On average, how many days/weeks vacancy do you have each year on your IPs?

On average, how many days/weeks vacancy do you have each year on your IPs?

  • LESS THAN 1 WEEK

    Votes: 28 48.3%

  • 1 WEEK

    Votes: 17 29.3%

  • 2 WEEKS

    Votes: 6 10.3%

  • 3 WEEKS

    Votes: 5 8.6%

  • 4 WEEKS

    Votes: 2 3.4%
  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
Watermelon Man

Watermelon Man

Not sure if this is the correct category forum to discuss this topic; but anyway.

At Market Rent, obviously it's possible to achieve 100% occupancy & no vacancy; but what are ways to achieve this? I mean do you have to have a fully renovated home or brand new home in the most sought-after location? And maybe a pro-active PM? How many other investors here have enjoyed the luxury of no vacancy by having 1 tenant move out & then have tenants waiting to move in??

EDIT: WHEN YOU POST, COULD YOU PLEASE ALSO INDICATE IF YOU'RE SELF-MANAGING OR THROUGH A PM, THANKS. :)
 
Last edited:
:D ok I'll cut and paste here...

Never had a day vacant yet, including during tennant swap overs.

State of property probably depends on area a lot. My most recent IP is more on the run down side, but so are the other houses in the area - so I woul'nt waste any $ on making it "nicer."

But if you have the worst house amongst a lot of nice house, then yeah I guess fixing it up a bit will make it more desirable for tennants.
 
on an average of 1 property, and 1 weeks vacancy, that gives me an avg of 1.

Of course, this figure may increase if I post my entire post in capital letters..
 
steveadl said:
:D ok I'll cut and paste here...

Never had a day vacant yet, including during tennant swap overs.

State of property probably depends on area a lot. My most recent IP is more on the run down side, but so are the other houses in the area - so I woul'nt waste any $ on making it "nicer."

But if you have the worst house amongst a lot of nice house, then yeah I guess fixing it up a bit will make it more desirable for tennants.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. Do you self-manage or through PM? So how do you do it? Below market rent? I'd love to find out. My first IP in a sought-after location in QLD, 3 bedroom villa in small complex of 4, lock-up garage, 20 year condition, big rear courtyard; garden maintenance included, no air-conditioning; yet it took 5 weeks of advertising (2 weeks prior to settlement) & around 3-4 weeks for the PM to find a suitable tenant - I was amazed; this in a market of around 1-2 weeks vacancy factor. PM said market rent was $255; after 4 weeks of advertising I dropped the rent to $245 & then got a tenant 1-2 weeks later. No air-conditioning might've been a factor.
 
Harris said:
WM Man

If there was a SS prize on starting new threads and polls, I am sure you will be the clear winner..!
:)
Click to expand...

I'm flattered. Thank you. But I'm a newbie here & in investing as well & I guess I'm trying to just get answers for the questions/topics I'm thinking about at the time. I go back to previous threads but sometimes can't get the answers I'm looking for; so instead just start a new thread. :)
 
Watermelon Man said:
Thanks mate. Do you self-manage or through PM? So how do you do it? Below market rent? I'd love to find out. My first IP in a sought-after location in QLD, 3 bedroom villa in small complex of 4, lock-up garage, 20 year condition, big rear courtyard; garden maintenance included, no air-conditioning; yet it took 5 weeks of advertising (2 weeks prior to settlement) & around 3-4 weeks for the PM to find a suitable tenant - I was amazed; this in a market of around 1-2 weeks vacancy factor. PM said market rent was $255; after 4 weeks of advertising I dropped the rent to $245 & then got a tenant 1-2 weeks later. No air-conditioning might've been a factor.
Click to expand...

Never self managed and don't plan to. Too much work for such a little saving.

I've got a very good PM who always finds good tennants and weeds out the bad ones. I have also bought properties which are desirable in the areas they are in ie. brand new houses in older suburbs where houses are usually more run down.

Having said that, there has been a lot more building recently (ie. more supply), and I have still had no problems.

I always charge market rents (in fact I pretty much charge as high as I believe I can get), and so far have increased the rents at any opportunity ie. re-let, tennant change over etc. There has still been high demand at the moment, so in the future if demand drops, whilst I may not be able to increase - I personally would never offer below market rents. In the end I don't believe the tennants would appreciate it enough, and you just end up suffering yourself with less income.

But by far, I believe a good PM is worth their weight in gold when it comes to this matter - saves a lot of mistakes (ie. wrong tennants), unecessary repairs/improvements, lost rent during transitions etc. :D
 
steveadl said:
But by far, I believe a good PM is worth their weight in gold when it comes to this matter - saves a lot of mistakes (ie. wrong tennants), unecessary repairs/improvements, lost rent during transitions etc. :D
Click to expand...

Much appreciate your post Steve. I gave my 1st IP (the one I spoke about above) to a PM business who only manage properties; not your typical REA with sales & rentals combined as I've found through past experience in the RE industry that Sales Dept comes first & Rental Dept is a very distant last; so I thought giving it to a dedicated Rental Agency would be far better; but I'm not so sure now as I think the PM Agency only has 2 PMs who manage 500 properties; so 250 each which I think is far too many to handle; & this may affect landlords trying to get service. I rang my PM on Monday after I gave them my 2nd IP; & I haven't heard anything from thing; despite 3 requests from them to return my call. Hmmm...
 
Watermelon Man said:
Much appreciate your post Steve. I gave my 1st IP (the one I spoke about above) to a PM business who only manage properties; not your typical REA with sales & rentals combined as I've found through past experience in the RE industry that Sales Dept comes first & Rental Dept is a very distant last; so I thought giving it to a dedicated Rental Agency would be far better; but I'm not so sure now as I think the PM Agency only has 2 PMs who manage 500 properties; so 250 each which I think is far too many to handle; & this may affect landlords trying to get service. I rang my PM on Monday after I gave them my 2nd IP; & I haven't heard anything from thing; despite 3 requests from them to return my call. Hmmm...
Click to expand...

My PM is from LJ Hooker who do both, but they have a very large property managment dept., and one of the biggest house portfolio in the area. I would tend to agree with you in theory about a professional management co. doing a better job - but I guess it still depends on indivdual co's and PM's (like in my case).

As far as your experience with your current PM is - that's total crap! :mad: If they didn't return my call after 3 messages left, that'd be it! (Unless of course when the PM finally gets back to you they have a VERY valid excuse, and not just "I was out sick") - but that still should'nt stop someone else from the office ringing to inform you of the situation etc.

I read somewhere a while back that ideally each PM should'nt have more than about 70 or so houses on their individual roll (ie. per person) - after this, the service may start to slide. Maybe some of the PM's on SS can elaborate?

Is IP2 you mentioned already tennanted, or are they supposed to be finding someone for you? If you are trying to find someone, then get on the phone again and tell them to pull their finger out and give you an update (ie. whether they've already listed it, any enquiries yet etc.) - and there is no reason - if you have their mobile number - for them not to receive and therefore return your calls.

PS Another point I forgot to add is - I like the idea of going with a PM that is fairly large in the area as they should have a good list of tennants on fild for houses etc. and past tennants who they have dealt with - therefore you should have fairly short vacancy periods if any.
 
Most of ours are only day's, but for some reason and I don't know if it just Rocky, but you can advertise for 2 week's coming up to a vacancy but won't get any one to sign until the property is actually vacant which can mean a few day's on each changeover.

Our last one is getting signed up tomorrow so has been empty for a week , but it has had a rent increase and has a single solicitor with no kid's or pet's signing up for 12 mth's so happy with that.

The PM is almost annoying with the regularity of their call's and emails giving us the warm and fuzzies, but I no complain.

Dave
 
steveadl said:
Is IP2 you mentioned already tennanted, or are they supposed to be finding someone for you? If you are trying to find someone, then get on the phone again and tell them to pull their finger out and give you an update (ie. whether they've already listed it, any enquiries yet etc.) - and there is no reason - if you have their mobile number - for them not to receive and therefore return your calls.
Click to expand...

The 2nd IP is already tenanted yet the rent is around 15-20% under current market rent; so the rent is going to go up at the end of the lease in October.

I feel like I'm the one having to do the chasing, ringing & emailing to get service - should be the other way around. When both IPs are due up in Oct/Nov I think I'll change. I think my folks are going to move into my 1st IP in November, so then I'll just find another PM for the 2nd IP. Many thanks Steve.
 
Watermelon Man said:
The 2nd IP is already tenanted yet the rent is around 15-20% under current market rent; so the rent is going to go up at the end of the lease in October.

I feel like I'm the one having to do the chasing, ringing & emailing to get service - should be the other way around. When both IPs are due up in Oct/Nov I think I'll change. I think my folks are going to move into my 1st IP in November, so then I'll just find another PM for the 2nd IP. Many thanks Steve.
Click to expand...

You probably already know this, but if your increasing in Oct. - make sure the agent knows this and gives the tennants the 60 days (?) notice required. If the PM is slacking, then they may not remember. But if your going to change PM's, then problem should be solvered as you can discuss this all with them.
 
I usually have it let prior to previous tenant moving out. I am very proactive and make sure that the advert reads well and has good photos etc. Some of my properties are selected site unseen from interstate.
 
I've had two change overs and both have been within a week. As long as your property manager is on the ball they should be advertising early enough to get someone in by the time the current tenant moves out.

BB, it's nice that you get called. I think my manager is great, except she rarely contacts me. Last time I found out about the last rent increase was when I received the monthly statement. Not complaining, but I did ask her to contact me next time.:)

BR
 
Watermelon Man,

Please don't use CAPS on thread titles again. On the internet, it's considered shouting (rude).

Cheers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Journey so far - $75k salary (average), 5 years, 10 properties
2 3 4
Replies
66
Views
24K
Simon L
S
K
Rent Increases Brisbane <10km Suburbs
Replies
17
Views
3K
Ed Barton
E
K
20 US properties in 4 1/2 years
2 3
Replies
57
Views
14K
MTR
MTR
C
Would you do Termidor treatment after this report?
Replies
12
Views
4K
wylie
W
I
20 year strategy (another one)
Replies
8
Views
3K
impermanence
I
Back
Top