Gumtree

[kathryn d]

According to the story they just on Current affair, private landlords now have the ability to check out applicants.
I forget the name of the company..but just look on ACA website for more info.
It's about $10 for each search.

here it is:http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8605307
It's the new crackdown on your rental past that will name and shame filthy tenants.

If you're a renter with a bad history, everyone from real estate agents to mum and dad will know.

For more information, visit www.eezirent.com.au.

 

[Chomp]

I advertised a two bed unit the other week on Gumtree, one viewing for half an hour. I signed up a couple, he is an electrical engineer, she is an architect, they offered me two months rent in advance and $15 a week more than the asking price. They also provided a good reference from their last rental.

 

[C-mac]

Definitely worth paying the 8% and just getting a property manager to do it professionally. If property investing is to be a serious focus for you, you'll find deals are able to be negotiated, with the more properties that you acquire. There are companies that specialise in managing multiple properties pertaining to the same investor (some have a 3 or 4 property minimum) but you get great service, at a negotiated rate (some going as low as 5%).

Gumtree is great to find flatmates, or temporary renters (who are able to pay a shorter terms like 2-3 months; upfront in one payment), but I agree, even with reference checking, Gumtree property leasing is high-risk. Just pay the 5-8% management fee, it'll serve you better long-term

 

[The Fence]

Cameron I beg to differ and think you are painting with a broad brush.

When someone does a search on google for property to rent in _____(town/location) then the inevitable gumtree comes up among the others.

What's wrong with that and why is there this stigma with gumtree...?

just because ACA had a special on gumtree does not make it bad.

It's a place that has served a purpose for us and others I know as well as the previous poster to you.

My experience with PM's is all bad and no good at all, fair dinkum !

We have been privately managing for 10 years now and never had a problem, get along well with our tenants etc, but before with a PM, it was horror stories every month..!

You say I say, but I have no business to sell on here....
And we have 4 IP's.

 

[fokas]

I've only used Gumtree to sell items and have found a lot of dodgey and lazy interested parties. A friend of mine applied for a rental on there which turned out to be a scam using images from a property which was sold a month prior.

agree matty,

is a fine balance between dropping the rent vs how much it will cost per year,eg $10 drop is $500 per year, so thats 2 weeeks rent,

as for appraisals, I got 3 from different agencies, and they were all 230-$240 per week, it has nt been rented before because I just purchased it, so yeah, even the agents are a little miffed as to why its not even getting applications, but the rental market appears a little more volatile then usual, but I just wanted it rented out as yo ucan imagine, I was going flag the 2 weeks +9.9% agency because they were so expensive, but im happy to pay if anybody canget it rented out!

There's been a few times when people on SS have said 'I don't know why it's not being rented!' and turns out that the ads for it are of poor quality, the photos don't do the property justice and there are basic advertising mistakes. Perhaps your ads could be improved? Floor plans are often very helpful too.
Good luck with it!

 

[Wandererone]

Why are sites like Gumtree being used here as the scapegoat for unhappy landlords?

Many people self manage their own properties.
Before internet they used to advertise through (local) newspapers.
Were there any less undesirable tenants then? I don't think so.

But where once upon a time one had to at least make a phone call or, God forbid, write an actual letter, to apply for a property and the landlord could probably assess over the phone or from the letter (which usually always included references) whether the applicant could string two words together and could then ask questions of the prospective tenant that needed an 'on the spot' answer, the LL could then decide if they wanted to meet the prospective or not.

Nowadays everything sems to be via email or text. Could be Jack the bloody Ripper for all we know.

I prefer to keep my IP with an agent, pay the 7.85% and let them deal with any s**t. As the property is also 5 hours away it just makes life a lot easier.
So far no problems. Great agent and great communication.
And we did buy the property from them in the first place so I think they may feel a sense of obligation to do the right thing and hold onto the management.
When we get the property inspection reports back and they say things like 'a pleasure to inspect' and '100%' we can't complain about our tenants and we figure that our agent is doing a great job.

 

[INVSTOR]

I advertised a two bed unit the other week on Gumtree, one viewing for half an hour. I signed up a couple, he is an electrical engineer, she is an architect, they offered me two months rent in advance and $15 a week more than the asking price. They also provided a good reference from their last rental.

That's good to know! My self-managed Perth tenant is leaving in a couple of months and it's been about 5 years since I've had to advertise. I can't remember the last time I bought a newspaper where I used to advertise, maybe 7 years ago.

 

[nhg]

Advertised a place on gumtree last month for $500/week in Western Sydney.

Had over a dozen enquiries. Rented for $550 in the end, all paid up so far. Good references etc.

We used it to advertise as the managing agent wasn't able to get in before-hand. Once done we just directed them to the agent to go through the usual procedure.

Not bad for $10 to advertise for 2 weeks IMO.

 

[geoffw]

I like that gumtree advertises on TV.

An advertising website which takes free ads, supported by advertising, is advertising.

How 21st Century.

 

[Ideo]

I got my current rental through gumtree.

Lease break situation, no fee for tenant if they replaced themselves by X date, other wise they would have to pay the agents fees.

Meant we could avoid a bidding war on cheaper properties that were all that were available at that point in time, with no properties that we were after.

Been there for 10 months now, worked out well for us. It was done through the agents though, just advertised differently.

 

[Joeyv]

I have successfully advertised two houses on gumtree and found quality tenants both times.

The 1st house I had about 8 phone calls over a couple of days and showed 2 family's through. One a younger couple and one older. I went with the older couple and have had no problems.

The 2nd house i posted the houses on gumtree at about 2am after I came home from work.
The next day starting at 7am I was barraged with over 30 phone calls alone, emails and text messages. I didn't answer many of the calls as I was sleeping (due to afternoon shift)
I went through the texts and one that stood out was a women who said her and her partner work and he worked for the government. They moved in and have been no problem so far.

The amount of interest I received was scary lol

Even after I deleted the add off of gumtree people were still calling and sending me pictures of the add.

I had to repost the add and title it with *LEASED* to get ppl to stop and some were still calling and texting.

However even though i have had sucess with gumtree I don't reccommend it for everyone.

I have been a manager in the hospitality industry for a while now and have learnt how to read a person better than your 23 year old property manager can, so being in an eviroment employing people has helped with managing the houses as they are basically like managing a business

 

[TMNT]

Here is my recent experiences on gumtree

1. Property in major regional area, fairly low socio economy
Took me 3 months to find a tenant, agent got about 6 enquiries,
Gumtree got about 20 of these only about 3 actually bothered following up looking a pt the property, in the end agent found a tenant

2. Property in medium regional area, fair low socio economy
Took me 3 months to find a tenant, agent had a grand total of 3 enquiries, gumtree had 50!!!!!! Most of them sounded desperate, eg ill pay an extra 30 per week, I'm a single mum of 4 kids, about 6 applications whilst agent couldn't get an enquiry , I also had it listed 10% higher on gumtree as I forgot to reduce the rent like on domain, of the applications, all were really bad, rental arrears, damage, husband is in prison, lots of lies in the applications
Managed to find one via the agent eventually

My gut is that in regional and low socio Eco areas gumtree is low probability,for student, high demand areas, gumtree is a good option

 

[esh]

Gumtree has both good and wierd/bad tenants out there. Yes, there is alot on gumtree that are marked on Tica and are avoiding agents. Some people get lucky with gumtree and some with Property Managers.
I am a property manager and yes there are bad ones out there- but thats when you shouldbe asking alot of questions and doing your due diligence (with both Pm's and gumtree applicants)

Even do a facebook/linkedin search if you are privately managing- you'll be surprised what you can find.

At the end of the day (biased opinion because I am a property Manager! ) I wouldnt manage myself.

PM=tax deductible,saves time!

 

[RPI]

Just out of interest.

I have seen several Show/Cause or Enforcement Notices this year that list a Gumtree add as support for unlawful student accommodation/ dual living etc.

 

[MichaelGilbert]

Advertising on Gumtree

I've been working in Real Estate for about 8 years now and have a keen interest in the different and new ways to rent out property.

I have created a short video where I have given my own thoughts on using gumtree to advertise your property and I think this could be of interest to you if you reading this tread.

Should I advertise my rental property on gumtree - Video

In the video I have made mention to Rent My Estate which is a new website that property owners can use to manage their own properties. The system is still very much in development however the first release is due in about 3-4 weeks in which you will be able to advertise your property on only websites a Typical Real Estate Agent can and much more. Take a look.

 

[INVSTOR]

I put an advert on Gumtree last night for a Perth property and it's had 90 views already and one response. I'm surprised how much traffic it gets. Will update how it goes. There is an advert on realestate.com for the villa next door at $30/wk more than mine, although it's more modern.

 

[INVSTOR]

I received a text today from this company today to advertise on realestate.com.au for 4 weeks for $75. (bit cheaper than advertised rate on website) Seams really reasonable if there is no other fees, as they state in text. http://www.investormentor.com.au/

 

[INVSTOR]

Update - I've been using realestate.com.au through Investormentor and Gumtree to advertise property. I think I started advertising a bit too early, about a month before property was available. I've had a lot of people seem keen, take applications, but not apply. I've had a few more responses from Gumtree advert than the other site. I didn't have many photo's of property, so I don't think that has helped get interest either. I'm doing a home open today - most re agents /pm's are taking the easter weekend off so it will be interesting to see if I get more people through.

 

[BeYourOwnAgent]

Regardless of the source, thorough rental references, 99% of the time, will help safe guard against bad tenants.

Saying that, if someone really wants to pull the wool over your eyes, they will!

When I ran my own real estate agency, we ran into a few tenants who created fake references and had their "friends" pick up the phone when we called for the rental reference.

It was only through experience that we realised it didn't sound right, and advised the client.

Be diligent and thorough, and have a list of questions as part of your reference checking process.

 

[neK]

In QLD, advertising a rental property without a price, or with a price range, or price guide is illegal. It's referred to as a 'rent auction'.

Rental properties must be advertised at a fixed weekly price, and tenants cannot be encouraged to 'make offers' by the agent. It happens, but if the agent is reported, they can be disciplined.

A tenant may decide of their own volition to offer more, and we have this happen occasionally, but what Wylie is getting at is that Steve from MRE was possibly being creative with the rules, and encouraging 'bids'.

Is this illegal in NSW?
Because i saw it written on a RE website

Rent Ranging

XYZ Company advertise properties by price range rather than a fixed price. We have found this to be extremely successful in giving us the ability to negotiate the best rent for you. Ultimately the market will determine the rent so advertising on a fixed price is trying to predict what someone will pay. We never know who is out there looking and what they are prepared to pay, so a negotiable range will give us the best chance of securing the best result for you as well as reducing any vacancy period.

We found when testing this method against a straight asking rent that we achieved higher rents and reduced vacancy periods. Many of our clients think this is one of the best strategies they’ve seen.