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.

How Much Do Property Owners Really Know?

I’d like to tell you a story….a true but very sad story about one of my former tenants and the problems they have experienced at the hands of one of the worst property managers I have ever heard about.

About two and a half years ago I leased a brand new property in Tarneit to a middle aged couple who had relocated from Kalgoorlie to Melbourne for business reasons.  During their tenancy, the rent was paid by direct debit and was never one day late over their two year tenancy; the property was maintained in an exemplary condition, both inside and out; and at the time of their vacating (they had to move back to WA for health reasons), you could not have believed that the home had been occupied; it was absolutely spotless!

I had occasion to contact the tenant this week with a general inquiry about the property they had been leasing and was told their property management experience in Perth was nothing like what they had experienced in Melbourne.

2 Melbourne Properties for Sale

True Property Management currently has two properties listed for sale:

24 Delias Rd, Tarneit, Vic 3029
11 Zara Ave, Tarneit, Vic 3029

Both properties are currently leased and would be ideal for an astute investor.

You may notice that we have listed on http://www.realestate.com rather than our own website.  Why?  Most real estate agents spend the majority of their time and effort on their sales business. This means that their property management clients are typically treated to second tier service. 

At True, property management and looking after our investment property owners is our core business. This means we are focused 100% on providing you with outstanding property management service.  In the case of the two properties above we were approached and asked to list on their behalf.  

We are also often approached to assist buyers in purchasing their investment property.  With our experience we can advise on:

• suburbs which high occupancy
• what features to look for
• who to contact for a building inspection
• financial advise
• future planning developments

If you are interested in either of the above properties or simply wish to 'pick our brains' on investment opportunities, contact us today.

Renting Property in Australia

Renting property in Australia

This page provides general information on renting or buying property in Australia. If you require specific information related to your circumstances, we encourage you to source advice from a qualified real estate, property or relocation services professional.

Alternatively, after you have read all of this and gone through the various websites, you may realise that it may be easier to pay for the services of a relocation service provider who can make recommendations based on their local knowledge or a property broker/consultant or buyer's agent that can work on your behalf.

There are also several resources produced by state governments (usually from their Consumer Affairs Departments) and these are very useful for people renting or buying property in Australia.

Changing the Locks on your Rental Property

A landlord must provide locks to secure all external doors and windows of rented premises. If any party to a tenancy agreement changes these, they have to give a key to the other party as soon as possible.

A tenant must get the landlord’s consent (which must not be unreasonably withheld) if they want to change a lock in a master key system. If the tenant believes the withholding of consent is unreasonable they may apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to change the locks.

Rooming house owners are required to take all reasonable steps to ensure security for a resident’s property in their room.

Family violence situations
Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, a ‘protected person’ can change the locks to the property if the ‘respondent’ is excluded from their home.