Sian Astley, presenter of Channel M’s ‘Homesmine’ show on Sky TV, has teamed up with makeurmove to offer help, support and inspiration to make your property stand out, without it costing you lots of time and money.

Sian has been working in property for more than 14 years, and manages a portfolio of 22 properties. She also runs her own interior design consultancy, Moregeous Design and presents Sky’s the Homesmine Show

Sian will be dispensing advice in a regular column, and will be on hand to answer your most pressing questions in our ‘Ask the expert’ feature.

Presentation, presentation, presentation

It’s critical, especially in the current rental market, to make your property stand head and shoulders above those of your competitors. Achieving this on a budget is no mean feat, but Sian has advice on how to do this successfully without breaking the bank…

“If you speak to most landlords about just what tenants expect these days, most will roll their eyes at the rise of the ‘Elle Decor generation’. Not happy with charity shop ‘vintage’ chic style loved by many landlords (and not in a good way); they envisage having en-suite wet rooms, feature wallpaper, high-gloss kitchens and funky furniture.

Maybe we can blame the proliferation of new-build apartments with their designer styling, the increasing number of homeowners renting out their beautiful homes, or those endless property shows! Whatever the reason, we landlords now have to up our game to stay ahead of the competition, to gain maximum rents, and to get those fussy tenants signed up fast.

Giving your property a bit of a wow factor doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get great ideas from high street stores, ordering online can bring your prices down, and those same property shows that have driven us mad can also give us some forward thinking ideas.

I’ve just finished redecorating a flat I first rented out in 2001. It had grown a little tatty, wasn‘t getting any interest from would-be renters, and I needed to make some inexpensive changes to attract new tenants.

The laminate was badly damaged, but rather than rip it up and start again I simply hand-sanded and primed it, then painted it with Dulux white diamond eggshell paint (always use water-based white paint to avoid yellowing). It immediately brightened up the flat and gave it a contemporary, airy feel.

Next, I used gorgeous piece of oak from a friendly tree surgeon, and fitted it as a mantelpiece. I changed the very studenty lights for something a bit funkier, with wall lights from the quite reasonable Lightbox in Manchester and a BHS ceiling light. Instead of hanging curtains I used curtain panels from Ikea to give the room a contemporary feel.

Last of all I re-glossed a set of shelves and coffee table, which is a great way to breathe new life into old furniture.

The next day the photos went on the internet and within a couple of hours I had two viewings.  That same night both sets of tenants had seen the flat, fallen in love and wanted it, I had to choose which ones I wanted!  Great news.

I’ll have more projects and inspiration for you in coming newsletters, and get emailing if you have any specific questions or problems you think we may be able to help with.

letting@makeurmove.co.uk

You can hear more from Sian on her blog

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 7:57 pm and is filed under Landlord Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.