Meet the market on price

It’s important to research the current market before listing your property; properties that are priced too high simply won’t rent as prospective tenants are spoiled for choice and will favour the property that meets their needs and is cheaper.

Even $5 per week can make a huge difference; you may not want to reduce your asking rent amount for fear of losing money, however, it can be the difference between renting your property and having it sit vacant. You then run the risk of losing far more money than you would have by having your property sit vacant.

Keep your property presented well

Keeping your property in good condition is always more appealing to prospective tenants; some common turn offs for prospective tenants are worn/damaged blinds, worn carpet/lino, old shower curtains and unkept gardens.

We’ll consider the condition of your property before advertising it so we can give our recommendations on ways you might be able to improve the appearance to appeal to tenants.

Professional photography

Professional photos help to show your property in its best light and to attract larger crowds at open homes. Best of all, we don’t just include professional photography as an optional extra; because we want your property to get the exposure it deserves, we’ve included it in our management fee!

No more amateur, dark photos of windows and corners of rooms; professional photos are a great investment and one that every investor should have.

Signage and flags

Street exposure can be one of the most effective forms of marketing. Which is why it doesn’t make sense that a lot of rental properties don’t have decent signage; some don’t have any at all! We not only have a large sign at the front of your property, we also make sure everyone knows when we’re hosting an open home, using flags and additional street signage.

Consider and appeal to your market

Consider where your property is located – is it in a family-friendly suburban area? Or perhaps it’s located in an area close to a major university, making it especially popular with uni students. Wherever it’s located, we make sure our advertising is aimed at your target market; it may also be worthwhile considering air conditioning or ceiling fans (if you’re property doesn’t have them already) to appeal to families or including some furniture/appliances for university students.

Don’t advertise too early

Advertising your property too early can do more harm than good; you might feel like it’s best to have it advertised as soon as possible to attract a tenant quicker, but this isn’t always the case.

As soon as people see a property advertised, they naturally want to view it; they don’t want to wait. If you advertise your property too early, you run the risk of people losing interest and your property listing becoming ‘stale’. The best time to advertise is normally 5-6 weeks before it’s available and after you’ve discussed suitable inspection times with the tenant and made sure the property is presenting well.

The best outcome here is to have a good number of people through the first couple of open homes (that are conducted shortly after being advertised) and to sign up a new tenant to move in a few days after the previous tenant moves out.

Prospective tenant database

In our industry we meet a lot of people; any good agent knows it’s a waste of resources if you’re not recording details of these people on a database. At Street Ninety Nine, whether prospective tenants call us, come into our office or meet us at an open home looking for a rental property, you can be sure that we are adding them to our database. This gives you the opportunity to have your property potentially leased before it even hits the market, significantly reducing any chance of a vacancy period.

Timing

When renting your property, it’s important to consider the time of year. The busiest (and best times to have your property on the market) are usually January/February and June through to August. We consider this when determining the length of your tenants’ lease agreement. For example, let’s say your tenants move into your property in December; instead putting them on a 12-month lease, we would recommend putting them on a 13- or 14-month lease instead, making it expire in January or February. This means that, if your tenants do decide to vacate at the end of their lease, your property will be available during one of the busiest periods of the year.

We don’t recommend having a lease expire in December if you can avoid it as you don’t want to run the risk of your property being vacant over the Christmas and New Year period!

Fast application processing

When applications are received, they are the number one priority and are treated as such! It’s common for prospective tenants to apply for more than one property at a time with different agencies so we understand it’s imperative to process their application as quickly as possible to avoid potentially missing out on a great tenant.