Just out of curiousity....

[GoldCoastGirl]

In this current climate, what is the longest time your property has been available for tenancy (vacant)? This includes end of lease, breaking of a lease and so forth... any actual vacancy.

I've been reading here and elsewhere ... and I don't think that a property (unless there was something majorly wrong with the PM and/or the property itself) would take long for it to lease... not 8 weeks... right???

 

[wylie]

Last year or so, we have never had longer than one week vacant, last two times, not even one day.

Wylie

 

[Xenia]

3-6 weeks is the average for our agency depending on properties. Those under $300 per week tend to move faster than higher priced ones.

 

[GoAnna!]

Hi Xenia

Do you usually advertise the properties while the previous tenant is still residing there or do you wait for the poperty to be empty before you show people through?

 

[Glucose]

I agree 8 weeks is way too long. I had a new property (as in newly purchased) in October last year that the PM didn't get rented for 6 weeks, and I thought that was unacceptable especially as PM was given notice of it before it settled & the house was empty & showable from day one. And vacancy rates are supposed to be the lowest ever!!

 

[HandyAndy888]

We tried for too high rent...$250/week in Kingston for an average house...needless to say it did not rent for 8 weeks ..never listen to your PM for projected rental income...it is no real loss to him/her...my 2 cents.

 

[JIT]

...never listen to your PM for projected rental income...it is no real loss to him/her...my 2 cents.

Yes to that! My PM had no idea, and I learnt this the hard way. Took about 4 weeks to rent a property that should have taken 4 days! After I did my own research and established what the real comparable rent was (and kicked myself for not doing it properly myself earlier, and being a greedy landlord!), I had 8 applications to choose from just a few days later! Could not believe it! Renters aren't that stupid, and the ones that have been looking for a while can certainly tell when a property is 'over-quoted' in rent, and will wait till it comes down to 'market value' before submitting their applications.

I had the thought of asking for the leasing fee back, as really I did all the work getting the property leased, mainly setting the right price! - anyone ever been successful in doing this?

This PM will certainly be getting the sack.

In contrast, for another property, using another PM, I had a property leased with a new tenant 4 weeks before settlement!

GSJ

 

[sailor]

Longest vacancy period = 8 months owing to post-cyclone repairs. (Long live LL insurance.)
Next longest vacancy period = 2 weeks.

PM always asks me what I'd like for rental price. I usually check out the local prices with other REA's and on realestate.com.au then tell my PM what I want.

 

[BV]

8 weeks????
I never had such a long vacancy.

Something is definitely wrong here.
Have they forgotten to advertise it?
Is your property in an area with demand for rentals?
is there something wrong with the place or the location?
It could also be that the PM is giving preferential treatment to some IP's over others.
Has perhaps the PM got his own IP's perhaps and he is pushing them first?

I would find out if your PM has many properties for lease.
Call him up and ask him to fax you the list of available properties.
Have you seen it advertised?

In Sydney there are not many properties for lease these days.
The last property I leased out last week took 8 days.
2 years ago for the same property it took a couple of weeks but that was luck
or the PM perhaps gave it preferential treatment
because there were many properties for lease at the time.

Good luck

 

[wylie]

In the past we generally have waited until the house is empty to advertise, as to do so earlier has generally backfired because tenants moving house have boxes and clothes everywhere, not the best light to show a house in.

However, with the rental market as it currently is, the last two times we put tenants in, we arranged for an open for inspection on a Wednesday evening or Saturday for one hour to show prospective tenants through, and each time rented it that way.

Because the market is so tight presently, each time the tenant moved out on Saturday or Sunday and the new one moved in next day. This will not be the case when the rentals are not so tight, but right now, it is working like this.

Wylie