Listed below are some of the documents you should provide to accompany your application form. You’ll be required to meet 100 points of identification for your application to be considered and at least one form of photo identification must be provided.

In addition to the above, you’re also required to supply proof of your income. Below are examples of what can be provided depending on your employment status:

Employed: Last THREE payslips
Self employed: Bank statements, Group certificate, Tax return or Accountant’s letter
Not employed: Centrelink statement

Everyone has been a first-time tenant at some point so if this is you, don’t panic! There are still a number of things you can do to strengthen your application. The key things that a property manager and owner will be concerned with is your ability to pay the rent and your ability to take care of the property and comply with the terms and conditions of the lease agreement. If you don’t have references from previous landlords, here are some other things you might consider providing:

If you’ve been living in student accommodation
Consider providing details of the person who was in charge of managing the complex.

If you’ve been living in your own home and have recently sold
Check with the agent who handled the sale as they may act as a reference for you.

If you’re living with your parents and are moving out for the first time
Provide reliable personal references. Your referees may be an employer or colleague, neighbour, teacher, accountant, doctor. Personal referees should not be family members.

1. Make sure your application is fully completed before submitting

   Be sure to answer every question on the application form properly. Up to 30 percent of applicants miss important details, which can either delay your application if we have to chase you up for these details or it can ultimately result in your application being declined in favour of a suitable application with all details provided.

2. Rental history

   Be as upfront and honest as possible regarding your rental history; property agents have access to tenancy databases which show if you have a listing against your name from previous tenancies. If you know you’ve been listed on a tenancy database or might have a bad reference from another landlord or agent, don’t lie about where you’ve lived! Be proactive and tell the agent upfront what happened and why it happened. It’s always better to do this in advance.

3. Living with other people

   If you’re applying to live with housemates, make sure you have all filled out an application form and have all of your supporting documentation ready to hand in at the same time. Property agents often have multiple applications to process (sometimes for the same property) and likely won’t have the time to continuously chase your housemates for missing, important information.

How long until I get an answer?
If you’ve already submitted your application, you might be wondering what happens from here and when you’re likely to get an answer.

In some cases, you could receive an answer in as little as 24 hours from when you submit it but, typically, most applications will take between 48-72 hours to process. It might seem like a long time, however, there are multiple checks to be done including, but not limited to:

One of the best practices is to notify your referees (including previous rental agents) in advance to let them know we’ll be contacting them which may help to reduce any delayed responses.

Once your application is fully processed, we’ll submit your application to the owner and let them know our recommendations based on your application. We can make suggestions to the owner, however, the final decision of who is accepted and who isn’t is completely up to the owner.

What happens if my application is not accepted?
If your application is declined you can ask us for some feedback, however, neither us nor the owner is legally obligated to give a reason why your application was unsuccessful. Here are some common reasons why your application may not have been successful:

If your application is approved
Once your application is accepted by the owner, we’ll contact you to let you know the steps moving forward. You’ll be asked to sign the lease agreement and pay the rental bond plus the first two weeks rent to secure the property.

In Queensland, the bond for properties under $700 per week is equal to a maximum of four weeks rent. For properties over $700 per week, the owner can request any bond amount with no maximum. If this is the case, the bond amount will usually be clearly stated on the online advertisement and on your lease agreement. The bond money should always be paid to our agency so we can then lodge it with the RTA with the required documentation in the required timeframe.