Syd Rental Question

[gad]

Hi guys

My daughter's just going through a marriage breakup & needs to rent a unit in the top Ryde area of Sydney. Today she inspected a unit for rent & has been told by the RE agent that the rent is $175 - $220 p/w & she has to put down how much she is willing to pay on her application form, the owner will decide on the successful applicant.
Is this the way it is in Sydney?
Personally I'd only put in $175 but my daughter needs a place & is going to put down $200 (all she can possibly afford) to try & secure the unit.
Just sounds pretty rough to me (though, as a PI & if the market was strong, sounds smart to me).
Thanks for any responses.

 

[frenzy]

$200 per room in syd is cheep

try 275 or 350 for a 1 bed flat

 

[hobgoblin]

Gad, how many bedrooms is this unit? Frenzy is right, $200 is pretty cheap in Sydney. I'm not sure about the Ryde area, but in my part of town, (Glebe/Ultimo) you would get a studio or 1 brm unit for $230 - $270 per week. (although I have seen dumps in Chippendale advertised for $175)

I have never heard of this concept of 'bidding' for a rental place before. It is not normally "the way it is in Sydney"....I have only heard of this with equity leasing, not straight renting.

Cheers,
HG

 

[Alan H]

Gad,

If a 2bd unit, $200pw IS cheap in Ryde.............

 

[mort the frog]

Why rent??? share accom is heaps cheaper you can get a room in a nice house for about $150PW and you have people that you can talk to ratehr than sit in an emoty shell of a house feeling miserable. Thats my way of thinking.

 

[gad]

Thanks guys

Guess she may be lucky to get it for 200 p/w going on your replies.
hobgoblin, it has two large bedrooms, large lounge room, lock up garage beneath, small kitchen etc daughter really likes the place & it's only 10 min's from work.
Mort the Frog, daughter wants a place of here own while marriage break up takes it's course, house has just been sold (contract exchanged) & she will be wanting to put down a dep on a unit of her own in 6 - 12 months.

Again, thanks.

 

[Alan H]

Actually, offering to rent at certain times within an allowable 'range' rather than a specific figure and then using this as one of the selection criteria may be an interesting idea.

Anyone(Joanna??) know if there are any 'legal' tenancy restrictions on this type of approach.

It's certainly an approach used on the sale of properties so I couldn't see any immediate reasons why not.................but you never know!!!

 

[JoannaK]

Hi Alan,

I can't think of any legal restrictions on this type of approach, other than possible discrimination actions (but I guess that's always a possibility no matter what sort of approach you take).

It's an approach that I haven't come across during my PM years, and now that I have a quick think of it I don't really like it.

Reasons are:

The PM may be tempted to encourage the landlord to take the higher offer regardless of the substance of the tenancy application. This could be risky.

The PM/Landlord may find he gets himself into an auction type situation, again perhaps regardless of the substance of the tenancy application. This of course may a good thing (higher rent), but it may also not be a good thing (crappy tenant), and I personally tend to look at the bad first.

The PM/Landlord may in fact be doing himself an injustice. Any tenant has a budget, and if a price range were quoted, I as a tenant would certainly lean toward the lower end of the range. My objective as a tenant is to find a suitable place for the least outlay. On the other side of the coin for this thought, the PM/Landlord may be trying to capture an emotional tenant, in which case they may offer the higher range just to secure the property.

Having said all that though, it could have its merits depending on the mindset of the landlord. If all the landlord wants is a good long term stable tenant, and the cost of this is a slightly reduced rent, then that becomes his insurance policy doesn't it?


Just some random thoughts on the idea.

 

[Alan H]

Yes.......point taken Joanna.

Getting an extra $10pw to get a poor tenant is hardly good value.

Hmmmm........I may keep it as an option though. In the right circumstances, and as long as other selection criteria were considered, it may give you a rental income boost at times...........

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Sim]

In periods of high rental demand I have seen rental "auctions" take place - where the person who is willing to pay the most will rent the apartment. This happened in Artarmon about 4 years ago. Rents have generally been much softer in this area since - and for a while it turned around to be "how many weeks of free rent will you offer me if I agree to rent your place ?". The rental market does seem to be tightening up a little in this area lately though.