Furnishing your Investment Rental Property - Do I, Don't I?

You have purchased an investment property.  After a quick tidy up you are ready for your property manager to list for tenancy.  Question is, do you furnish?

As part of the marketing strategies and business planning, landlords must determine whether to rent out their residential properties as fully furnished, partially furnished or as empty and unfurnished unit. Each one of these options has its own set of pros and cons which landlords should weigh very carefully against each other, against the current rental market, against the functionality and purpose of the property itself and finally, against the targeted tenants.

Fully Furnished Rental Units

Understandably, furnished units charge higher rent and they have little to no competition. However, landlords will need to invest more in maintenance and should also realise that the pool of tenants is fairly limited.

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Australian Property Market Overview

APRIL 2011

The first two months of 2011 saw a slow start to Australia’s capital city property markets, with the majority providing negative growth in the first two months of the year. The exceptions were Melbourne and Sydney houses which continued their growth from the previous year, though only posting moderate gains in January and February 2011.

In the year to 28 February 2011, the Melbourne house market maintained its position as the nation’s top performing residential property market, followed by Sydney units, Canberra houses, Sydney units and Hobart houses. Returns from these property sectors ranged from 9.2% (Melbourne houses) to 6.3% (for Sydney and Hobart houses). Returns were positive in most other sectors for the year, except Brisbane houses, which fell 3.9% and Perth houses down a more moderate 0.3%.

Federal Government Announcements to Impact Australian Housing Market

Over the last two weeks there have been four significant strategic announcements from the Federal Government that are likely to have a profound impact on the Australian housing market.

1.             The new membership of the National Housing Supply Council were announced and their first meeting will be held in June of this year with the key objective of undertaking and releasing the third ‘State of Supply’ report which is widely regarded as the bible for measuring the level of housing supply in Australia.  The most recent report, which highlighted a housing under-supply of about 180,000 dwellings, was released just over a year ago.  You can view the most recent report here and view the media release announcing the new council members here.

Natives Gone Mad in Melbourne

No, this is not a story about rabid Collingwood supporters or even the Melbourne Storm ones who can now see their team playing for points…..it’s about gardens.

Over recent years, local Councils in the newer suburbs have decreed that developers in those areas must landscape their new properties using native, drought resistant plants.  This was an initiative that would see less water being used to water gardens and in the drought that Victoria was suffering from at the time, a very sensible move.

When opening new properties for inspection two summers ago (you remember summers) in 40C+ heat when no-one would turn up, we would fill in our 20 minutes at each property doing the normal property manager thing by pulling out the weeds that seemed to grow before our eyes.  Nothing else was growing, just the weeds.

Property Condition Report

Condition Reports protect both landlord and tenant in the event of future disputes.  This post uses information from Consumer Affairs Victoria, check with your own local body for specific legalities in your area.

What is a Condition Report? 

When a bond is paid, a landlord or owner must prepare a Condition Report for the tenant or resident, which notes the general condition of the property, room or caravan, including fittings and fixtures.

The Condition Report is important because it can be used as evidence if there is a dispute about who should pay for cleaning, damage or replacement of missing items.

Tenants and landlords, or residents and owners, should agree on the contents of the Condition Report before signing it.

Even if no bond has been paid, Consumer Affairs Victoria recommends completing a Condition Report.