How to Make Your Rental Application Stand Out: Get the Property You Want!

When you’ve found your dream rental, there’s nothing worse than finding out the property is in high demand – and you’ve got competition. If multiple people are applying for the house or apartment you want, you may be wondering, “How can I make my rental application stand out?”.

In this article, we’ll share our advice on making your rental application stand out from the crowd when you’re applying for a rental property in Manchester.

1. Speak to a Letting Agent

First, it’s best to speak to the letting agent before applying for the property. Ask specifically what information you’ll need to include in your application and take notes.

Your letting agent will likely know the landlord well, so it can’t hurt to ask if they have any tailored advice about how to make your application stand out.

2. Apply Early

Sending your application in early is always a good idea. Once you’ve viewed the rental property and told the letting agent you’re interested, they’ll be expecting your application.

The sooner you send it to them, the more serious they’ll think you are – which could help your application get accepted. You can even in some cases apply for a property based on the virtual tour, but confirm with your agent when the tour was created to make sure you’re comfortable with proceeding on this basis.

3. Don’t Miss a Thing

The worst thing you can do when sending a rental application to a letting agent is to have key information missing. For example, missing references, email addresses that bounce back, absent documents and so on, missing contact details etc.

This can delay the application process and make you appear disorganised to the landlord, so double-check that you’ve included everything before hitting send.

We’ve made our application straight forward but please don’t miss anything out!

4. Make it Personal

Writing a personalised message in your application form to your landlord is an excellent way to make your rental application stand out. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself and highlight all the important things.

We suggest that you:

• Introduce yourself with a high-level summary of your living and employment status

• Share some details about why you’re interested in the property

• Add a polite closing summary

5. Put yourself in a strong position

The landlord will looking for the following:

• Equal to, or higher rental amount than the asking price

• Moving in date close when the property will be available from (this reduces void period with unpaid rent)

• Long term tenancy (most landlords are comfortable starting at a 6 month agreement but would prefer long term tenants)