Making the Most of Your Holiday Let in 2022

Making the Most of Your Holiday Let in 2022

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Making the Most of Your Holiday Let in 2022

Between travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and record-setting temperatures expected throughout the summer, 2022 looks set to be a boom year for staycations in the UK. Owners of holiday lets across the country can expect a busy season over the summer and, with any luck, into the half-term and winter seasons too.

With so much competition on the market, how do you make your holiday let stand out in the crowd? Here at Envisage 360, we have just the tools for the job.

Virtual Tours

With a virtual tour from Envisage 360, you can guide potential customers through your holiday rental property as if they were really there. We use state-of-the-art visual technology to create a fully-immersive digital model of your holiday let. This high-resolution model offers incredible detail for all customers, giving the sense of actually being in your property. Try one of our holiday let Virtual Tours.

A Range of Viewing Options

Our virtual tours provide alternate views for your customers to choose from, allowing them to look at your property in the way that suits them best. From an easy to navigate Inside View that lets them wander through the digital twin of your holiday let, to the top-down Floor Plan View or Dolls House View that gives them a broader idea of size and space, there is something for everyone.

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Virtual Reality

One of the most popular features of our Virtual Tour package is the ability to step into your holiday let using a Virtual Reality headset. Now customers can really feel what it’s like to wander around your rental property, even from the other side of the country.

Still Photography

While the Virtual Tour forms the lion’s share of any promotional material, there is much to be said for traditional still photography. At Envisage 360, our professional photographers know the right way to compose their shots to showcase your holiday let at its very best.

Views From Above

If your holiday let is in a particularly beautiful part of the country, why not emphasise that with some aerial shots? Our fully-qualified drone pilots can take breathtaking overhead imagery and video of your surroundings to include in your rental package. Whether your holiday let is backdropped by beaches, mountains, or woodland, let us capture that natural beauty for you.

Ready to Get The Most Out of Your Holiday Let?

If you want to maximise your holiday letting potential for the remainder of the 2022 season and beyond, call Envisage 360 today. You can reach us on 02392 160 975 and speak to a member of our friendly and helpful staff to discover what we can do for you.

Or take a look at our latest holiday let case study – CLICK HERE

VIRTUAL PROPERTY VIEWINGS

VIRTUAL PROPERTY VIEWINGS

Just a fad or here to stay?

The ongoing pandemic has increased the use of video and virtual viewing as part of property marketing by estate agents, but does that mean it will decline as restrictions are eased? First, lets consider some of what we already know about house hunting, prior to covid-19.

Where does the enquiry start?

As with most purchases nowadays, the starting point for the transaction is online. Gone are the days of marching up and down the high street of your desired location and registering your interest as a buyer with the local agents.

The portals have changed the way we search

Property listings galore are literally at your fingertips via portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. Setting your search parameters and setting up a property alert is only a few clicks away. Aside from property listings, they are packed with useful information on schools, market trends, historic sale data and guidance for both buyers and sellers – info traditionally sought from estate agents themselves.

Where the hassle comes in

Generally, the hassle starts when trying to marry up the schedules of buyer / agent / seller and carry out that initial viewing. Then, multiply that by the number of houses in contention and you can quickly say goodbye to days off and weekends. Not to mention the travel time involved when you’re an out of town buyer.

Wasted journey’s

So you’ve managed to settle on a day and time to view the property for the first time, packed the whole family in the car, driven to the viewing full of excitement, you get through the front door and…… ???? it’s nothing like it looked in the pictures!

So where does virtual viewing come in?

First of all, Virtual Viewing is not designed to replace physical property viewings and we do not recommend making an offer or buying a property you have not visited in person. The purpose is to take that first viewing online by giving buyers a clear and transparent view of what a property has to offer before they request a physical viewing.

Good for buyers

High quality, 3d virtual viewing, like the one available from our property marketing service allows buyers to first view a property online at a time that suits them, not the agent and the seller. From there, a physical viewing can be arranged with confidence.

Good for sellers

Quality beats quantity when it comes to most things and viewings are no different. No one wants to spend their spare time cleaning the house to prepare for viewings that ultimately don’t go anywhere. Buyers that have viewed a property virtually, will effectively be taking that all important second viewing when they arrive in person, making it all the more likely to generate an offer.

Whats good for the goose…..

Ultimately, everyone stands to benefit, including the agents. Less time spent wasted on viewings that won’t go any further will free up more time for agents to make the difference where it counts, keeping up communication with buyers, sellers and solicitors to ensure that the once sales are agreed, they proceed smoothly through to completion. This is where the good agents earn their fee after all!

All things considered

I have every confidence that virtual viewing for property is here to stay and will fast become the next standard in property marketing alongside still photography and floor plans. It simply makes the ‘house hunting’ part of the process far more convenient for all involved and only serves to enhance the quality of property listings.

Floor plans were once considered a ‘nice-to-have’ item, but I think we can all agree they are now considered a standard part of a property advert.

Virtual viewing isn’t there just yet, but it it won’t be long.

Joe Webster, Director

HOW TO PREPARE A HOUSE FOR SALE

HOW TO PREPARE A HOUSE FOR SALE

Selling your home can be a daunting prospect especially with added time pressure to move brought about by the reduction in stamp duty until March 2021. Naturally, the price you set for the property will have a big impact on the speed at which it sells however, there are a number of other things you can do to improve the marketability of your home and reduce the time it takes to attract a buyer.

1. Create the right first impression

The saying goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Think about the lead picture on property listings, it’s nearly always the curbside view of the property. Of all the images used in your listing, this is the one that needs to grab the buyers attention and make them want to see more. This is also the starting point for a physical viewing.

Needless to say, time spent improving your homes curb appeal will help attract interest from buyers and get a viewing off on the right foot. Get the windows cleaned professionally, prune hedges, cut grass and sweep away leaves. For those with some money to spend, think about some hanging baskets or brighten up a tired and worn front door with a couple of coats of paint. Most of this will only require a bit of effort and not a huge amount of expense.

2. Declutter

If you are short on time, second to adding some curb appeal, a thorough declutter will have the biggest impact. When selling, you need to ensure your home will appeal to as many buyers as possible. Go room by room and make a list of what can go. 

Don’t be tempted to pack everything into storage cupboards to the point where they are bulging and can’t be opened. Buyers want to see inside these areas, adequate storage is going to be a requirement for the next owner after all. 

Think about depersonalising. It will be hard for a buyer to imagine themselves living there when they are surrounded by someone else’s family memorabilia. Reducing the number of family photos, trophies or certificates and holiday souvenirs will help buyers start to imagine ‘your house’ as ‘ their house’

Hire a storage unit and then remove the excess that is making your rooms look crowded and untidy. By doing so, you will have also made a head start on packing for when moving day comes around.

3. Tackle overdue DIY lists

Now that the clutter has been removed and more of the floor and walls are visible, it’s time to tackle any overdue DIY tasks. Tackle any quick wins by:

Fixing loose door handles

Oiling squeaky hinges

Adjusting kitchen cupboards so that they open and close as they should

Fixing any loose tiles

Applying a fresh coat of paint in a neutral colour if time permits

4. Let there be light!

Poor lighting has the ability to undo all of your hard work above. Especially if selling in the darker months of the year. Upgrade existing fittings with new brighter LED light bulbs which offer more lumens than incandescent bulbs. They are also more energy efficient, helping the overall energy performance rating of the house.

Choose the right colour temperature for the room. Low colour temperature bulbs give off warm orangey light, great for snugs whereas high colour temperature bulbs give off a whiter glow, great for bathrooms and kitchens. If unsure, go with a high colour temperature daylight bulb as this will make each room feel brighter.

Think about adding additional light sources in the form of floor and table lamps, mirrors can also help to reflect light and make a small room feel larger than it is.

5. Think about pets

I’m sorry to say it but not all house buyers will love your furry friends as much as you do. Where possible, take them out of the house when physical viewings take place.

Whether you have cats or dogs, it’s a good idea to minimise their presence during the selling process. As part of decluttering, think about reducing the number of dog beds or scratching posts. Prior to a viewing, don’t leave food bowls or chew toys laying about, buyers don’t want to trip over a dog’s bone or see a bowl of uneaten pet food on the kitchen floor.

Don’t fall at the final hurdle!

So you have put in all the time and effort and completed these 5 steps and you are now ready to get your property on the market. But don’t forget about Professional Marketing Assets! 

It seems pointless having gone to all this effort to be let down by a poor quality property listing. After all, you only get one to chance to make a good first impression. Make sure you give your property the edge by insisting on professional photography, floor plans and a virtual tour for your listing. 

Virtual Viewing for property has been accelerated by Covid-19. You may be surprised to hear that, property listings that offer Virtual Viewing receive an average of 40% more views on property portals.

Head over to our Property Marketing page to find out more about our service or Contact Us or a quote!

VIRTUAL SCHOOL TOURS

VIRTUAL SCHOOL TOURS

Do We Need Virtual Tours for Schools?

In a word, YES! Life is busy, especially when you add your children into the mix. Simple tasks such as leaving the house in the morning without any conscious effort change completely once those little bundles of joy enter your world. I miss the days when all I had to concern myself with was grabbing my keys & my phone on the way out the door. A simple task that on occasion still challenged me and proved frustrating unless accompanied by a version of Mr Zips, “Where me Keys, Where me Phone?”  Getting back on topic… choosing the right school for your children is one of the most important parental decisions. Anything that can be done to make that process smoother and easier is a welcome addition.

Make the first visit an online visit

Open days are the traditional way for the school to showcase their facilities to prospective parents and students. Even before the challenges brought about by Covid-19, juggling work schedules so that either or both parents can make a physical visit can be difficult. What happens if one parent can’t make it? What alternatives are there?

Envisage-360 has the technology available to produce a digital twin and virtual walkthrough of any building or space. Making it easy to open the doors to each classroom and common area or step outside and get a 360 view of the playground. Virtual School Tours, just like the one we created for Shottermill Infant School, make it simple for parents to take a tour of the school from the comfort of their own homes. 

Multimedia tags are used to label points of interest and provide a means to download the latest school newsletter or download the school prospectus. The Virtual School Tour itself is simple to embed into a webpage, and appears just in a window just like a YouTube video would.

Does that mean we don’t need physical open days?

Not necessarily, open days still provide a means to connect prospective parents and students with schools for those that can match their schedules with the schools availability. A Virtual School Tour will simply compliment physical open days. Whether they are utilised before an open day to offer a preview or after, to revisit and take a closer look at a certain parts of the school.

What other benefits are there?

In the case of primary and infant schools, open days are often completed by parents while their child is at nursery. In fact, the first time some children see their new school is when they arrive for their first day! 

Wouldn’t it be nice for the children to be able to explore their new school with a parent in the days and weeks leading up to their first day. Giving them the chance to get familiar with their classroom, where to hang their coat and where they go at lunchtime. Our Virtual School Tours can be accessed via mobile, tablet or PC making it easy to take a visit as many times as required to help settle any first day nerves. 

Want to find out more about Our Virtual School Tours? Take a look at the Education Sector page where we explore the benefits a bit further.