Tenancy Tip Thursday - Christmas period letting

First christmas in PM and I am suprised how busy it is. I have been told that tenants moving to get their children into certain school districts is playing a part.

 

@D.T. @Tom Rivera
The place has a garage that has been converted into a "living" area - over the garage door they put a built in wardrobe and tiled the floor. Plenty of light as well as a sliding door that can opened for air.

However it seems that majority of tenants viewing the place are tradies of some sort and want the garage so they can store their car which has tools.

Only one family so far who were non tradies were fine with the garage converted into a living space.

One person who is a builder (as claimed by them) is willing to remove the built in wardrobe so the garage can be reused again - at their cost.

Should i allow it? Or just wait until the new year and get a family that is happy with the current having a garage converted into a living area?

(There is a parking spot in front of the garage itself).

 

Garages are really important storage spaces, I'd almost never recommend converting them- especially if there's no shed, etc. However, what's done is done and it's a pretty big step to "unconvert" the room.

Without knowing more about the property I can't say for sure, I guess it depends on all the small details. How detailed/extensive/expensive(!) was the build-in work, how easily is it removed, how much genuine interest did he have either way, what sort of area is the property in, is the extra space valuable given the original floorplan, etc.

In this case I'd be really hoping that I had good Property Managers and follow their feedback.

 

@Tom Rivera
There's a shed out the back and also a parking space in front of the converted garage.

The garage itself has a built in which is great for storage and it has plenty of space of storing all sorts of stuff.... except for a car

The previous owner had converted it, so when it came to renovating, we decided to leave it as is. It would have been more work to undo because he had tiled the floor.

The villa itself is a 3 bedroom with 1 bathrooms + 1 additional toilet and a large living/dining room.

 

Gee that's a hard one. If I had the choice of built-in or not built-in (beforehand) I would leave the garage, but now that it's all done I couldn't really justify removing it without being "on the ground". People who rent these kinds of properties don't usually expect two living areas, but it is a unique bonus. Plus, there's a shed and plenty of other storage space so I'd have thought anyone except a Tradie would be happy with the layout.

 

Depending on the location, it may be worth marketing it as a home office rather than additional living space....

 

Pretty much what i thought too.... unfortunately the majority of tenants coming through were tradies

 

Tradies still need an office area for paperwork. Just a shame no side access for storage

 

That probably would have worked for them - no garage, but carport for car behind a locked gate...

 

Good news, place has been rented out to a tradie.
No rental history as they just sold their PPR.
But the agent got a good vibe from them and they offered to remove the built in robe to restore access to the garage.

But they are using the garage for storage of their furniture, not the car and its easier for them to move items in and out through a garage door as opposed to through the house.

Works for me.

 

Great result are they moving in before Christmas?

 

Unfortunately not... 1st week of Jan.

 

Good tips Dave, you should start your own agency

 

Congrats! I think this was a good result.

 

Just am update, have continued with home opens throughout the break and the feedback has been exceptional. Good quality applicants coming along, all asking why we're doing opens and the other agencies aren't.

We've got a few of our listings let, its like shooting fish in a barrel. I think if you're a PM going on holiday during this period you'd need your head read.

 

Couldn't agree more. The first three weeks of December were an absolute mess. The quality of enquiry was abysmal and nearly 90% of people wouldn't even turn up to viewings I tried to organise specifically to suit them. This week has been a different story with the early January hunters coming out of the woodwork, I've rented two of the difficult properties today alone!