I Finally Received An Enquiry From Tepilo

Fireworks

Back in October 2010 I was in the midst of finding tenants for a vacant property of mine. Some of you may remember that I tried using Sarah Beeny’s property portal, Tepilo, to fill the vacant spot. “Tried” being the operative word. The whole experience was a complete failure.

I didn’t receive a single enquiry from Tepilo, while other portals like Rightmove and Gumtree were hitting me hard with enquiries. As a result, I was compelled to write a negative review about how Tepilo had failed me and temporarily ruined my life.

I may have been hormonal at the time; summer had just ended, consequently there were a lot less girls walking around in skirts, and the days were getting shorter. You know how it is. But in my defence, Tepilo had received large amounts of media hype, so I was expecting big results.

Some of you may remember reading that blog post. For those didn’t read it, read it now. I’ll wait for you…

I actually want to forget the incident ever occurred because I’m a huge Sarah Beeny fan, so it pained me to see her creation fail me like that. I live in a world where Sarah Beeny is the last person to ever let me down. When it happened, as you can imagine, it was a massive traumatic blow. However, dragging up these painful memories is a vital process in the grieving cycle because I need closure, and I think it’s only fair to give you all an update on the progress. I feel you all deserve that much, and so does Tepilo.

In my review of Tepilo, I mentioned that even after finding tenants through another source, I was going to leave the advert live on Tepilo because there was no difference between the advert being live and non-existent (harsh, but true), and I was also curious about how long it would take to actually receive one.

Low and behold, close to 5 months later; after having found tenants; been on 2 holidays; sprouted a few grey pubic hairs; and gone through 2 girlfriends…. on the 22nd of March, Tepilo finally produced an enquiry. What a tremendous day that was.

The enquiry itself was pretty good (it’s been slightly modified for data protection reasons), so this is a REAL triumph; not just a half baked success story:

My husband works at the hospital as a doctor and I am a pharmacist. We’ve decided to settle close by and like your house. Please get back to us on 07* **** **6* or 07* **** **2* so we can arrange something. Thanks.

I have to admit, I didn’t think Tepilo would ever pull through. Well, they proved me wrong (and all the other doubters). Credit where credit is due, they pulled through, and they pulled through in style… 5 months later than anticipated.

If you’re a landlord that needs new tenants, but isn’t in any immediate rush, I highly recommend giving Tepilo a whirl. They don’t receive much traffic and they have a terrible interface (which makes it difficult to create an advert), but they’re FREE and have proved that they can generate an enquiry.

However, if you’re a normal landlord looking to find tenants sharpish, I would recommend Advertising on Rightmove and Advertising on Gumtree.

Out of curiosity, has anyone tried Tepilo yet? Has anyone had more success with Tepilo?

6 Join the Conversation...

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Jay 30th March, 2011 @ 08:12

Great Article

Gumtrees plans to charge landlords have come as a bit of a bit of a blow as gumtree is my most successful advertisement tool. any advice on an alternative?

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Mark 30th March, 2011 @ 09:02

Gumtree is a good way to find tenants, try some of the big property sites, just advertise your property to rent.

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The Landlord Avatar
The Landlord 30th March, 2011 @ 09:12

Hey Jay,

Many thanks.

Well, unfortunately, I don't think there's currently a free service available for landlords that will rival Gumtree. But I don't know if you saw it or not, but I wrote an article on how Landlords can avoid Gumtree's fees.

I agree with Mark, Gumtree is still a good place to start and it's worth investing £30-£50 Advertising on Rightmove.

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Smithy 30th March, 2011 @ 21:30

I was surprised recently to see that rental properties are advertised on ebay.

I knew that some random stuff is advertised for sale - villas in Spain and occasional publicity-seekers wishing to raffle their mansions, etc.

However, I had not realised that perfectly ordinary houses and flats for rent are also on there. Obviously it is not a free service, but I seriously wonder how effective it is. It must have massive potential coverage, but if you were a prospective tenant, would you really look on ebay?

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The Landlord Avatar
The Landlord 30th March, 2011 @ 21:57

I had no idea ebay advertised rental properties either.

The database seems to be heavy- 100k properties listed in UK/Ireland.

But like you, i'd also be curious about how well the service performs. I doubt they do well.

I know ebay don't do very well for used cars- Autotrader take up 90-something per cent of the market. So if they struggle with used cars, I can't imagine they would do very well with rental properties, especially while Gumtree and Rightmove are around.

I'll be looking for a tenant in a few months time, I may give ebay a spin out of curiosity! :)

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Matt Reynolds 2nd July, 2011 @ 18:44

I've been buying and selling property for over twenty years, I have tried selling properties using private sale websites, writing descriptions, uploading photos etc. The only responses I received were from estate agents or letting agents! Unless your using a service that lists on Rightmove I would be cautious of paying for a listing.

Matthew Reynolds
www.decisionhomebuyers.co.uk

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