Brisbane - where did all the tenants go?

[miss green eyes]

I think you must move on from your memories from your childhood . Technology has changed so much.

I'm not sure if you can get portable units that are actually air-con and not evaporative units, but air-con is so cheap these days to install that I reckon you'd probably pay nearly as much for a portable one as a split.

But A/C still breaks down nowadays. Just like everything else, despite the advances in technology.
I will get A/C if and when I really need to. And just bear the cost of repairs, like I bear the cost of repairing everything else (plumbing, car etc).
I personally almost never sleep with A/C on. I don't like artificial temperature control. I dislike hotels which have un-openable windows. And I don't understand why hospitals aren't open air. Isn't A/C just circulating all the germs?

 

[miss green eyes]

The rental market in Brisbane is just fine, generally speaking, plenty of people who were renting have or are choosing to buy, also you have holidays, seasonal factors but no excuse for extended vacancies.

Would you have some recommendations for the OP to resolve their situation?

 

[Andrew_A]

Would you have some recommendations for the OP to resolve their situation?

There's some good advice in this thread

I notice the OP hasn't given any more info, just a very general what's going on? The answer being... not much very generally. I wouldn't describe the market for rents as strong but everything I appraise is coming in at estimates or better.

> Check your initial expectations, were they accurate? If not... who sold you on those numbers?
> Plug your search into realestate.com.au and check the competition, this is what your prospective tenants are doing, watch the $50 price points as $405/wk will place you outside people search for $300-$400/wk properties.
> Throw in extras where needed to get yourself over the line, aircon is a big one, 1 week free
> Do the maths on vacancy vs lowering the rent 20-30$/wk to get a tenant in asap.

 

[miss green eyes]

Just had a quick squiz at A/C units on the harvey norman website. about $1-1.5k for a split system (is that per unit? so I would need to pay per unit per room?). There are units for almost 3k but that's probably overkill for a small room.

 

[miss green eyes]

There's some good advice in this thread

> Throw in extras where needed to get yourself over the line, aircon is a big one, 1 week free
> Do the maths on vacancy vs lowering the rent 20-30$/wk to get a tenant in asap.

Would 1 week free attract anyone to a run-down property? For me, no. 1 month free, maybe.

I agree with lowering rent. But not too much, because it then attracts the wrong demographic. But beggars can't be choosers.

 

[BV]

I've noticed recently it's hard to get people to inspect property. where did all the tenants go?

is it because since interest rate is low all the tenants could get a home loan and bought their own house instead of rent?

more houses being built?

is it because less population since the international students stopped coming due to harder immigration policy?

rent and everyone more expensive so more tenants living with their parents??

What the heck is going on??

Probably all of the above and perhaps many of them moved to Sydney and to other cities looking for work?

 

[rchad]

Let me share our view

TOO MANY BLOODY APARTMENTS BEING BUILT that are overpriced!!! Milton (commercial market through the floor for lease signs everywhere and apartments going up all around my office), Newstead, Hamilton, West End, South Bank, Annerley, Nundah, Chermside (ghtetto of them), Morningside ..developers building stock that exceeds demand, prices so high that OTP owners will be shocked once they need to be rented unless ofcourse the developer factored in a rental guarantee - then the Property Managers have the tough job of having to let the new owners know what the rent is really worth

Just saying

I've noticed recently it's hard to get people to inspect property. where did all the tenants go?

is it because since interest rate is low all the tenants could get a home loan and bought their own house instead of rent?

more houses being built?

is it because less population since the international students stopped coming due to harder immigration policy?

rent and everyone more expensive so more tenants living with their parents??

What the heck is going on??

 

[wylie]

Just had a quick squiz at A/C units on the harvey norman website. about $1-1.5k for a split system (is that per unit? so I would need to pay per unit per room?). There are units for almost 3k but that's probably overkill for a small room.

What we generally do is put in a split large enough for the kitchen and living areas. We generally don't put it in the bedrooms because if the windows are closed and the bedroom doors open, the air gets into them quite well (depending on layout). We don't get that many nights in Brisbane where we put on the air-con in our PPOR. I mostly open the windows and have a fan blowing across the bed. I like fresh air too and it must be pretty hot for me to switch on the air.

I guess in high end IPs the expectation would be higher, but so would the rent. Our places are all in the 450 to 600 per week range and one split system big enough to cool/heat the main living areas seems to be good enough for most people.

We have ducted air in our PPOR but the bedrooms don't get much of the air, even though they have their own zone. A couple of years ago we put small splits into two bedrooms and I think they cost about $700 plus $400 to install (or something like that).

Now, on a stinking hot night, we just run the split and don't have the whole house cooling. Even when we turn on just the bedroom zones on the ducted system, it is running a big motor just for a couple of small rooms. Seems a waste of power and money (not to mention it is much noisier than the splits).

 

[miss green eyes]

Thanks Wylie.
I'll worry about A/C when I really have to and research then. I don't know too much at this stage, as I haven't had to worry about it just yet.

 

[Tyla]

it's not just brisbane, it's the same in Sydney.
There is a glut of rentals because alot of people have bought IPs in the last year or so.
If it gets too difficult to rent out my IP I may consider upgrading it - installing A/C, dishwasher etc.
I dread the maintenance on A/Cs though. Each callout will just cost so much.

How did you go with your ip in western syd? How long was it vacant before tenanted?

 

[miss green eyes]

Hi tyla ,
Are you talking to me or the op?
If you're talking to me, yes it was tenanted out within a couple of weeks, thanks for thinking of me.
I had updated my thread on that issue.

 

[Tyla]

Hi tyla ,
Are you talking to me or the op?
If you're talking to me, yes it was tenanted out within a couple of weeks, thanks for thinking of me.
I had updated my thread on that issue.

Sorry I was talking about you. Glad to hear that.

 

[LeoT]

haven't experienced major issues renting out in Brisbane recently. Rented out a 4 bed house in 4 days,

 

[Morbius]

Brisbane is a bit all over the place at the moment. Overall vacancy is not high, but certain types of accommodation in some places are hard to rent out. As one of the previous posters pointed out, there have been a lot of units close to the CBD built recently and more are coming on line all the time. Not to mention low interest rates meaning tenants are moving out of rentals into their own places. I'm finding it bit harder to get tenants than I did in the past, but it is by no means woeful. (I have apartments in the inner west.)

You are asking the right question. "What will get people doing inspections". It is all about getting noticed and inspected. Great features that can't be advertised well are a bit like the old wetsuit trick. you feel warm, but nobody notices.

Would definitely agree with the poster who suggested giving some thought to how you might catch people's attention. Definitely do not go just over the $50 barrier, and a free fortnight (or even a week) is a great thing to put at the front of an ad. Moving house is a cashflow-intensive business and it gets attention. I have found that a free fortnight is lots more effective at getting inspections than dropping the rent by $10.

Aircon will get you noticed, but A/C will cost out at about $5/wk per system over the long term (based on split systems that will handle a 25sqm room each). Personally I find good ceiling fans are actually better than A/C in Brisbane simply because Brisbane only sucks when it is very humid and humidity makes fans more effective whereas it kills aircon, but I may be in a bit of a minority these days. A good ceiling fan costs you less than $1/week over its lifetime. But while good fans keep tenants, they don't necessarily get them to inspect. If you have them in every room, make sure you advertise them though!

I'd be interested in any other ideas to get noticed. How much extra interest does "recently renovated" get, for instance?

 

[Angel]

I have lived in Brisbane all my life and I would never ever go back to not having Air Con in my home. Yes it is great to have the fans going and the windows open in weather like today, but I can assure you all that our air con goes on every day for about four months of the year because the heat is stifling. I think the only demographic who wont be affected by the heat would be those from monsoonal climates.

 

[Morbius]

I have lived in Brisbane all my life and I would never ever go back to not having Air Con in my home. Yes it is great to have the fans going and the windows open in weather like today, but I can assure you all that our air con goes on every day for about four months of the year because the heat is stifling. I think the only demographic who wont be affected by the heat would be those from monsoonal climates.

I don't think most my tenants could afford to run aircon every day 4 months of the year. I guess it depends on the demographic you are going after. I have one place where not having aircon would be a travesty, and I have two places where there was aircon when I bought them, but it is a bit of a white elephant that costs me money and doesn't get extra rent. If I can get an extra $10/week per system I install, then I'll put it in regardless of my personal preferences.

I do find I get better bang for buck by replacing original kitchens and replacing carpets with tiles and I have a few of those to do before I start thinking about installing aircon.

 

[zimby]

Inner Norther Suburbs are currently overstocked.
See soo many places with Free week's rent, usually on overpriced 2 bedroom units.
We just secured a lease break and rent increase for one of ours in the northside, didn't take too long either, however it is a lease break and just below market.
Wonder why no-one has started using visa/mastercard gift cards instead of free rent.
1 weeks free rent is horribly unexciting, especially if you are pushing the upper limit of your target audience.

 

[fullylucky]

Not an isolated problem for Brisbane. 12 months ago I would state I would have a tenant within 2 weeks but now only 3-5 families will look at the property and I have to work hard to ensure one of them take the property. If they dont then sits there for up to 1-2 mths. All current for lease properties have to be very well presented and well priced at the moment due to more to choice from. I listed a property with a pool on Thursday and with in two days I had 5 families through and another 2 through today. Phone and emails have now stopped coming in. Luck I received an application yesterday avo. All you can do in this market is ensure all okay with the property before showing and be patient. Dont just do open home show when applicant is available to see.

Hi Guys, good news for me. I rented out both rooms. following advice above.

The advice that was most helpful was from Salvatore1. Thank you very much. Really saved me.

I went to the property ahead of time not when the potential tenants came. I went half an hour a head and cleaned the place up a bit.