Mates without rental history

We're about to move out of our PPR and have listed it for rent. Is a 3 bed unit in the Eastern Suburbs.

We've had one application for it and it is 2 girls and a guy with no rental history. They've all lived with their parents to date. They all have solid employment histories that have been verified by the agent.

Does this smell trouble? The agents manage the property that one of the girl's mum lives and said she's a good tenant that has been renting from them for years. I've asked that the mum be guarantor on the lease if we go ahead.

It sounds enticing to have tenants wanting to move in only 3 days after we leave and agreeing to the asking price, but wondering if I am being too hasty in saying yes (the agent is waiting for my call). I expect that the only other potential tenants around here will be groups of Asian students (not being far from UNSW) so is it worth waiting for more applicants which will be share accommodation? I will be getting landlord insurance regardless.

I look forward to your replies. BTW we probably won't be moving back in at any point but I guess it is more emotional when you live in a place when deciding on tenants. For our other places I find it easy to make a decision on the spot but this time I'm finding it tough.
 
We have tenants of similar circumstance in QLD property - first time renting, three friends out of home.
So far they've paid the rent on time, and after a bit of prompting from the PM have realised their obligations in terms of looking after the place and are now quite good tenants. The only issue we've had has been attitude from one of the females, however the PM has been fine in dealing with her. (attitude was somewhat agressive/deserving (ie spoilt brat)).
The positive side of the situation is that if they stuff up, they're going to have it on their rental records for many many years to come and will make any future rentals difficult.
 
We have also found young women to be more agressive than the male tenants. They are better at informing us when something isn't working properly.
Sometimes they can be a handful..and you are happy when they leave.
 
We just had something similar happen. Upshot was we said we are prepared to give them a go - but only do a 3 month lease. If all OK at the 3 month inspection then a 12 month lease will be offered. If not - terminated.
 
People have to start somewhere. It's a bit like getting a job - no job without experience, and no experience without a job.

When I had my slum units (4x1BR @ $60wk) I would often get 17/18 yos moving out of home for the first time. My PM was a great judge of character, and some of these 1st-time renters were excellent - a few duds, but like Prop suggests, keep them on a close rein for the first little while.
 
We just had something similar happen. Upshot was we said we are prepared to give them a go - but only do a 3 month lease. If all OK at the 3 month inspection then a 12 month lease will be offered. If not - terminated.

We do this in our apartment building in a certain town.
Start everyone, even the older tenants, with a 3 month Fixed term.
 
i did a thread when i was trying to move into my rental, anyway was with 3 other males all ~25.

1 had rental history, i didn't because i had always owned, another didn't because he had just been boarding one of my rooms and the other was fresh out of home. So far we haven't damaged anything we got renewed at the 3 month mark and only took a 3% rise. Always hit rent on time and have informed them of things breaking but haven't been harsh about requesting the earth to get moved and free rent while it does.

Don't be too quick to write off younger people, don't forget the income streams one of us was unemployeed for a little while but the gross wage of the house was still 200k in so the 3k+ a month rent still got done on time.
 
I have four 22 year olds in one IP, all employed. Early stages but it's started off well. They had completed a full lease together elsewhere which to me is a HUGE plus for them against other flatmate applications.

Girls are definitely pickier - we received a nice list of issues with the house. Got onto one of the guys to schedule a tradie, and he's like, "oh, what's that for?" ... he wasn't even all that bothered!

The percentage of young applicants we found on Facebook was staggering. Taken with a grain of salt, it can easily be part of your Due Diligence. To young people - don't be alarmed, so what if you have a couple of drunken costume party photos. It is actually reassuring to see that you have normal, healthy social lives. Once the lease is signed I have no further interest in your online profiles. As long as the rent is on time!
 
Our very first tenants were four young men. I think I can honestly say that they were the best tenants we have ever had. Rent was always paid on time and they asked for nothing. They might have been a little slack with the yard work but gave it back in the same condition they took it and you can't ask for more than that. I can't remember if the main one on the lease came with references or not, it's too long ago now.

We have tenants now that came without references and we did what you are doing, put them on a three month lease. Everything was fine for the three months but deteriorated rather quickly when the next lease was put in place. It's all sorted now and they are pretty good tenants, but I would suggest that you keep a bit of eye on them for a little longer than the three months, maybe make the next lease six instead of twelve, just in case.
 
I had some young tenants (two girls) that moved out late last year. They were great. Always paid on time - they set up direct debits.
They never asked for anything to be done to the place - I don't think they realised they could?
The whole place was like a teenager's bedroom - stuff everywhere. When they moved out, one of their mums came and helped clean - it was a big job.
 
The guy's mum...

Some brave person rented their house to me and four mates, all aged 19, with zero rental record.

Parents all went guarantor.

I would say we were good tenants in that we had no idea how much you could get away with asking to be done for you. (I actually got desperate enough to take photos of leaking rain on my bed, write pleas in poetry for a roof fix etc and it was a major agent not a private landlord.)

On the other hand, there was one bloke whose mother warned me against living with her son. Should have listened. He was not a great housemate and we got rid of him. Also had a bit of aggro with the neighbours, not great.

With various changes of housemates we continued to rent there for five years, which would have given the landlord excellent continuity. When they sold the house we were really sad - I'd be keen to buy it if it ever came back on the market.

The garden was sometimes messy but the rent was paid more or less on time - so overall we weren't too bad.
 
The percentage of young applicants we found on Facebook was staggering. Taken with a grain of salt, it can easily be part of your Due Diligence. To young people - don't be alarmed, so what if you have a couple of drunken costume party photos. It is actually reassuring to see that you have normal, healthy social lives. Once the lease is signed I have no further interest in your online profiles. As long as the rent is on time!
Although it's their own fault for not having their info/photos on a private setting, I wonder if that's a step too far?
What exactly can you learn about a stranger that is relative to them renting your house, and doesn't borderline invasion of privacy? (Seeing as Facebook is a tool to link friends and acquaintances...not provide strangers as a means to suss you out).
 
Major partying and major drinking/drug use.

Agreed.

When the time comes for me to screen potential tenants, I will do a bit of Facebook "investigation" out of curiosity more than anything. I don't feel as though I'm violating anyone's privacy or crossing any lines. That person has chosen to leave their profile open to the public.

I know this is not the most effective way of weeding out the good from the bad, and may even be counterproductive in some cases. However, I will not be able to help myself..
 
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