the longest time vacant

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Fernfurn, 7th Jul, 2015.

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  1. Fernfurn

    Fernfurn Well-Known Member

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    Admittedly it is only 3 weeks, but Ijust wondered how long was the longest anyone had a rental vacant?
     
  2. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    2 weeks is my longest. Got a tenant paying $30/wk more than previous one though.
     
  3. EN710

    EN710 Well-Known Member

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  4. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

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    6 months at one due to PM incompetence.

    I had another slum being renovated and it was vacant from 20th March till 24th June, but thats mainly cos I was on holidays and forgot to let the floor sander know to start :D
     
  5. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I've many times had a tenant leave one day, and a new one start the next. Self-managing means I am looking after only one property so I can devote all my time to that.

    Often it is a week between tenants, and we used to take the time to paint, install new vanity, that sort of thing. Two weeks sometimes, and just last month, we had an empty house for eight weeks. We found a tenant at the four week mark (an agent found one for us). The tenant wanted us to wait four weeks. We suggested meeting half way, but ended up waiting three weeks for them. We did a few little bits and pieces in that time, but things are grim right now, dropped rent, empty houses all over our area dropping the asking price by the week, offering free week's rent. These tenants were good, so we didn't want to risk losing them.
     
  6. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    I had one that went almost 12 months once.
     
  7. drg86

    drg86 Well-Known Member

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    About 3 or 4 months I think it was. During a transition from a holiday rental to a permanent rental and a bad PM.
     
  8. swanqueen

    swanqueen Well-Known Member

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    3 months for me. Long enough for me to consider selling it (it wasn't doing too well anyway).

    Managed to get a tenant in on Christmas Eve - such a relief!
     
  9. srirang

    srirang Well-Known Member

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    1.5 months for me was the longest over a 6 year period. Winter is the hardest time to find a tenant though.
     
  10. qonyx_sydney

    qonyx_sydney Well-Known Member

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    i had 3 months vacant after being honest to prospective tenants that i was going to build a granny flat on the property - which meant that the tenant knew this was going to built, however i think this is worth it as the primary house could have vacant for the whole duration of the construction of the granny flat (up to 6 months)

    we are about to build and have reduced the rent by $50/week as a concession (no one wants to live next to a construction)
     
  11. rhinsor

    rhinsor Well-Known Member

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    nearly two months over christmas
     
  12. Heinz57

    Heinz57 Well-Known Member

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    0 days
    Sorry
     
  13. Sonamic

    Sonamic Well-Known Member

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    5 weeks. Dropped rent $10 a week and allowed POA. Tenant signed 6 month Lease and paid whole Lease up front!
     
  14. bythebay

    bythebay Well-Known Member

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    2 months sitting on market.
    i was forced to do a reno which took a month
    Lease started about one month after
    so 4 months in total
    ouch
     
  15. Special order

    Special order Well-Known Member

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    Mining town?
     
  16. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    Worse - Tasmania
     
  17. Lil Skater

    Lil Skater Well-Known Member

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    I've taken over one that was vacant for 6 months :eek:
     
  18. Kael

    Kael Well-Known Member

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    Reading all these posts that say "months" in it literally scares me... I thought my 4 weeks was bad... Makes me grateful for my circumstances haha
     
  19. C-mac

    C-mac Well-Known Member

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    3.5 months for me. I was pretty green back then! Never again! No matter how weak any rental market is, a savvy PM will make a 'rental rate drop' recommendation within the first 2-3 weeks maximum, and a proper rate drop too, to ensure a tenant gets in there. more than say 6 weeks is just horrendous (unless you've invested in a horrendous/poor choice area to begin with, of course)
     
  20. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    I haven't found this to be the case. Mostly I have found my own tenants, but the times I've used a PM I've not had this happen (except right now).