The Covid 19 pandemic has changed the mindset of a large percentage of the population.  People are embracing internet shopping so much so that it is a common sight to see a courier van delivering into every road and street in the city.  Retailers without an internet presence have spent the past three months scrambling to get online as quickly as possible.  Until a vaccine is found for Covid 19 it is hard to see people returning to the likes of a shopping centre; we shall continue to avoid crowds wherever possible.

If we will continue to avoid crowds then logically open viewing for estate agents shall cease.  Prior to Covid 19 an open viewing worked well for sales, interested parties would call to a property at a designated time and take a look to see if the property was for them.  Many letting agents used the same approach for viewing properties to rent, although we at Get Let have always believed that private viewings are the only way to view rental properties. 

So, on the one hand no further open viewings for rental accommodation is a positive for those looking to rent, a private viewing narrows their chances of securing the property for themselves.  The strong likelihood however is that many letting agents will only view at times convenient to themselves; it is possible that prospective tenants may have to take time off work to attend private viewings if their letting agent is not willing to work late.  Many tenants will also apply for multiple properties in order to increase their chances of getting viewings, which will result in a waste of time for letting agents as they chase uninterested parties.

Prospective tenants will therefore only attend viewings if they are especially keen on the property.  Inevitably many viewers will skip arranged viewings and so the rate of ‘no shows’ will increase.

The solution to this new world is to have extremely informative advertisements.  Quality, up to date photographs and informative content.  The more information that an agent can offer, the more a prospective tenant can establish whether or not this property is their next move.  This in turn should make their email application letters more detailed, which will help agents invite suitable people who express specific interest in a property.

Get Let’s view is that photographs are no longer enough and so we have invested in two new cameras which enable us to create online virtual tours.  We are currently in the process of creating tours for each of our available and vacant properties.  This means that prospective tenants will have effectively decided on the property before entering, which should in turn help to improve our hit rate and also help our landlords secure suitable tenants as fast as is possible.

The software and monthly subscriptions are expensive, furthermore it is a time-consuming exercise to carry out these virtual tours.  Despite this Get Let is not charging its landlords an extra cent for this value-added service.  It is another positive step in our mission to be Dublin’s best letting agency while also continuing to offer exceptional value.