Preparing a property for marketing

This guide has been reviewed against our global client base and classed as relevant to the following regions: UK, APAC, UAE

This page outlines the basics for preparing a property for marketing, including adding property details, photos, maps and the EPC plus adding commission/fee details, preparing details and preparing to upload to property portals - finishing with changing the property status to For Sale/To Let.

Your company processes may dictate what needs to be entered when getting a property ready to market, therefore you should continue to follow these

1. Add main description Your property should already have been added on the system to log details for the market appraisal If not, click here for more information From the property record: Lettings property In the brief description field (bottom middle pane): Add a short description of the property This is normally the summary/initial description used on property portals and brochures After entering the description, press F7 to spell check Configuration The following settings are dependent on your system configuration: Property descriptions may have a text limit The strapline* field is in use on some systems to add an extra shorter summary description* The Marketing* screen may offer other areas for* descriptions to be entered, such as a long description, location & directions - see step ??
2. Attributes Complete the property Attributes* to accurately match your new property* What is displayed in your property Attributes screen is dependent on configuration To add/edit, in the Attributes panel: Click the pencil icon Lettings property For sales properties, see next step For lettings properties, skip to step 4
3. Sales properties - updating the vendor record, adding price, commission, financial & agency details 3a. Update vendor record Check details entered are correct Click Identity Check to enter vendor ID for all vendors Enter vendor ID For more information on entering and reporting on ID, click here 3b: Price Enter the asking price Click Asking Price to change the price qualifier, where applicable Shortcut when entering monetary figures Enter k for thousands & m for millions e.g. 500k = £500,000, 1.1m = £1,100,000 3c: Commission Enter the percentage figure If using fixed fees, click the arrow beside the % and Change to fixed amount If you use a variable commission (or tiered fee) structure, click the menu beside Commission Setting up variable commission Select Variable Commission For more information on variable commission, click here 3d: Fee detail & agency information In the commission panel: Click Financial Ensure post-market appraisal information has been entered - i.e. Recommended Price, Market Appraisal Price & Vendor Estimate Price and Other Agent Appraisal information (where known) Select the Selling Agency type from the drop-down menu and enter Sub / Joint Agents information at the bottom of the screen Enter an Inter-office Selling Fee, where required
4. Lettings properties - updating the vendor record, adding commission & financial details 4a: Update landlord record Click Landlord Check details entered are correct If there is a joint landlord, in the Joint Landlords section, click the + and search for (or add) their details Click Identity Check (top left) to enter landlord ID Enter landlord ID For more information on entering and reporting on ID, click here In Financial section, click the pencil icon to add/update the landlord financial details Landlord financial details Bank, accountant & VAT details are held here, along with Non-Resident Landlord information 4b: Rent Enter the rent Click Rent to change rent setting (per week, per month, per annum), where applicable 4c: Letting Fee Enter the percentage figure If not using percentage fees, click the arrow beside the % and select from options to: Change to fixed amount or Set to multiple of weekly or monthly rent 4d: Letting service (& fee) Select the relevant letting service from the drop-down menu and associated fees, as applicable 4e: Fee detail & agency information In the fees panel: Click Rent/Fee Details Use the Commission section to enter more detailed fee information can be entered Vacant Management details can be entered On the right, select the relevant Agency type from the drop-down list Sub & Joint Agents can then be added at the bottom of the screen
5. Add photos, floorplans & maps The panel at the bottom left of the property screen is used to store all property images Click View pictures to add images or click and drag images over this panel Images can be pictures, floorplans or maps When clicking View pictures, click Add Picture / Floorplan / Map to add images - see 5a Enter labels for each image Red border indicates the main picture Each image has a Picture link, click this for more options, see 5b Once added, the main picture is shown on the property screen Use the arrow keys to scroll through the images	5a: 5b: 5c:
6. Create EPC Once the EPC figures are available, an EPC graph image can be generated From the Attributes panel: Click EPC Enter the Energy Efficiency Rating / Potential and the Environmental Impact Rating / Potential Use the Created field to enter the date the figures were generated Enter any other information required (URLs / Document Files) Click Make Graph A message will be displayed to confirm the graph has been created with the option to view it If Yes is clicked, the graph will be shown on screen - see 6a The graph can be viewed any time using the View Graph button The EPC graph is automatically added as a property image and can be viewed from the pictures screen (shown in 5a)	6a:
7. Add rooms The level and format of information added to the rooms screen is usually dictated by company requirements for your property brochures and portal uploads From the Attributes panel: Click Rooms From the top right panel (see 7a): Select room Name from the drop-down list or type in your own Enter Dimensions in metric or imperial When hovering over the field, both formats will be shown Enter a Description Click Picture and select the required picture from the list Click Add The room detail is added to the main panel of the screen To make changes to the room, select it in the main panel, makes changes and click Save Continue using the top right panel to add further room detail When complete... Click Make Summary to create a summary of the accommodation details entered, or type own summary in this panel The summary is usually used as 'key features' when uploading to property portals When the details have been approved, tick Details Approved See 7b for complete example Click Save button (top right)	7a: 7b:
8. Marketing screen From the top middle panel: Click Marketing Sale Board Enter Type and Status information Depending on configuration, this may trigger an email for sending to your board supplier Internet If you wish to stop the property from being uploaded to the property portals, tick No Internet Advertising The Internet Check is useful for troubleshooting if the property is not being uploaded to the internet (when it should be) Clicking Internet Check should pinpoint the issue See example 8a Extra Descriptions What is shown/entered here is dependent on configuration/company practice Enter the required extra descriptions for this property	8a: For further information on troubleshooting a missing property on a portal/website, click here
9. Create brochure Templates will be set-up on your system for creating your property brochures/window cards Click Details (top right) The list of templates will be displayed Double-click the required template Details will be taken from the property to create a set of details in Word format Check over the details produced and make any changes Click Save (in Word) Save options are displayed - see 9a Save as Word document Leave set to Save document in property letters folder Click Accept When asked Convert to PDF? click No Enter a File name and click Save (9b) This will save a Word version of the details for future use in the property Letters* folder - see 9c* Save as PDF particulars Go back to the Word document and click Save again Select Store as PDF particulars for property Click Accept This will save a PDF version in the Details* screen in the Predefined Details section - see 9d*	9a: 9b: 9c: Word details in property Letters folder After saving Word version of details to property letters folder: Click Letters (top right of property screen) The Word file will be displayed in Existing letters and files (right) 9d: Click E-mail to select an applicant to send the details to This would usually attach the PDF to the email along with add brief details to the email An option to log the email in the applicant/property journal is also offered
10. Change property status When ready to market, to ensure that the property is matched to applicants and is uploaded to property portals, change the property status: In Status (top middle panel): Select For Sale / To Let - Won Instruction Click Save	Lettings menu If you're not yet ready to upload to the internet, enable No Internet Advertising in property Marketing See section 8 above

Preparing a property for marketing

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