More Tips On How To Secure A Rental Property, A ‘Spurt’ Of Activity & Caught Red-handed
In a theme that’s consistent with much of the past three years, the media’s take on the current market seems to be ‘at odds’ with what’s actually happening in the property market.
I’ve lost count of the number of news stories I’ve read over the past week citing economic catastrophes and property plunges.
And over this time, we’ve placed several new listings on the market with huge responses on each…all of them resulting with in excess of 20 groups of buyers through the first open home and strong offers at figures that were above our expectations.
I do believe that this might be a little ‘spurt’ of activity before a little ‘rot’ sets in…and there was one news article that I thought ‘hit the nail right on the head’ late last week (see my ‘Insights’ article today.
The summation of this news story was that the only thing holding the property market together was a distinct lack of new stock in many parts of Australia.
We’re certainly seeing this right now – many potential sellers have been pummelled with news story after news story describing how bad the market is and as a result, they believe it’s an awful time to sell.
And as I shared with you last week, these sellers have zero faith in their ability to secure a rental if they happen to sell quickly and can’t find a suitable property to purchase.
At the moment, we’re appraising a ton of property but very few are deciding to list at this stage (compared to the percentage we normally see at this time of the year).
Certainly, we’re seeing very few sellers that need to sell because they are affected by rapidly rising interest rates, but I do get the feeling that this might change in the coming months.
I don’t know about you but all of a sudden, I’m seeing less patrons at restaurants, cafes and shops, which might be considered to be ‘discretionary’ spending, are seemingly particularly quiet.
The latest figures are showing that many of the major retailers (excluding supermarkets) are heading into a time of declining sales.
Whilst many Australians are angry at constantly increasing interest rates, our older generation (many that have paid off their mortgages long ago) are finally seeing a return on their money in the bank.
They might be concerned about the coming plight of their kids and grandkids but at the same time, many will tell you stories of how they signed their first mortgage with an interest rate of 18% and ate Baked Beans on toast for the first three years of their mortgage – something younger Australians aren’t prepared to do these days…but I guess that’s another story for another day.
On a completely different note, let’s head back to our topic…” Tips on securing a rental property” amid competition in the rental market like we’ve never seen before.
We looked at the first five tips last week (if you missed the newsletter and want us to send these to you, please let us know and we’d be happy to do this for you).
Today, here’s the second and final part…
- Offer to improve the property in a minor way – This tip might sound a little strange, but you’d be surprised just how far this might go. I recently had a friend of mine apply for a rental property and he was losing hope that he’d secure a rental property as he and his family were rejected plenty of times. He was a plasterer by trade and noted that the rental property he applied for had a wall in the living area that was badly patched up and needed repainting as well as an old mould stain in the ceiling of one of the bathrooms. I suggested to him that he apply for the rental and offer to fix the wall and repaint it as well as replace the ceiling in the bathroom for free (providing the owner pays for the materials). Sure enough, it turns out that the owner was struggling to find a tradesperson to attend to these items and his application was instantly approved. You might be thinking that this is a little extreme, but it might equate to several hundred dollars’ worth of his time (over a 12 month lease, this might be equivalent to $10 to $15 per week but at least he secured the rental and best of all, he had 12 months to perform the work in a timeframe that suited him.
- Provide photos of your current home/ rental – it’s one thing to provide a reference but another altogether to provide photos of your current home. ‘A picture paints a thousand words’ as they say…so whilst many online rental application systems don’t have the facility to upload photos, I’d recommend asking the Property Manager how you could provide these with your application. Even if you had to send a separate email with photos attached, it certainly can’t do your chances any harm. There’s no question that this would influence my decision if I was a landlord so it’s worth giving it a try.
- Ask for a longer period than required – You might be planning on buying and only want a rental property for a maximum of six months but whatever you do, don’t ask for a 6-month lease. Property Managers don’t like performing ‘entry’ and ‘exit’ reports at the best of times so if they can see you’re only there for a relatively short period of time, they’ll see extra work right from the outset. The vast majority of tenants will request a twelve-month lease so you’d be at a distinct disadvantage if you request a six month lease. You might even ask for a two-year lease (although many owners might be reluctant to approve this as it might eliminate their chances of increasing the rent in twelve months if the rental market keeps going the way it is right now). Even if you intend to purchase and might need to break lease, it is very likely that it will be easy to find a new tenant given the rental crisis most likely won’t be easing any time soon.
- Clean up your social media – You’ve placed a rental application and you wonder why it was rejected. No-one will tell you this but perhaps the Property Manager (or even the owner) has ‘stalked’ your Social Media and discovered photos of you drinking with 30 of your closest friends at a BBQ. Trust me – the first thing an owner will think is…” There’s no way I want my home to be a party house” so your chances of securing the rental have just taken a nosedive. Perhaps you have some extreme views on politics or current affairs that you like to voice – again, if the owners of the property have very differing views, it might be the one small piece of information that tilts the scale towards another tenant. Remember that owners are presented with the best applications and have very little data to make a decision so it might be the smallest and seemingly insignificant element that determines their decision. It might seem unfair but it’s the world we live in. You might think the ‘Baby Boomers’ and ‘Gen X’s’ have little ability to track you down on Social Media but you might be surprised at their skill. Just because they don’t take selfies and make countless posts of every meal they’ve had for dinner doesn’t mean they are ‘Social illiterate’.
- Ask for feedback if you’ve been rejected – Perhaps your application was unsuccessful, and this can be incredibly disappointing…particularly if this has happened several times. But rather than stew on it, give the Property Manager a call and ask them for brutally honest feedback as to why your application wasn’t successful. In a world where everyone needs to be very careful with claims of discrimination these days, the Property Manager might be a little reluctant to give you much feedback but I’d be a little persistent and ask them what you could do to change your future applications and increase your chances next time. Some Property Managers might provide you with valuable feedback that could be incredibly helpful.
Hopefully, I’ve been able to provide you some useful tips on how to increase your chances of securing a rental property if you’re in this situation right now.
It’s a very hard arena to be participating in so try to be positive, persistent and clever in your approach.
On another completely different note, I want to wish my Mother Carolyn a very Happy 75th birthday for next Tuesday – thank you so much for everything you do for my family Mum.
Your family (and particularly your Grandchildren) adore you in every way. I’d hate to think how I’d be able to cope without you given the amount of time you’re able to spend with the kids when I need to attend appointments.
Have a wonderful day and we can’t wait to spoil you on such a special occasion.
Until next week…Happy Listing and Happy Selling.
Feature Property Of The Week…
This week’s ‘Feature Property of the Week’ is 5 Cordia Court, Albany Creek – Situated in the very tightly-held ‘Albany Forest’ estate, this fabulous low-set brick residence offers privacy, serenity, space and elevation all rolled into one. Situated on a glorious 617m2 allotment in a peacefully quiet cul-de-sac, this gorgeous 4 bedroom residence offers multiple living spaces, 2 bathrooms, a superb outdoor entertainment area, a spacious and leafy backyard and best of all, a stunning near-new kitchen with Galaxy granite tops, 2-Pac cabinetry and upmarket appliances. The location is ideal as you’re close to many schools, shops, buses, parks, shopping centres and still only 30 minutes to the Brisbane CBD. New to the market, this wonderful home has already achieved a great deal of interest and is bound to sell quickly so make sure you contact us today if you’re interested.
Insights Article…
As Michael mentioned in his blog today, the shortfall of new listings to the market has been the one factor that’s kept prices reasonably stable over the past 6 months and is certainly the main factor behind the current ‘spurt of activity’ (as Michael describes it). This is one of the few recent news articles about the current property market that is quite accurate. Definitely worth a read…
Click Here To Read Article
Did You Know…
Talk about being caught ‘red-handed’. Michael took a phone call just before dinner a few nights ago and moved to his home office to avoid the noise of little kids in the background…and when he returned to the lounge, his little girl Harper had helped herself to a container of ‘Pringles’…which she wasn’t supposed to have right before dinner! She promptly fell asleep sitting upright on the lounge with her hand in the tube. She tried to deny any wrong-doing but the photographic evidence against her was a little overwhelming.
As Michael mentioned in his blog today, his Mother Carolyn turns 75 years old next week. Carolyn has always looked young for her age and when Michael was a toddler (and Carolyn was 27 years of age), she recalls a door-to-door salesman coming to her home in Everton Hills and asking her…”Hi Sweetheart…Is your Mummy home so that I could have a talk to her?” Carolyn’s response was…”I AM the Mummy!” Not much chance of a sale after that mistake…no matter what he was selling!
