Hi
I recently bought an IP in Dandenong North. I spent 3 weeks doing it up. Painted the interiors, polished the floors and did up the bathroom. Also I cleaned up the back yard of all the rubbish and shrubs that were growing there. So far I have spent about 3k on the renos. Its been available to rent for the last 6 weeks, but still haven’t got a tenant. Initially the agent advised me to put the rent at 330 per week, but now I’ve dropped it down to the current 300.http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-dandenong+north-404574350
Is there something that I’m missing or forgetting to do to secure a tenant? One thing the house is missing is a fence up the front yard. Should I spend 1.4k to get a new picket fence up the front? Also due to the recent rains, the front yard is a bog! I’ve placed some stepping stones from the driveway to the front door, but the grass area is a bog. Should I get some top soil put in?
Regards
Captain.Don’t really know the area – but it presents very well. Does it have dishwasher/aircon?
I think a secure front yard would appeal to families with children. Are you open to pets? When is the agent scheduling the openings?No dishwasher or AC. Yes that is true, a secure front yard would appeal to families with children. Pets are fine. The agent has the open houses scheduled for Thursdays and Saturdays around mid-day. He keeps telling me that no one turned up for inspections. Not sure if hes actually there for them!
do you live close by? perhaps you could also go to the open house, or even better get a trusted friend or family member to go and see how well the agent 'sells' your property to a potential tenant. What do other similair properties rent for in the area? is it on a main road? Do you have a contract with the agent? Are there other agents that you cant list with? Tell them all whoever gets a quality tenant first, gets the contract to manage the property.
Are you advertising the fact pets are ok? This would be a good idea.
Another idea is to offer 1 week free rent.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
Captain M wrote:No dishwasher or AC. Yes that is true, a secure front yard would appeal to families with children. Pets are fine.Pets & children require secure fencing.
If the front yard is a bog, get it fixed (even something will turn into a bog later on will be better than a bog today).
People live without dw & AC so these aren't critical.
Speak with the agent, LISTEN to what they say – some things will be dead simple. What has been the feed back from anyone who has inspected?
Does it have built in wardrobes ?
Make sure the toilet has been flushed as it may contain the contents of the last person who used it during last open day.
The advert states secure car parking does it have parking in the back yard or garage or carport?
does front lawn still have a bald spot of grass at 45 degree angle to front driveway ?
Maybe some grass seed could fix this. It may not due to oil from cars being parked there.
The missing right hand side fence does give a feeling of less ownership of the home. Even a normal fence at 3 feet height might do the job of separating the properties.
I'd be there for the opens if I were you. Make sure they are actually happening, and if so, what are people saying about the property. If the agent isn't even showing up, get a new agent immediately.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
According the SQM Research vacancy rate in the area is 0.5%. This is extremely low vacancy rate compare to some other areas and it's amazing you cannot get a tenant. Seems like the data in these web sites are questionable. This scares me to buy in area with high vacancy rates.
CHANGE AGENTS !! or better still, list it with 2 agents, this will have them competing with each other to rent it out.
We had this problem too.
Couple things that are already said. Fence the yard. Fix the bog. If people drive past and check the house outside of hours then it needs to be clean from the outside. The add is pretty basic, maybe write some more blurb for them and jazz it up a bit, fix the car space thing people will assume it has no parking because there is no car with number in the top corner the will not even read the blurb. Write pets considered in the add. The other thing is the wording about the yard. If you are appealing to a family market then using the words low maintenance block will put them off as they will think there is no yard space. Change the wording to say family friendly yard and put a picture of it on too.
A free weeks rent is good, we resorted to this on ours. Dropping the rent is good, better to get some money rather than none. Do some mystery shopping on the agent. Get someone to go to the open, get someone to call in about the property. I turned up to one of our opens to find my lovely agent there all alone. But she was there.
I am actually hunting for a new rental property to live in right now (sorry not in DNG NTH) but the difference in agents is amazing, a couple have not bothered to call back, some of the reception chicks don't care, one or two have been ok. One or two out of 10 or so. Do not hesitate to change agents after all else has failed. Maybe they are off putting?!
Good luck with this, it is a pain but you can get through it.
D
DWolfe | www.homestagers.com.au
http://www.homestagers.com.au
Email MeI took a look at the link – there is no mention of the inspection days and times – make sure that you get the agent to publish those asap…..it's likely that alot of people search online at night – so the properties that they need to phone about will be left at the bottom of the pile.
There have been some great suggestions – the best of which is to go to an inspection yourself. If you know the agent, then great – if you don't, see how they react to you…..and most importantly, give them your feedback after the event!!!
Call them now though, and find out how many hits your property is getting online (it wil be inflated today because of forum members!!!) how many phone enquiries are they receiving, and how many people are showing up to the inspection. Also, confirm that your property is listing on the print out of available rentals in the Real Estates office.
Basically, find out at which point do you need to work on (advertising, inspections or presentation).
Thank you all for your valuable information.
I am getting the fence done and the boggy front garden fixed, with some top soil and grass seeds. For someone looking in from out the front street, the house will look much more inviting.I will also show up at the open house times and get my sister to do some mystery shopping on the agent. Will also get the ad fixed with the inspection times, pets considered, family friendly yard and some new pictures when the fence and yard are done.
With the parking, I don’t have a garage or car port, just secured parking behind a locked gate in the side of the house. Will keep you informed on my progress.
amaljaya wrote:According the SQM Research vacancy rate in the area is 0.5%. This is extremely low vacancy rate compare to some other areas and it's amazing you cannot get a tenant. Seems like the data in these web sites are questionable. This scares me to buy in area with high vacancy rates.Yes I wouldn’t trust these figures that much. There are lots of houses currently in dandy nth for rent. I think there is a lag in these figures.
Hi,
Sorry to hear about your predicament. Hopefully it will be resolved very soon!
A point to consider is that from the photos on the website the kitchen and bathroom doesn't look updated at all. Plus a picture of a toilet! It doesn't entice me to pick up the phone from that angle.
What other advertising are they doing? Is it just an add on re.com?
Is a 15 minute inspection time slot normal – it wouldn't take much for someone to run a little late and decide not to attend. Also 3.30-3.45 on a Thursday seems a pretty unhelpful time. School pickups would kill the option for a lot of families. Perhaps something closer to 5pm – for 1/2 hour – would work better.
Over the past two years I was letting an old 2brm house on the edge of central dandenong (walk to the plaza) and close to transport and schools. Quite an unappealing house actually but it was always tenanted. My property manager was RTS and they were ok. Communication was a bit slow but they tenanted the place twice for me over 2 years in quick time. I've also heard that McLennans is meant to be good – but dont quote me!
Good luck.
Andrew
itsandrew
Go as far as you can see and you will see further.
Why were the pictures taken at night? It certainly makes the place look darker than it probably is. Also why are the blue curtains in the loungeroom closed for the pic? Get them open – bring in the light.
Not sure about the purpose of the pic of the corner of the loungeroom which shows only curtains in it. I'd get rid of that pic altogether. And the one of the toilet.
Who took these pics? It certainly wouldn't have been a realestate photographer. Probably the agent. Certainly wasn't someone who knows how to maximise the appeal of the place through a pic.
I wonder if the absensce of some kind of privacy curtains to the front room would turn tenants off?
Maybe pop a splash of colour into the kitchen and re-photograph it. eg a vase of flowers.
Where are the pics of the bedrooms?
What about pics of nearby facilities such as playgrounds, schools, shopping centres?
I think they could do far better with the pic of the bathroom. It shows only the vanity, and no visibility on the shower situation. Maybe take the picture from further back, and not pointing at the floor. If you include the mirror over the vanity (I am assuming there is one) in the pic, then it will show the reflection of the shower etc.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
Jacm,
I am always surprised at the poor quality photos that accompany some real estate ads. I have seen photos of half eaten food, rubbish on the floor and corners of rooms. How they expect people to be inspired or interested in a property with those photos is beyond me!
Yes I agree, the pictures could be done better, they were taken late in the evening. Getting new pictures today. We do have curtains in the front room but don't think the pictures show them properly.
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