4 weeks and still no tenants

[toony]

I would get built in Robes built. Where would you hang your clothes and in a competetive market which place would you rent? One with the robes or the one without.

I would not consider a fridge or washing machine. They are not fixtures and you limit your renters to only those without them.

 

[willair]

Any suggestions on what I should do. My 3 bedroom, separate bath/toilet/laundry, single carport, reverse aircond, very secure end unit is still not rented. It is on the net, has been advertised every Wed and Sat, I have dropped the rent fm $210 to $200. It is in good repair, looks nice. But has no built ins, but I put some garment racks, and portable robes in it.

If the rent is in the same range then you may have to drop the rent,
iwould not worry about the builtins ect,imho if you live local why
not manage the property yourself must be something wrong if you can't rent the place..willlair..

 

[skater]

I had two houses become vacant at the same time & it was just before I went away for two weeks. Agent had heaps of people through them both, but no takers. When I got back from holidays I asked why mine were still vacant. She had no answer as the rent was priced correctly & they were both in good order & none of the prospective tenants had anything negative to say about the properties. I did a search of the rentals available in the area & then dropped the price to make mine cheap for the area. This resulted in one dropping by $5pw, the other by $10pw. Both rented the following week & both will get a rent increase in 6mths. The rent for both these properties is still higher than the vacating tenants were paying, so I am happy with the result.

 

[Ausprop]

it's so easy to lose your nerve with this resi property investing... after just forking out a huge sum for a plethora of water rates, the council rates have now started rolling in. For one particular property for example, the water rates will take a month to recover from... actually 7 weeks as i also have to pay the PM for just leasing it. Now the rates will take another 5 weeks to pay off. soon it will be the land tax bill. Plus the plumber just went out there so that'll be a week or two. All for a 3% gross return. I havent done the numbers but I reckon the net return must be close to 1%? and there hasnt been any cap growth for a year. hmmm.

 

[tubs]

You could try what I tried once. I called all the agents in the area to ask if they had anyone on a waiting list for a property like you described, and if they do, let them show them through. If they take it, the agents then become the new PM.

Just make sure you have a general, not exclusive agreement with your current PM.

 

[kaf]

Mine just went on the net today with my pictures and my keywords for $295 to stay below the $300 mark. Thanks everyone for their suggestions and we'll see what happens. I'm hoping to get the reno done by this weekend (actually have to get it done by then... ) so it'll look all fresh and clean!

Keep your fingers crossed!

kaf

 

[firstmillion]

You could try what I tried once. I called all the agents in the area to ask if they had anyone on a waiting list for a property like you described, and if they do, let them show them through. If they take it, the agents then become the new PM.

Just make sure you have a general, not exclusive agreement with your current PM.

This strategy looks aggressive. How did the REA respond to it ? Do they still charge the same fees ? How did you fix the rent and did u get what u were looking for ?

Cheers

 

[GoldCoastGirl]

I have only read the original post so please excuse my lateness.

Be very cautious this time of year as it took a PM I was in dispute with (we settled) nearly half a year to find a tenant for a property in Surfers Paradise. It took them 20 weeks and 3 days to be exact when their "usual" average length of vacancy during "the slow time of year" is 2 months.

Maybe even offer one week rent free ? That's what they did in the end.

 

[mystery]

We settled our purchase (3 bed house) in Elizabeth Vale last Friday (3rd) and the PM called today to say she has a tenant. In fact she had several applying for the lease. We are asking $210 per week, .... could have held out for $220, but figured I'd get a tenant in first and then re-evaluate in 6 months. Only 4 day's to find a tenant ... brilliant.

Martin

 

[ralph wiggum]

We settled our purchase (3 bed house) in Elizabeth Vale last Friday (3rd) and the PM called today to say she has a tenant. In fact she had several applying for the lease. We are asking $210 per week, .... could have held out for $220, but figured I'd get a tenant in first and then re-evaluate in 6 months. Only 4 day's to find a tenant ... brilliant.

Martin

What type of property is it in Elizabeth Vale?
Cheers

 

[mystery]

Ralph,

Sorry for the delay, ..... I have only just spotted your question.

The house is a 3 bed, 1 bath brick veneer on 700m2 plus block. Has carport's with roller doors on both sides of the property for car security and a large shed with power in the back yard.

I believe its a really nice clean home in a very good street which helped a lot. I haven't actually seen it in person ... bought from re.com.au listing. Only seen photo's with building/pest inspection reports and feedback from property manager.

It was an owner occupier property not rental which I've discovered tend to be much better looked after and require less maintenance work on purchase I've found.

I hope this answers your question. If you want more info just let me know.

Martin

 

[Cherry Pro]

Hi CGW

Hope your Exeter property has now been rented.

I had about my Elizabeth Downs semi on the market for about 10 days after settlement before it got rented. It had been advertised for over 2 weeks before settlement but not one person went through ... the property manager said it was the weather... also think she had priced it $10 too high. Anyway,
dropped the price to $160 per week and it went quickly.

Also, while I was beginning to get nervous, I called around a few other pms
and told mine that if I hadn't had a tenant in another week, I would move my property to whover was able to find a suitable tenant soonest. That seemed
to work as well.

Also, think with the number of investors ... tenants do have a lot to choose from.

 

[crest133]

4 weeks at $200 is $800 lost rent.
Compared to - $800 lost takes over 3 years to recoup at $5 extra per week.
Offer incentives
"guaranteed immaculately clean & everything works properly"
first week free
xmas week free
rent free period to move in
rent free period to avoid lease/rent overlap from previous tenancy
show tickets
new split aircon or new stove
$200 personal bonus to PM if rented in next 10 days
$195 someone mentioned the psychological $1.99 retail factor
more & better pics on the net
good luck
crest133

 

[kaf]

Just got a call from my PM

Found new tenants - will move in tomorrow . Very glad, I started to get a bit nervous there...

So this has taken 4 weeks with a only 4 people looking at it. PM said it's the weather / winter... Place is in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast (permanent rental) so there might be some seasonal influence. Droped the rent by $10 so that might have helped. Anyone else trying to rent in the area at the moment having trouble?

kaf

 

[yo yo ma]

So this has taken 4 weeks with a only 4 people looking at it. PM said it's the weather / winter... Place is in Caloundra, Sunshine Coast (permanent rental) so there might be some seasonal influence. Droped the rent by $10 so that might have helped. Anyone else trying to rent in the area at the moment having trouble?

We rented a place in Kawana Forest (Caloundra) a few months ago... our PM said lucky we did it then because things often slow up with the winter weather... Good news it is rented & things should start to pick up now.
Steve

 

[kaf]

Thanks for letting me know Steve. Yes I think I'll plan my leases from now on so we won't have vacancies in winter.

Cheers

kaf

 

[cgw]

Thanks everyone. It finally did rent after 41/2 weeks, but I had to drop the rent fm $210 to $195, but the new tenants rented it at the price it was the week before as advertised at $200.
On top of that, I have a $210.00 advertising cost, for adverts each week for 2 days.
Never again, I have learnt my lesson, as said in some of the posts and the books, don't be greedy, lose $5.00 per week in a lower than market rent = $250.00 per year, instead of $800.
We are only leasing for 6 months, so any lease renewals will occur in Summer, and I will be sending the existing tennants dinner vouchers at Xmas time.
Thanks again for all your advice and opinions.

 

[firstmillion]

Thanks everyone. It finally did rent after 41/2 weeks,

Good news finally CGW. I hope it was worth the wait.

Cheers

 

[JOJO]

not rented 7 weeks and counting...

Experiencing similar problems. With all the hype in Frankston there was a lot of activity in the purchasing side of real estate which then resulted in a glut of rentals on the market.

3 bed unit in Frankston South a leafy road in good school zones etc. However not moving. The pictures on the internet are rubbish so I am going to take my own. The blurb on the ad is not at all enticing either so will change that myself.

It's multi-listed now too so that may help. PM is just not pro-active really but rumoured to be one of the best in the area....

I am dropping the rent to $195 today in a hope that it will grab the interest of those below $200 budget. I'd rather lose $5 a week and have someone in there.

Glad to see I am not the only one going through this at the moment!

JoJo

 

[kaf]

Mh - interesting how quickly things can change. We had another flat in our block of 3 vacant and had it rented while still renovating last weekend - I got 4 people through the day it went on the net, still paintpots everywhere and everything pulled appart... Got an application in same day and a good tenant to move in this week. It was a lower price range than the other flat that took us 4 weeks to find a tenant for but still, the level of enquiry was much higher, including people who just walked past and saw the for rent sign (with no indication of price...).

So seems as if the start of spring (and gorgous weather on the weekend) really does change things - so good luck to everyone!!

Cheers

kaf