Adelaide property managers reveal their top tips for a successful rental application

Would-be renters cannot afford to put a foot wrong in South Australia’s desperately competitive housing market, agents have warned.

Property manager have told their tips for renters to give themselves the best chance of successful application. Picture: iStock

People seeking a rental property cannot afford to put a foot wrong, real estate agents have warned, as demand far outstrips supply.

As reported by The Advertiser this week, Adelaide is experiencing a 10-year high in rental demand.

As many as 200 people are expressing an interest in every near-city rental property, as hopeful tenants battle to ­secure a home.

Agents, not surprisingly, said the behaviour of would-be tenants was vital in creating a good first impression.

LJ Hookier Kensington agent Debbie Copley said open inspections could be hectic.

“Be patient at the open inspection and if there are several people attending you may required to wait outside due to social distancing,” she said. 

“Don’t arrive late to the open inspection, the agent probably has another to get to. Don’t walk past the agent or be rude if you are asked to check in and don’t open cupboards or touch items if the property is still tenanted.”

Harris Real Estate spokesman Peter Treacy said the personal touch was important.

“Tell a story about yourself when you apply, but something short, not War and Peace,” he said.

Real estate property manager Bobi Vikor said it was important to plan ahead.

“Rather than just stating ‘dog’, for example, say, ‘We have a small west highland terrier. His name is Jock. He is 10-year-old, is part of our family, is trained and also here is a picture’.”

Agents also urged prospective tenants to be organised and efficient.

RentSelect spokeswoman Bobi Vikor said: “Don’t forget your checklist of items you need to confirm when viewing a property, and a tape measure if you need a certain size fridge space.”

“Don’t wait for your agent/landlord to contact you regarding an extension to your lease,” she said.

“Plan-ahead and give yourself plenty of time to find another property if needed. Contact your referees and let them know you are needing their assistance by providing a prompt response to a reference request.” 

Taplin Real Estate spokesman Tom Taplin said it was important to make your application uncomplicated and easy to process.

“Make your intentions clear, and make sure you know when you can move into the property and that is within proximity to the property’s availability date,” he said.

“Make sure you have attached every document requested, in a clear readable format. The residential property market is under such high demand, if your application lacks information, property managers are unlikely to consider it.

“And don’t make everything complicated. If you’re attaching a cover letter, keep it short and sweet.

“Talk yourself up as to why and how you would make a great tenant.”

Rental safety nets set to go

By Jessica Brown

Safety nets for tenants struggling to pay rent because of COVID-19 are set to be dropped in the next few months – but property experts say it will go relatively unnoticed.

Landlords can’t evict tenants for not paying rent, or increase their rents, if they can prove they are suffering financial distress as a result of the pandemic.

The laws are in place until May 31 or 28 days after all relevant declarations relating to COVID-19 have ceased, whichever comes first.

Property experts say that, while a few hundred tenants whose incomes were hit by COVID-19 early last year sought to have their rents reduced or ­deferred, only a handful were still in that situation.

Turner Real Estate chief executive Emma Slape said 174 of her agency’s tenants requested a rent reduction or deferral and about 100 were successful.

As many people later realised JobKeeper and JobSeeker would cover their rent, Ms Slape said, not everyone who made requests needed it.

“We haven’t had any requests whatsoever in the past few months,” she said.

Ms Slape said whether it became a problem again would depend on how much the winding back of JobSeeker and end of JobKeeper affected renters.

“If suddenly there is a spike in redundancies or businesses are not able to trade any more, that may have an impact,” she said.

Ouwens Casserly Property Management director Adam Blight said his agency had received about 100 inquiries about assistance since the ­pandemic started.

“Out of that … we only ended up with 30 to 40 who had deferred or reduced rent,” he said.

Harris Real Estate property management director John Carey said about 80 tenants out of the 2700 properties it managed deferred or reduced their rents, and most of them had since ­returned to normal.

He said the current laws could be extended, or reintroduced, if there were another outbreak.