So, you’ve taken the plunge and purchased an investment property! Now comes the scary part – handing your property over to someone you don’t know, who will hopefully look after the property and pay the rent on time. Here are my Top 5 Tips to minimise the risk of getting a tenant you wish you never had!
Tip 1 – Employ a Professional Property Management Team – You may think I’m biased as I’m in the real estate industry, but it also means that I’ve seen almost everything when it comes to rental properties. Firstly, the worst situations tenants are normally put in is when an owner self manages their properties. Secondly, it is more likely to happen if you employ an inexperienced Property Management team. So make sure that you do your research and ensure the team managing your property have plenty of experience and good reviews (check Google Reviews for a start).
Tip 2 – Make sure the property is clean and well presented – Good tenants will not rent dirty or poorly maintained properties. People that are going to look after your property will be fussy with how it is presented – so make the effort to present your investment well and keep up the maintenance.
Tip 3 – Make sure the application is thoroughly checked – Ensure that your property manager has thoroughly checked through the tenants references and called their passed rental agencies – ask questions to ensure they have done a thorough job. If they have only rented privately this rings big ALARM bells to me – you’ll need to dig deeper. Private landlords are notorious for giving glowing references for not so glowing tenants. Also ensure they can afford to pay the rent – a rule of thumb is the rent shouldn’t take up more than 30% of their income.
Tip 4 – Ensure the essentials are installed – to give you more choice of tenants make sure your property has ducted heating, cooling throughout and a dishwasher. Properties without all of these tend to take longer to rent as most tenants will want all of these installations.
Tip 5 – Look after your tenants. You want to keep good tenants in for as long as possible so make sure you are a good landlord and attend maintenance in a timely fashion. You won’t have to find new tenants as often then and this saves you money in letting fees and wear and tear on your property.
For further advice on leasing your property please feel welcome to call Director of Property Management – Elaine Richards 0438 329 261
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