This is all very simple to me, you have a property valued at $370K (estimated = expected return $37K p.a.-capital growth) and you are concerned about $30pw = $21pw after tax. The property game can sometimes be complicated. In this event it all points to one thing – DROP THE RENT.
Sorry, I am telling you what others are too soft to say……… AND yes, you may get $380pw, but really, if I had these skinny margins on an investment, there is no way I would be there in the first place………
the add looks alrite, but maybe a little cluttered and the pics look good but it looks like most the rooms are small, get the agent to do some trick photo's and make the rooms look bigger at least this will get more of these 1000 viewers walking threw the door,
take out the wording no pets, people can take this as no pets means no smokers which means no drinkers which means there not going to accept us so no point in looking.
drop the rent to $360 for 6 months then put it back up, you will only be down $520 approx 10 days vacant
put your own add in the paper and show people threw your self, the agent can still be along side you if you need them to beHi Chelkin,
I work for a Real Estate office on the Gold Coast that have rentals in your area and throughout the GC. What you need to know is that after a property is advertised for around 4 weeks it becomes "stale"…which means all of the current renters in the market have looked at the property and decided that it's not for them for reasons such as price, location, suitability of the property to their needs etc. From that point you only get interest from "new entries" into the rental market. A price drop will re-invigorate the property slightly and may mean people that have previously passed on price will now be interested.
A good property manager will be as skillful as a sales agent. Renting a property to a prospective tenant requires just as much sales technique as selling a house e.g. asking direct questions "could you see yourself living here", "would you like to rent this property"…also need to provide correct answers to objections…seems simple but an unskilled prop manager won't ask these questions or have the right answers.
In saying that, it's not uncommon for a property to be vacant for some time in this market…..sometimes price drop is not always the answer, it just requires patience to find the person that is suited to your property. With my I.P's i drop until i feel it's at a low enough level and then hold and wait……
Call me on 0423294789 if you're interested in changing Property Managers.
Regards
Glenn StakerHi guys, I actually went to the property this afternoon as we were picking up the washing machine we didn't need in there anymore, so I told the agent to advertise it open for half hour while we were there. 4 groups came through and they all took applications, and this is with the $10 less per week new advertisement, so hopefully we will get something out of that. Sometimes you have to do things yourself!!!!!!!!! I should tell the agent I will only pay half the letting fee, seeing how I did half the work of opening the place and showing them around. I also thought about offering 1 week rent free but someone told me that sounds desperate, so didn't end up following through with that idea. Also I was very surprised to find our property in immaculate condition, the previous tenants really looked after it, I took cleaning products with me today to give it a bit of a clean up, didn't have to touch a thing, I wish those tenants stayed. I'll keep you posted during the week see if any of those 4 groups follow through with an application. Thanks heaps to everyone for their thoughts and comments
My advice is do not cut the letting fee… it is not worth it
The rental market in some pockets of Brisbane and surrounding areas is in a very odd state. We have a property next door to ours which has been on the rental market since Xmas time. We can't see anything wrong with it and the rent (steadily dropping) seems reasonable.
From a renter's point of view (we have owned IP's as well): Those townhouses rent easily in a tight market, but the rooms are just too small when you have a choice. No amount of clever photography is going to change that. The living area is cramped and if you stick a kingsize bed in the master bedroom you have to suck in your breath just to walk in the room. We take one look and don't bother going upstairs if the living room is small.
We are currently looking for a new rental property in Brissie and find that many of the same properties we have viewed a month ago are still available. One property in the Wynnum/Manly area that we are interested in started at $400, then has gone down by $10 to $360. We think that's about where it should have started from. We don't feel the urgency in the market like there was a year ago – good for us, but a bit nervewracking for the owners.
It's interesting reading all the media reports of a "hotting" up rental market. Seems asleep to us.
I have had a quick look- I think the problem is that you are also not a feature property so get dropped to the bottom of the list quicky with the rentals, ask the agent to get you a feature property even if you have to pay $100 toward it so it pops up the top of the list- also I would drop rent asap $10 or whatever to get it rented asap. I normally offer free net or foxtel whihc costs me about $50 per month but always keeps a list of tenants interested and nil vacancy and I do not have to drop my rent.
Also look at how much you are paying your agent to manage, if you are on a relly low mgt fee they often do not give your job priority and around this area they will focus more on selling and renting the 400- 700 per week market.
Is there aircond in the main bedroom????
Also when I was looking for a townhouse to rent whilst I was building I was looking for one that would let me have m y mini foxie, so I would go past your ad as I couldnt have my foxie in the yard with me. So maybe you should consider having a little pet, as lots of single ladies, professional couples looking to rent but most have a small dog or little cat for a pet or security.
So you would miss me as a tenant as I couldnt have my mini foxie, and also does not advertise any air cond in main bedroom, and we are and have been great tenants as pay rent in advance for a few months, have a cleaner 1 per week, work a lot so not home much, and have a gardener/ mowing man.
I advertise all my rental homes PET FRIENDLY++ ON APPLICATION and have a lot less issues, damage, wear and tear with pets than 1- 3 kids etc, we have never had a problem with pet friendly tenants and they look after the pets like 5 star royalty, as I do with mine, she is a spolit pet with her own tent, dog bed, washed weekly, toilet trained, an a great watch dog.
So maybe look at aircond in main bedroom, proeprty mgt fee your paying and pet policy.Thanks for the great advice business global. There is no aircon in the bedrooms only ceiling fans. There is a big aircon in the dining/kitchen area which would carry through to the living area. I will wait and see if any of those 4 parties put in an application from Saturday's open, otherwise I will seriously think about putting an aircon in the main and I will get the ad changed to delete no pets. I just had a look at our management fees and it is 5%+gst on rent collection and 2.5%+gst management fee, which I think is very reasonable compared to other agents.
Most good property managers or the elite ones charge 10% – We manage properties in Brisbane and country areas and our fee is 10% + gst, per month- Sundry $6 . We do inspections for potential tenants afternoon, evening and weekends!! and never have any vacancies for our homes, we are very strict what stock we take on and we scan our landlords to make sure they so scrimp on doing basic things. Sorry we do not do down your area- but mayeb look for a really good property mgr, pay them 9- 10%, get the service, feedback and switched on managers. Bye Good luck- if no tenants put the aircond in main bedroom go for Fujitsu or Panasonic brands only quiet inverters and good reliability, good guarantees, and be pet friendly on application. It is so hot down this way and near Varisty if no aircond in main bedroom most tenants would be by passing it straight away and paying a littel extra to get an aircond.
Bye Keep me posted – hope all gets sorted for you
Sorry I mean that we scan our landlords to make sure they do not scrimp on basic things and we have authority up to $500 to immediately fix problems and keep all in order.
i pay 8% for my property managers and they also carry out inspections at times to suit potential tenants . My main property manager even inspected potential properties listed with all agents until i found the best property for CG and rental return. i now pay 0nly 6% to have more than one property listed with them
i ahve had only one property vacant for three weeks, the others have never been vacant. in over two years.
cheersSonya.
Hi guys
Well, so far our place still remains unrented, there has been interest, infact it was almost rented a lady was about to move in and last minute pulled out, don't know why. So I'm thinking I'll try another price drop next week to $370pw, don't really know what else to do. That is what I wanted to ask you guys, is there anything I can do internally to the townhouse to make it more appealing? there is actually nothing wrong with it, it is in very good condition, but I'm now desperate to get it rented. A previous suggestion here was providing foxtel or internet, is something like that worth it? I will look at putting an a/c in the main, but is there any other things I could do? I'm wondering because there is no back yard, so don't know if that is the reason. The agent seems to be doing their job, but open to suggestions of other agents around Robina that could do any better (tried PRD a year a go, they were hopeless). Appreciate any advice.
How long has it been actually vacant for now? I read confusing information with your post.
just drop the rent.. too high…. need to compare with market rate
It's been vacant about 2 weeks now, but been advertised for rent for around 5 weeks now. I've noticed a lot of townhouses around Varsity have dropped their rent, alot of them are at the $370 mark and they look better than ours, so I will drop the rent again next week, guess I'm dissapointed as the previous tenants were paying $390. Also just a bit desperate to get it rented as our cash situation is pretty tight at the moment, so every week it remains unrented hurts us, so that's why I'm looking for ideas, but if you all think just dropping the price is best, then I will do it.
I feel for you but a reduced rent is better than allowing it to stay unrented for too long a time. One of my units had to have its rent reduced by $70 to get someone in. Over time I was able to get it up to the market rate again and yes it did hurt but in the long run everything worked out well.
My agent told me to keep on reducing the rent by $10 a week until there was more interest. I had to reduce it initially by $40 and even then there was no interest. Sure enough, as the rent went down in $10 lots, my agent got more and more interest until it was rented.
Yep, drop the rent. You could say that you were just lucky with the $390pw that you were getting. I had a property rented out in Sydney for $1,000pw for 2 years. After they moved out, I thought and so did all the r/e agents the rental boom was on so we put up for $1,200pw, after 3 months of it being vacant I ended up renting it for $900pw. Damn, that one hurt!
I will consider put the range (if possible ) A$350-370. The best bet is to drop the rent to secure a tenant.
I personally will not consider AirCon etc… in this situation… renter(s) are looking for Value…Price, Presentation, Promotion…..
If its presented well
Its got makreting well
and priced will then it will go.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
