Vacancy Periods in QLD?

Hi guys,

Quick one for you - what sort of vacancy periods do you usually have in QLD?

I have a 2bdr townhouse vacant in Eagleby at the moment. Looking online, it's priced well, ad presents and reads well, my PM is doing 2-3 inspections a week but it's been vacant for about 3-4 weeks now which is ridiculous in my view.

I also just leased a 3bdr house recently in Bethania and this took 3-4 weeks (newly renovated, ad presented well, 2-3 inspections a week).

Last time I leased a house in Newtown (near Ipswich) that took about 3-4 weeks as well!

They're certainly taking longer than my Sydney properties have in the past... is this normal??

What sort of vacancy periods are you experiencing?

 

It's not alarming imo
I'd think 3 weeks vacant is ok. By the time you get the ad out, inspections done and notice for other rental it seems ok. You don't want to stress out the PM

Quicker is always better of course

 

It took me 4 weeks to find tenants for one of my IPs in Moreton Bay. 0 weeks for the other ( already tenanted ).

 

Did you ask the agent for any feedback regarding why you were getting groups through but no applications? Only thing seems to be is to make sure your property has something unique, or enough selling points that will make it stand-out from the crowd.

Mine had 0 week overlap, but was lucky as the tenants needed somewhere fast that had a contained yard for their pets.

Brisbane is not Sydney. There is no "rental crisis" or lack of rental stock, and likely will not be for many years. (Personally I think) many can afford to buy as well with prices here more affordable relative to incomes, so not as many are yet locked into a lifetime of renting. I think it will be a common theme out there for a while - landlords having to bid for tenants, rather than the other way around.

 

The current vacancy rate in Eagleby is 2.9% and a good rule-of-thumb in our experience is that (provided all things are equal), you generally experience a week of vacancy for every percent of vacancy rate e.g. 1% = 1 week vacancy, 2% = 2 weeks vacancy, etc. This is very broad however as there are many variables and it just helps to identify whether or not it’s a market problem or a strategy/property problem.

In saying that, if it was advertised 3-4 weeks prior to tenants vacating then there really should have been enough time to secure a tenant basically upon vacating. Most agents receive approximately 2 months notice when a tenant intends to vacate so usually there is plenty of time to re let. Unless of course this is a new IP and it was advertised vacant after settlement. .

Having professional photos and a highlight listing online makes a huge difference and as @gman65 mentioned above you really should be getting some sort of feedback/reports after each inspection from your agent. If you have had that many people thorough over 3-4 weeks and no applications then basically the market is indicating a reduction is needed or something needs to be attended to, and this should have been picked up earlier. Its also important to make sure your agent is being flexible with showing the property - we show our properties up until 7.30pm in the evening as tenants often work during the day and weekends they are busy!

All the best and I hope it gets leased soon!

Jodi

 

Because your properties are not in high owner occupied areas, areas which people desire to live in but cannot afford therefore driving demand for rent.
Areas such as Logan region have had an increase in investor purchases, thus a large supply of stock on the market for rent.
Saw this coming last year, hence why I locked my tenants into 12 month leases and serviced them as best we can.