Hey guys, I purchased this house in Arana Hills a couple of months ago, under the advice of my buyer's agent: 18 Bringelly Street Arana Hills Qld 4054 - House for Rent #419445374 - realestate.com.au It seemed like a good buy, with decent rent potential and the option to add a granny flat to further increase yield (since the council there allows granny flats to be rented to parties unrelated to the primary tenant). I then signed a form 6 to have my buyer's agent's mother let and manage the property for me and we agreed to initially list it for $465 per week. Since then, we have had very little interest in the property - with only 1-2 parties attending each week for the saturday open houses, and only a couple of applications submitted - both of which have fallen through. As a result of this, at the property manager's suggestion, I have also reduced rent gradually down to where it is now - $430 per week - and offered 1 week's rent free to the successful applicant. However, I am still not getting a tenant and it is getting quite close to christmas, so feels fairly urgent to me to get one in ASAP. The property manager claims she has rented over 100 properties in the past couple of years and has only seen this happen once before - and cannot work out why there is so little interest in the property - but speculates it may be because Arana Hills has such a high owner occupied demographic, relative to renters... In any case, would appreciate any feedback possible on what anyone thinks the issue may be? > Perhaps the street it is on is too busy? > Perhaps the house needs some specific renovations? > Perhaps it is just the area (too few renters in Arana Hills)? > Perhaps it is the property manager. * The property managers only schedule 1 open house per week - on Saturdays - often on the Thursday or Friday and otherwise simply have the option to contact them to arrange an inspection time. * They also closed applications while processing a previous one, who pulled out, which left me missing 1 or 2 open houses completely and losing traction). * They also only advertise on realestate.com.au (I had to suggest gumtree and post the ad myself a week or so ago, and the property manager seemed dismissive of trying rent.com.au or domain.com.au) I'm really not sure what the issue is or what to do from here, but I was thinking of looking at switching to Paramount Private Property Management to at least try something new (they have an app that allows viewers to book inspection appointments directly through realestate.com.au) and ask to advertise on all platforms, rather than just realestate.com.au? Alternatively, can anyone recommend a good property manager in Arana Hills or do you not think the property manager is the issue? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
1. I would be urgently reviewing whether to retain this property manager/company. 2. Have you asked how big their portfolio is and how many properties she manages directly? 3. All agencies I interviewed listed their properties on multiple websites although realestate.com.au does seem to be the main 4. When interviewing for new pm - ask how available they are to show the property if requested. A flexible pm is going to be of huge benefit to you as scheduled appointments don't always work. We are only just starting out with our first investment rental in Mango Hill and I reviewed at least four agencies before making a decision. The property looks great though and I would have thought location was good too! Good luck.
It looks like a great house.. I'd happily live in it I don't know the rental market in Arana Hills that well, but $465/wk does seem a little high to me for that location. $430 is probably where it should have started. I think the biggest factor is the time of year.. not many people are looking to rent end of Nov to start of Dec. Fingers crossed you find someone before Christmas. If not, you'll be flooded with enquiries start of Jan. I'm not sure why you think the PM is doing a bad job?
Hi Rezix The vacancy rate in Arana Hills is low at 1.4 percent so it really sounds like there is something not right here as it should not be taking that long to lease. The app you mention where tenants can book inspections online via www.realestate.com.au is called InspectRealEstate - we use this and tenants can book into our vacant properties 6 days a week from 9.30am until 7.30pm at night. One open inspection a week is simply not good enough and this does not sound like they are acting in your best interest. Prospective tenants often work until 5pm and weekends are busy! This is why we allow after hours inspections and we have found this very successful in Brisbane. InspectRealEstate also sends detailed reports to landlords with feedback after every inspection that the PM inputs - it sounds like you are not getting much in the way of feedback either and are left questioning if it is the street, or if it needs renovations. Your PM should be asking for detailed honest feedback from prospective tenants at the inspection and provide this to you. They should also absolutely not stop showing your property or processing other applications until an application is approved, monies received in their trust account and lease signed. Again, this is not acting in your best interest. Jodi
Hi I once built and rented a house in Arana Hills back in the late 1990's in Arlington Estate. I don't know if my agent is still around but his name was Brian Whitehead from Raine & Horne Arana Hills. He provided good service and knew the area. Brian was the owner of this franchise but from what I recall this agency was a family business. Might be worth a call.
I have an IP in Ferny Hills which is literally no more than 5 min up Patricks road. Currently renting that out at $530 a week and within 10 days of listing it had 3 applications.. keep in mind this was in late March and early May. I use Carol at Professionals Priority in Ferny Hills. Local agency, only recently started up their rental team and Carol managed only 30 properties when I signed up with them (couldn't tell you how many it is now). Always contactable and haven't had any issues whatsoever so I strongly recommend you get in touch.
I would change agents - if they have had it for 2-3 months and no contract. Not a great time to be renting out though. If its empty, personally I would also be painting out a fair bit of that wood panelling.
It looks like your PM is not local, you need a manager based in the same suburb or an adjacent suburb. That might be your problem.
Many thanks for all the feedback, really appreciate it. I spoke with my PM yesterday and we agreed that she would show the house for one more open inspection on Saturday and if no quality applications were forthcoming, she would agree to hand over the property management to another company. She suggested Coronis or Harcourts, so (assuming it does not rent tomorrow) I guess I will at least give them a call and have a chat; also happy to have a chat to the three agents mentioned here (Andrew Hancock, Brian Whitehead and Carol from Professionals Priority) and decide who to switch to hopefully on Monday... Any other suggestions welcomed, particularly with respect to any obvious renovation work that could increase rental yield or marketability (like painting the wood panelling suggested here?). Unfortunately, I live in Sydney so would need someone local to handle any renovation work, but always happy to pay fair price for good service!
Hi Rezix, I'd just like to add to Jodi's post (we both post under our company name) up above there. The owner occupier to tenant ratio in Arana Hills is approximately 17-20% (slight variance depending which data is sourced) which although is low, wouldn't necessarily affect the market given the vacancy rate is so low as Jodi mentioned. To the contrary, if priced correctly it can actually be an advantage for a tenant to be living in an area heavily weighted towards 'owned' and/or 'purchasing' as generally speaking, the street-scape is nicer overall than highly tenanted areas. The most likely cause is a combination of lack of advertising platforms coupled with the possibility of non-returned tenant enquiries and showing options. I've browsed the listing and some some research (from the QPIA side) and the property itself looks very nice in a good area, with very minor detractions being the semi-busy road and the fact that in a family demographic looking for four bedrooms, that two bathrooms is usually preferable to one. Again, these should not be misconstrued to affect the desirability from a tenancy point of view to the point of it being vacant for that long if the proper process is being following - it's a beautiful property! I hope that provides some further insight. Andrew
Why on earth are you using a property manager based on the Subshine Coast to manage a property in Brisbane? No wonder they are only doing one open per week. And a 15 minute open seems inadequate. Get someone local, or at least a lot closer who will know the market far better, and appeal more to tenants. Marg
Hi, Arana Hills is an excellent area predominantly owner occupier that is experiencing good growth over time - quality tenants love living out of 'rental enclaves' and within owner occupier areas close to good infrastructure such as shops, schools, access to motorways etc. We have over the past couple of months supported an investor to purchase a great home in Arana Hills sourcing a tenant a week after settlement for $485/week with a 5.2% return - the investor took on board our recommendations to prepare the property for market (gardening services for excellent street appeal, air conditioner in main living area and main bedroom, fans in bedrooms in addition to the property having appealing features such as a high pitched roof over the main entertainment deck and storage space underneath the home). Some of the ways that we have enabled positive outcomes to translate Open Homes to firm applications that your PM may like to explore if they are not already doing this include: 1. review your advertising spiel - does it showcase the features in relation to 'lifestyle' and 'property features'? 2. there is value to have professional photos taken (for our own personal properties we have used www.realestatepics.com who have done a brilliant job capturing the best aspects of our IPs - professional images receive double the internet hits) or ask your PM to take images of all the main features of your home to showcase 3. what works well is to have an Open Home during the week and an Open Home on a week end with the agent also offering private inspections by private appointment should they not be available - yes, people can also register with us for an inspection but this is not what brings tenants - the key differentiator is not having a bored PM texting in front of a ten minute Open Home - rather, to hold half hour Open Homes and to engage couples/families/individuals in conversation to commence the screening process onsite and to sell the features of the home with a sales centric focus - this is what translates enquiries into applications 4. ensuring that the business owner is involved in the marketing campaign and does not simply delegate this critical process to an office junior 5. choosing a PM who is also an active investor with sophisticated understanding of what matters for both tenants and owners Finally, engage with your current PM to have a conversation about these ideas and in the event that you want to switch explore which agency aligns with your needs and values.
