Advice for First Time Renters

One of the requests that comes up quite a bit for me is helping adult children of people I know find rental properties. The process is often foreign to the parents and challenging for the future tenants as they have either never rented before, or never rented through a real estate agent.

Therefore I thought I’d ask our highly efficient and thorough Leasing Consultant Steph Topp to give me her “6 Topp Tips” for first time renters (though it probably applies to everyone). I hope that this is of use.

1. Make sure you present your application in the best manner possible and it can be read clearly.
2. Be sure to complete the application form in full and avoid leaving questions blank.
3. Make sure you provide 100 points of ID with your application as well as supporting documentation for all your sources of income. e.g payslips, bank statements, Centrelink statements
4. Write a cover letter to introduce yourselves and personalise your application.
5. Advise your manager or HR department that you will be listing them as a reference on your application form beforehand so they aren’t surprised by our call and are already aware you have given permission for them to give us a reference. This will help speed up your application process.
6. If you work within a large company provide a direct contact number for your manager or HR department to make it quicker and easier for us to get in contact with them for a reference.

Once you have secured a rental property the next thing is to make sure you are fantastic tenants, so when you’re looking to rent in the future, finding a property is much easier. In my opinion a good tenant pays their rent on time and in full, keeps the property clean and tidy inside and out and is pleasant and reasonable to deal with. They also report maintenance items in a timely fashion so the property is well maintained and small issues don’t grow into big expensive issues for the landlord.

If you are looking for a rental you are welcome to call Steph Topp at our office on 9725 7444.