Hi Lamingtons
As soon as I am advised of a pending vacancy, I insist that a full size, standard 'For Lease' board goes up on the front boundary, with a 'pointer' board at the corner of the street - a few pointer boards if there is more than one road in to the street
I have found that the boards, much more than the internet, get the enquiry
People will be cruising an area, or have a friend who is looking, and they can see the property before they ring up
Never mind the internet, it is still boards, and people calling in to collect rent lists, and open for inspections, which will let the property
I also have a 'no keys' policy. No one is allowed to collect keys and show themselves through, so 'opens' and appointments means that there is always an agent present to happily chat about what other listings they have and why this particular property is good value - all the small features which may not be readily apparent and all the large features eg bus, or walk to schools, or close to a major shopping centre etc
As you have just had the house repainted, this should be a lead feature in the advertising. Now that it is winter, the heating system should also get a prominent mention
And take a step back. First property, or twentieth property, it doesn't matter and the right tenant will appear. When calculating your cash flow forecasts, always calculate for an annual change of tenant and four weeks vacancy each year
That way, when a tenant stays the statistical average of 23 months, and you have someone else already signed up to move in, it will feel like a bonus rather than any period of vacancy feeling like a problem
By the way, the last time I had a vacancy the Agency held a 15 minute 'open' every day - yes, every day - from the time notice was given until the property was let. The people who applied for it had been through at a number of these 'opens' before the previous tenant moved out and there was only a two day vacancy between tenancies.
This Agency has over 1,700 properties under management and place a high priority on making sure their landlords have the minimum time between rent - after all, they don't get paid, either, unless that rent is being paid
If you Agency won't step up the opens campaign, consider doing the opens yourself and passing the enquiry on to the Agency for processing.
No point in quibbling about who should be doing it when you are now looking for an immediate result
Cheers
Kristine