Freaking out about not having interest

I think my PM had advised to price my property a little too high.
She's advised $290 and it's been on the market with hardly any interest.
I just rang her today and said I have just been to the property and nobody is coming in. She said yeah there's a few 3bedrooms for $270, i would advise to drop it to $270. Urgh... why did she suggest $290 then?

I'm freaking out as this is my first IP. :(
 
It's probably not long by SS standards but I think I am just anxious and been promised a little too much by the PM.
It's on the market for 3 weeks, we had the entire house freshly painted and it is now a nice neutral colour. They updated the listing with new pictures this week. And I was attending the open as I had not seen the newly painted house. Only one family showed up and they were not remotely interested.
I'm probably more anxious as it is my first IP.
 
Hey Lamingtons

How experienced is your PM? If she's very experienced, her first price of $290 is probably not unreasonable and hte market may just be a bit quiet. But if he/she is a newbie, maybe she priced it too high to start with ...

Is your property advertised online? Have you checked the listing to make sure they emphasise all the strong points eg: fresh paint etc?

When you said that family was not remotely interested, did you mange to find out why they weren't? Maybe you can ask your PM to follow up on those people who came to the inspection and find out what they thought about the property.

If most people were turned off by the price, then dropping it should do the trick.

Are there many other properties in the area that are listed for rentals? Have you compared yours to theirs and see whether the rental price (either $270 or $290) is reasonable?

Good luck! I'm worried about not being able to rent out a place as well ... doing some research at the moment ... but sometimes it can just be bad timing ...
 
The family that came through was in the market for a newish townhouse in the next suburb. They were talking to the guy who held the OFI and asked why did no one show up for that inspection to open it. So i think they only came past because it was open. He said there was a $270 house that he just opened and there were 8 groups that went through but it was in a "not as nice" area than mine.

She is experienced but said that it was probably because there was a lot of stock in the market. And when that happens, it's usually price that they look at first (obviously).
 
Lamingtons, from the sound of things, $290 is probably not unreasonable, but when there's a lot of supply, it can be hard. $20 makes a difference to the budgets of tenants.

I think you should assess your financial position in relation to the IP. If it doesn't cause you too much strife by dropping $20 a week, I think you should consider doing it. ($20x52 = $1,040 a year less than what you would have gotten). You can tax deduct so you probably lose $700 (assuming your in 30% tax bracket).

BUt before you drop, ask your PM whether she is confident of getting someone in at $270 and how long it would take to lease it at that price. In the meantime, yoiu should call up other agents in the area, and just ask to speak to their PMs. Say I'm considering changing PM as it's been 3 weeks. It's listed for $290 and Ive been asked to drop to $270, do you think its reasonable. In my experience (this is in Sydney), most PMs are happy to give views even though they know you are not yet their customer and may not sign up with them.

Once they give you the info, you can thank them and tell them you will keep them in mind when you consider changing PMs in the future.

You can then take into account everyone's recommendations and check it against your own research (you can just do a quick search on Domain/RE.com). and if you think $270 is reasonable, then drop it straight away.

It's better to get a tenant in. You can sign 6 months at first, so in case they are not good you have option of getting new ones. Once they are in, you can increase the rent (within reason) when it gets renewed.

Good luck!!!! Let us know what you end up doing and how you go =)
 
Hey jigglypuff, wahhh my property has dropped to the last property on their website. I had a look and yes I think that it is over priced. There are a number of similar houses at that price of $270. But I had that thought at the start anyway and I was wondering why she suggested $290. I thought she had the market expertise as they only specialise in that area.
I think me having these doubts are more to do with my confidence in the PM now than thinking that I will never get a tenant. :(
 
ohhh I see I see ... dont worry, it'll be tenanted. Just a matter of time, and hopefully very soon given you are prepared to drop the price.

if you are happy to fork out $110, you can get a Priority Listing on Domain and re.com , which guarantees your property shows up on the FIRST page of any search for your area. If there are many properties in the area listed for rentals, I think this could be a worthwhile expense ...
 
Hi Lamingtons

Check out my thread. I was in similar situation last year.

There is some good advice here.

Unit in Same complex asking $240

A basic summary of the thread and what I found worked for me

1. Lower your rental as it looks like there is too much competition.
2. Get PM to re-advertise so that yours is fresh and is the lastest listing.


Good luck :)
 
Thanks! I am just freaking out big time and not feeling positive in the PM. She assured me that the area the house is in is good and said it has nothing to do with the area being dodgy. :(

They hold 2 weekly inspections. One on Saturday and one on Thurs afternoon. I think i'm just upset that she overpromised. What happened to it will be tenanted in a week this is a nice house.
GAHHHH I will update.
 
BTW is that you Kim5? Did you change your username? I didn't know you can do that. Congrats on IP1, when I last active you only had your PPOR!
 
I just noticed that they are not doing an ofi next Saturday only on Thursday I think I have been a little too laid back. Will her PM on Tuesday, And asksbout readvertising it to bump it up.
 
Lamingtons

Where is the property located and how much competition is there. You only have to read newspaper to see we are still in a renatl shortage in Melb. For every 2 weeks it is not rented ($540 gross) this is equivelant to you dropping your rent by $10 a week. So you may have to bite the bullet and drop the price to see if that increases interest. Have many people veiwed your property online?

Jezza
 
Hi Lamingtons

As soon as I am advised of a pending vacancy, I insist that a full size, standard 'For Lease' board goes up on the front boundary, with a 'pointer' board at the corner of the street - a few pointer boards if there is more than one road in to the street

I have found that the boards, much more than the internet, get the enquiry

People will be cruising an area, or have a friend who is looking, and they can see the property before they ring up

Never mind the internet, it is still boards, and people calling in to collect rent lists, and open for inspections, which will let the property

I also have a 'no keys' policy. No one is allowed to collect keys and show themselves through, so 'opens' and appointments means that there is always an agent present to happily chat about what other listings they have and why this particular property is good value - all the small features which may not be readily apparent and all the large features eg bus, or walk to schools, or close to a major shopping centre etc

As you have just had the house repainted, this should be a lead feature in the advertising. Now that it is winter, the heating system should also get a prominent mention

And take a step back. First property, or twentieth property, it doesn't matter and the right tenant will appear. When calculating your cash flow forecasts, always calculate for an annual change of tenant and four weeks vacancy each year

That way, when a tenant stays the statistical average of 23 months, and you have someone else already signed up to move in, it will feel like a bonus rather than any period of vacancy feeling like a problem

By the way, the last time I had a vacancy the Agency held a 15 minute 'open' every day - yes, every day - from the time notice was given until the property was let. The people who applied for it had been through at a number of these 'opens' before the previous tenant moved out and there was only a two day vacancy between tenancies.

This Agency has over 1,700 properties under management and place a high priority on making sure their landlords have the minimum time between rent - after all, they don't get paid, either, unless that rent is being paid

If you Agency won't step up the opens campaign, consider doing the opens yourself and passing the enquiry on to the Agency for processing.

No point in quibbling about who should be doing it when you are now looking for an immediate result

Cheers
Kristine
 
Thanks everyone for your help!
I have dropped the price, I just want a tenant in and I did not expect as much rent as the PM had quoted me when she came through. My first instinct was it was overpriced. But I thought I would wait to see the market reaction while the house was painted. My painter did a fantastic job. I will post before and after pictures.

Kristine - I DID show someone through last Saturday just past when I went to look at the completed walls. They were very impressed and I said to apply for the property through the agency. I did a follow up call on Saturday afternoon saying that I spoke to the PM and they are expecting her form. She said she was on her way out to the town to get a form as she didn't have one at home. Fingers crossed as I thought they were respectful of the house. And hopefully their numbers check out. There was a board immediately when I signed up, full size and very visible. :(

Before - http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/7044/20100518153114.jpg
After - http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2042/20100605103220.jpg

I am calling her first thing tomorrrow about editing the ad and reminding her that she doesn't get any $$ the longer the property is there and why there is not more OFI. They do not hand out keys and I wouldn't want someone taking keys out. Although, double standards when I was renting I prefered keys so that I could view it whenever I had time. LOL..

Jezza - House is in Werribee but in the 'good part' of town as all the locals tell me. Houses on the street are well maintained with clean looking lawns. Actually my own weed garden looks more disgraceful.
 
Hey everyone,

Just an update. All good news on our front.
I pulled it from the PM as she was sending me lousy apps and nobody was turning up to Opens. Thought I would take matters into my own hands and advertised on Gumtree Thursday evening.
By Friday I was flooded with interest of people wanting to see it right NOW.
Showed people through on Saturday, have the nicest applicants. Both employed, one is a hairdresser, one works in the city.
Meanwhile I am STILL fielding communications from quality people - full time working couples. One girl from Sydney desperate to get something in Melbourne urgently etc. So I think I did a better job than my PM ever did. She tried to push an applicant whose income was less than the monthly rent. I did not get why she glazed over this blatant fact!? :eek:

Tenants all excited and asked if they can plant things in the garden (go nuts) and trim the bushes and trees. So basically the property was off the market in 1.5 days. I took everyone's feedback on board and did a blurb that really sold the house! This is exciting for me. Thanks everyone for your help!
 
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