simply better to take the price that the tenant is offering, especially if you can perhaps tie them into a 12 month contract as opposed to a 6 month contract. This means less voids, which is what really kills a landlords business. Often, Its better to accept slightly less for your property, than to lose another months rent while waiting, as to recoup that money will take a very long time.

Listen to your previous tenants. If you have a high turn over of tenants. There's a reason for it. Sometimes, there's problems with other tenants in the block, other times its because the property has some problem, perhaps a bit of damp, or the boiler keeps breaking down etc. Although repairs to these sort of problems cost money, it costs a lot more money having to find more tenants and have voids in between tenancies. Pay the money, and get your properties back up to scratch. Its makes better sense in the long run.

"Kerb Appeal -- the nicer on the outside, the nicer on the inside, or that's how tenants will perceive your property"

The use of furniture to create a "lifestyle" that tenants can aspire to ... Some landlords think that you can get away with putting in sub standard furniture. But these days, tenants can be fussy about where they stay due to the sheer number of rental properties available to them. Therefore, modern contemporary furniture can really help set that "lifestyle aspiration". There is also an issue with the standard of the furniture to ensure that it complies with the fire regulations. Some landlords even buy second хэнд furniture, however, this can often be a false economy.

There are numerous furniture package companies out there that can furnish the property for you, but choosing the right one can be difficult. You don't want to spent too much on your furniture, but then you want to ensure that the furniture is suitable for the property. Spending over f5,000 on a furniture package, will probably leave the property looking fantastic, but when the tenant moves out after 6 months, it never looks anywhere near as good once its been lived in!

The other problem with spending too much money on furniture packages, are that if a tenant puts a cigarette burn into the f1,000 leather sofa, often the bond may not cover the damage, especially if they have damaged something else, pulled the towel rail off, smashed a vase, taken the towels and bedding, etc. A furniture package company can also build and install all the furniture for you, making it very easy to do, and leaving the property looking like a showhome.

Building wardrobes, beds and the like, putting dining tables together, and hanging artwork is hard, time consuming work, and often, if you're anything like me, the job you do isn't as good as a job that professional furniture installers can do. Think about how you'll be getting the mattress home, or how long it takes to build everything, that's lost rental income. Not only that, but every day the property is not rented, that's rental money that's lost. Ive known landlords spend 6 weeks furnishing a property, only to wait another 6 weeks to find a tenant, a total of 3 months waiting !

To what extent should you furnish? We've found that the more furnished a property is, the more chance it has to be rented out. It shows attention to detail, and it also adds to the "weight" and "depth" to the property. Fluffy cushions, flowers in vases, twigs and artwork and the like are also very useful in creating the right "ambience" and feel. All of this helps get the property rented out.

"Fluffy cushions, lamps and artwork help finish the look, especially in the main bedroom. Always make the bed, as tenants hate to see just a bare mattress, it makes the room look cold and uninviting. The main bedroom is an important room, make it as nice as possible."

Tax incentive ... Always check with your accountant, but if you rent furnished you can claim 10% depreciation against the rent for wear and tear (UK Based, elsewhere then double check). Again, always double check with your accountant, but this can help you make your property business a little more profitable.

Switch the lights on, open the internal doors ... If you're doing the viewings yourself, try and get there a little earlier and switch all the lights on, maybe open a window or two. Also, the investment in some door stops is very worthwhile. Open up all the internal doors, especially on apartments, as often it looks confusing when all you can see are doors and you may end up going into the bedroom 2 first, rather than the lounge which is where most viewings should start. Show the best room first, then the rest, and leave a nice room to last. Bathrooms can be a good end point to the viewing as this can often be a room to help sell it, if presented property. The other thing about opening the internal doors is simply that it lets in lots of natural light. I've seen the smallest flats look bigger with more natural light.

Be nice to your Letting Agent ! Many landlords do not have a great relationship with their letting agent. A lot of landlords see their letting agent as a barrier to getting their property rented out. But most letting agents are eager to get your property rented out as quickly as possible. They're also ideally placed to help you out, and their advice is invaluable. If you think about how much varied experience they have dealing with tenants, landlords, getting paid, etc and think about how many properties they see and the types of properties they see, they are a wealth of information, but only if you deal with them correctly.

The best way is not to bother them with why your property isn't rented. A little bit of polite leaning on them can and does help, but becoming a pain simply means that they wont want to deal with you. Let them do their job, rather than bombard them with phone calls. Its fine to get an update on the property, and on the market itself, but calls in every other day just wont help your relationship with them.

To be honest with you, any letting agent that has time to call the landlords for a nice chat and an update every few days is doing something wrong. Many letting agents would prefer to return their calls to potential tenants, and not to landlords. While this may seem a little odd as, after all, it is the landlord who has asked the agent to rent the property for them, it is perfectly logical.

Whilst on the phone to the landlord, the letting agent can not be on the phone to a potential tenant and this can be very frustrating, especially if the landlord is phoning for the 3rd time that week asking for an update. Imagine if every landlord were to phone up, then the letting agent would never get anything rented out, so let them get on with their job !

Good luck on the getting the rent you deserve !

Daniel Latto owns a substantial property portfolio and write for the Residential Landlord Magazine. An experienced investor in his own right, Daniel is also the Director of The Think Tank Group (A Residential Property Management Company based in Leeds with offices in Bradford and Manchester) and Furniture Packages Ltd (A Furniture Packages supplier nationwide). Daniel owns a decent sized growing portfolio of properties and has 9 years experience of direct hands on experience. He holds one to one training sessions to help investors learns the tricks of the trade.

The Think Tank Group can be contact at mywork.name/loans/go/go.php?sid=1.thethinktankgroup] or 0870 360 9600)