Hey guys, we recently purchased a place in Geelong our initial thought was purely to use it as an investment property, however we have been thinking of moving there for a year or two as we are entitled to the Vic stamp duty concession which would save us 24k. We are not quite ready to move yet due to work commitments etc, commuting would just be hellish. The requirements for the stamp duty concession is that we must move in within the first 12 months. So we are thinking of tenanting it for 6 months before moving in ourselves. This would give us time to get everything in order and look for new jobs closer the our new place. How many of you have had contracts this short and have the tenants generally been good when you have moved them on in such a short period of time? Cheers.
6-10 months can be good for someone who has sold and is waiting for a build to complete, someone moving for a contract job, or similar. May reduce tenant pool from long term renters but wont exclude everyone
I think 6 months are more common in Vic then here from what I've heard. In saying that, it does limit the target market a fair bit. Basically looking for people are who looking for an in between option rather than a new home. One possible target market might be people who are building their own home and need somewhere to rent til its complete. Your best bet might be to talk to local property managers about current rental market there. Some might not be willing to take it on as a management though (6 months isn't enough time for it to start being profitable) but might as a let only?
There's nothing wrong with a 6 month lease - it could work out well for your tenants too. You might find someone that's looking for an in-between place before purchasing their own. As DT said above - chat with a local PM and see what they say. Cheers Jamie
Nothing wrong with it, just a much reduced tenant pool if you're honest that it'll only be six months. I'd suggest advertising it below market value.
I've had 6 months rent to see how a potential tenant turns out. Yes, it cost money for the letting fee but find that it's easier to move them on if they turn out to be pretty bad tenants.
Big difference between 6 months trial and 6 months lease. With one at least they know there's a good chance they can stay on.
As others have mentioned you can advertise it but will likely have a lower pool of potential tenants so either stick to your rent price or drop to make it attractive. You could be renting it to someone who is building a house, just got employment down at Geelong and need somewhere to live and will be looking at buying something or someone on a short term contract (6 months for instance). As Tom mention as your rental isn't ideal to a lot of people (most people generally don't want to move every 6 months) the best way to entice them to take up your option is to have the rent below the standard/market rented amount - as your conditions for rent isn't ideal.
In Queensland (not sure about Vic) you cannot look for tenants if you are moving in and want the concession. If there is a sitting tenant you have to honour the lease, but you cannot renew the lease or issue a new lease to anyone else. You need to check this carefully.
I prefer short tem tenants, for my RIP, short term accommodation can be hard to find, there is no shortage of quality tenants. You can get a premium and much higher yields and much better appreciative tenants. as sometimes their only alternative is motels or caravan parks. I often do 3 months leases, many stay longer, like for years. All my properties begin with a short term lease except one that has a PM. At least with a short term lease you can get rid off them if they are duds.
