References For Home Owner Re-Locating

Hi All,

My Fiancé and I are re-locating for work and will be renting for the first time. We purchased our house 3 years ago in our early 20s. We never had the need to rent as our parents let us stay at home until we purchased.

As a property manager, what sort of references are you looking for if someone has not rented before? We can easily show 3 years of on time (and advance) repayments on a mortgage.

Is a "Renter Resume" something people do to stand out?

Any tips or tricks on applying for rentals would be much appreciated. We also have a German Shepherd, although well trained, I expect this may make finding a rental a bit more difficult.

Cheers

 

There is another thread running about letting to tenants with dogs. It's a divisive read but having rented with a dog myself I can confirm it is much harder.

I would try and go with private rentals over property management companies where possible as owners are more accommodating than an office junior trying to fit you into a standard set of criteria.
I believe that in NSW at least you can have the dog anyway if it's within the provisions of strata if that is relevant.
Otherwise if a property doesn't specifically exclude pets, then I would take it as you are permitted. Of course when you collect the keys and sign the lease on move in day this will rear itself, but I would wager that by then the chances are high you will be permitted the pet if it hadnt previously been excluded.
To be honest finding a suitably fenced property will be limiting too.

Good luck anyway, it can be hard work renting honestly with pets.

 

As an investor, serial tenant (6 tenancies and counting) and property manager, I would suggest giving a really complete picture in your application. I always submit a 'cover page' which summarises our various sources of income, the properties we own, why we want to live in the area and why we like the property. Include payslips (not just work reference) and all the required ID.

A reference letter from the PM of your property/sales agent also helps. I have written references for clients moving out of their home along the lines of "I have visited the property on several occasions and its very well presented and maintained, the pet is always quiet and well behaved and there's no signs of damage".

A letter from a vet can also help along the lines of "I see the pet regularly and he/she is trained/vaccinated/well-behaved etc". Failing that I have also come across tenants that submit pet resumes (including a bio and blurb about the temperment of the breed!)

Good luck!

 

Great advice, thankyou very much. Do you usually send all of this via email along with the application form? We were thinking of giving PMs a call first and then following through with an email.

Thanks!

 

Yes I would make sure it all gets attached to the application at the same time. Doesn't hurt to give the PM a call, although the person you meet at the open might not be who is looking at the application.

If you're moving to Sydney let me know as we have a few pet friendly properties coming up

 

From the Central Coast to Brisbane

 

We might be able to help in Brisvegas!

Honestly, 99% of the battle is filling in your application thoroughly and promptly. It's amazing how few people can manage basic paperwork. A cover letter introducing yourselves and your Pup (including a photo!) goes a long way too.

It's also hard because every agency has a different criteria and method for processing applicants. I've heard time and time again that some (stupid) Property Managers actually don't like ex-home-owners because they don't have rental history!? They're home owners who are upkeeping a mortgage and know how to take care of a place like it's their own (because it is!)! That puts you on top of my pile.

 

Thanks Tom. Had a quick look at what was available through Propertyworks but possibly just the one at the moment? It's a bit far out for what we are looking at. Definitely happy if you'd like to PM/Email me when something within 20km of CBD comes up. I've just sent you my email via PM.

We've applied for a few this weekend so hopefully hear back Monday. 1Form seems a bit confusing with the requirement for both my fiance and I to submit separate applications especially when I've received emails thanking me for my application when my fiance applied with me as a secondary person. Perhaps hasn't been fully adopted by all PMs up there yet?

 

Ah I didn't realize you were looking right now! To be honest part of my offer was also to recommend you to other agents who do more in Brisbane, all my tenants that way stay forever so the properties we do get never come up for rent

1form is a plague on our industry. Absolute trash platform. You're welcome to send a dummy application through for my place and I can let you know if there's any issues with it coming through properly.