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Most landlords will be familiar with the major property portals Rightmove and Zoopla. They deal with both property rentals and buying and selling. These huge portals are popular with prospective tenants and house buyers and so they’re usually the first thing a landlord thinks of when advertising properties to rent. For many self-managing landlords though it isn’t as straightforward as taking out an advert on Rightmove and Zoopla. There are some extra steps and expenses you may not have considered before using these portals. Here we’re going to take a look at the pros and cons of using Rightmove and Zoopla, how much it will cost, whether there are other options open to you and how you can save money if you do decide to use these platforms.
Benefits of Advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla
The biggest benefit to advertising rental properties on Rightmove and Zoopla is undoubtedly the number of people who use these platforms. Both platforms are similar in design and function, with only some small quirks between the two, but the latest figures show just how popular they are.
Rightmove gets 120 million visits per month and Zoopla visits are estimated at around 35 million per month. Used together this can equal over 150 million visits per month – that’s a lot of potential eyeballs on your property listing. People using Rightmove and Zoopla are possibly the single largest audience of interested people you can access online as a landlord, so it’s no surprise that these platforms are incredibly popular.
The whole property advertising process is usually faster when using Rightmove and Zoopla. As the portals have so many visitors, there are a lot more people from your area looking for properties and as a result, properties don’t take as long to fill.
Disadvantages of Advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla
There are a few disadvantages to using these prestigious platforms. The biggest show-stopper for a lot of landlords is that you can’t advertise your properties as a private landlord, you have to go through an online letting agent. Having to use a third party to advertise your properties increases the costs associated with using these portals. Over the last few years, online letting agents have popped up. A common offering of these is a simple package that allows landlords to advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla, with none of the other letting agent services that agents are best known for.
Previously we mentioned the number of visitors to Rightmove and Zoopla as a benefit, but it can also be a disadvantage too. The sheer amount of people visiting these platforms mean that a lot of people want to advertise there, so there may be a lot more competition in your area than if you were to choose a different website to advertise on. This is where it pays to make sure that your listing stands out and highlights all the key benefits of your property. Make sure your ad has great photos and that the rent is competitive. It may seem like a no-brainer to use these large platforms, but they’re a lot more work than quickly popping an advert onto Facebook marketplace.
How to Advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla
As we’ve covered already, you have to use a third party – usually a Highstreet or online letting agent to advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla. If you’re using a traditional letting agent to manage your properties, you’ll find that this is pretty much covered. If you’re a private landlord though, you will need to decide how you’re going to go about advertising on these platforms. Your choices come down to whether you’ll use a Highstreet, online or hybrid letting agent. There will be a variety of different packages to choose from. You can get a very basic package that simply allows you to post an advert on Rightmove and Zoopla, or you can opt for something more involved like a tenant finder service, which will deal with applications and screening as well. The best way to approach this is to shop around for the most cost-effective service depending on what your needs are.
Should you use Both Rightmove and Zoopla?
Of course, you don’t have to use both portals, but using both at the same time will increase your chances of finding a tenant. Most agents bundle both platforms together in advertising packages and you can’t usually opt to advertise on just one of these portals. However, if an agent does allow this, choosing only one portal probably wouldn’t lower the price.
Most online letting agents will also bundle other platforms in as well. While these other platforms might be less popular, the more sites your property appears on, the more likely you are to find a tenant quickly. The biggest benefit of this is that generally you only need to create the one listing with the letting agent, they’ll then use this data across each platform to save you having to create the listing multiple times.
Do you Have to use Rightmove and Zoopla?
Of course not! There are plenty of other ways to advertise properties and some of them have far lower associated costs. Whether you should use Rightmove and Zoopla depends on whether you can afford the costs, how long you can wait for a tenant, and what kind of condition your property is in. Advertising on other sites like Facebook, online classifieds and other lesser-known sites will still work, but it generally takes a bit longer and requires a bit more effort on your part. If you want your properties to be let a bit faster and you want to put in minimal effort, then Rightmove and Zoopla are probably a better bet for you. If cost is more important and you have the time to put into finding a tenant, then using free sites is probably adequate.
How to Save Money Advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla
Don’t forget that any costs you spend on advertising your properties are tax deductible. This isn’t necessarily an advantage as you still have to spend the money, but every little helps. If you want to save money while still advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla, you should shop around for the right letting agent package or look for discount codes on such deals. Usually, an online only or hybrid letting agency will be cheaper than a Highstreet letting agent, as there are lower overheads for online only businesses.
If you’re a Landlord Vision customer, you can take advantage of an exclusive discount for the next 3 months. You can get a huge £50 discount by advertising your properties on Rightmove and Zoopla through Upad. The Upad package allows you to advertise on both portals, gives you a 24/7 answering service so you never miss an enquiry, and they will also share their expertise on property advertising to make sure that your advert does as well as it possibly can do. To get your Upad discount log in to Landlord Vision and click on the banner from the dashboard, properties, tenants, or tenancy pages. If you aren’t a Landlord Vision customer but want to take advantage of this offer, sign up to use Landlord Vision today.
So, is it Worth Advertising on Rightmove and Zoopla?
There’s no doubt, that if your property is in good condition and if it has a fair rental price, there is a definite advantage to using these portals. Provided everything looks good you’ll find a tenant quite quickly and depending on the agent you use to advertise the properties it can be a really fast, easy, and cost-effective way to find a tenant. While it is a comparatively costly way to advertise, when you balance this against the time it would take to advertise on a lesser-known platform and factor in the cost of a void period it definitely feels worth it. As we’ve said above though, it really does come down to your personal circumstances.
