How to attract good tenants quickly!

If you are a landlord or if you are thinking of venturing into the residential investment market, then one of the things that is likely either a concern or at least something you should have on your radar is how you can best attract good quality tenants in a short time frame. In our area I would suggest most tenants would stay for an average of around 18 months in a property, meaning this situation around finding a good tenant is going to come up fairly regularly.

I’ve comprised a list of suggestions below which I believe will help you get your property let swiftly to a good tenant:

1. Get the rent right. The rent you should charge is not an exact science. Your agent should give you an estimated range – my suggestion would generally be to start near the top of this range and see what response you get over an 8 day period (2 Saturday opens). If you are not getting good applications or good numbers through the inspections, then look to reduce the rent by around 5%. My feeling is you are better to have a good tenant in the property quickly rather than have it vacant for weeks on end – this costs you more money in the long run.
2. Make sure the property is spotless inside and out. Quality tenants generally wont rent dirty properties. In between tenants you may look to get a professional cleaner through. Tenants need to leave the property “reasonably clean” – although we may find the previous tenant has left it in a “reasonably clean” state and clean enough to get their bond back – it may not be immaculate. Personally I always go through my rental properties after the tenant has moved out and give it a once over.
3. Between tenants replace any items that are getting obviously worn or looking aged such as curtains and carpets. You should budget to replace these every 7 years or so. Keeping these up to date and fresh also helps in maintaining the capital growth of your property.
4. Keep the paint work looking fresh – it’s amazing what a difference a coat of paint can make. It may be between tenants you just do a couple of rooms – or again maybe budget every 7 years or so to do a freshen up.
5. Keep the gardens tidy with mulch – this will also help the tenants maintain the garden beds.

In addition, I would also highly recommend that you view the property at least every 12 months during one of the routine inspections. If you don’t see it for 5 years there is a big chance you will be quite surprised at how the property has aged – even with really good tenants. It is one of your biggest assets so it’s worth the effort once per year.