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Discover the secrets of successful property management and investing on "The Property Investors Handbook" podcast. Join Colleen Sutherland as she shares expert insights and strategies for acquiring, managing, and maximising returns on real estate investments. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned investor, this podcast is your essential guide to navigating the world of property investment. Tune in and unlock the keys to financial success in real estate.
Produced by Pod Pro Australia
Hi, and welcome to another episode of the property investors handbook podcast. I'm here today with Lachlan who is the guru of marketing and leasing investment properties.
Hey Lachlan. Hi
Colleen.
What I wanted to talk to you about today was how to properly market a rental property and then how to get tenants through at an open home to the stage of, application. So can you tell me, initially, what can we do that will stand out from the rest when we're marketing the property?
Well, the first thing that people looking for a property will see, the photos. of the property So that's their first impression straight away. It's like scrolling Instagram, but for houses and apartments. So it's really important to have good quality photos and you can do this, on the cheap or you can spend a bit of money and that will set you apart from the other properties because the amount of times I've scrolled through real estate.
com domain, and there are some, 10 year old iPhone photos on there that aren't even shot in the right scale. They're shot landscape. You can see them in the mirror, taking it, taking a photo of the bathroom. So first and foremost is to get good quality photos done.
Right. Once you've got those photos, what do you do?
We can, we can send them off to be retouched if they've come through a bit dark, if they've not been edited by the photographer, we can send them off to be retouched just, to people that have that expertise to change the lighting, give them a bit of a zhuzh. And then we add them to the listing and we write up our copy text to What's a
copy text?
So copy text is the, it's the blurb of the property. So it outlines how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, what are the features? We can talk about if it's been renovated or updated. We can tell them how far away it is from the motorway or The highway or public transport or schools or shops or anything.
So that's where we can really sell it in words.
And on an ordinary market that would target who would want to see it?
Yeah, absolutely. It depends on who's looking. So you can You could be a family of four, a young family, so you might be interested in what schools it's nearby. You might be someone who doesn't drive, so you might want to know, is it near a train station or a bus stop?
All sorts of things.
And then once you start to get the inquiry, from the internet portals, what do you do with that inquiry? How does it come through?
So we connect our advertised properties with an inspection software, so we use InSpec Real Estate that then uploads all of the phone numbers, email addresses, names into one place for the property and then we can advertise a viewing through that software and then that will then notify all of the people that have registered their details to be notified and they can say yes, I'm attending.
They can say no, these times don't suit me. And that way we can get an idea of how many people are coming and then we can register them to verify that they have seen the property and then that will send out an application link to attendees.
So what if you don't get anyone registering the property to inspect the property?
Well each property can vary in terms of interest, sometimes, well most of the time with more high end properties at a higher price point, it's a far smaller pool to be fishing in. So we don't get as many inquiries, so that might be an opportunity to conduct private inspections and contact them directly because if we only have 3, 4, 5 inquiries on this property that's 2000 plus a week and we set an inspection time, that'll notify all of them and it may not suit any of their priorities.
So it might be easier to get in contact with them to find out, is there a time that they can make it? Make that time, call the next person, let them know I'll be here at this time. So it's not just a,
too bad, so sad, you can't come to that one. No,
not necessarily. We try and make it as fair as possible because I think, Being on the Gold Coast, the rental market has had such a boom in the last four years, and I've heard a lot of horror stories about people going to viewings or contacting agents, and their agents aren't playing fair.
They're encouraging bidding, which is completely illegal. They're, they're renting it before they've even shown the place, because there's someone willing to apply without having seen it. I try and make the most, sort of, Fair playing ground that I can.
Right. Yeah. So what are dangers of people applying for a property just to get that property and they haven't seen it?
What are those dangers?
Well, it's sort of like buying a car without test driving it. You haven't seen condition it's in. Maybe those photos are old, doesn't quite look like that anymore. It's a bit more run down. You might realize the size and perspective of the photos don't really match what it's like in person.
You might realize it's right by a noisy road or you can hear a football field from a couple kilometers away. So it's, it's obvious. We always recommend getting to see it to some degree before applying. So that might be, I will FaceTime someone when I'm at the property. I could do a virtual inspection by filming, even just on my phone, because the phone cameras are way better these days, so you can just film a walkthrough, and you can upload it somewhere, or you can send it to them directly.
That also depends on if the tenant's belongings are still in there. We won't ever advertise with their belongings in there without their consent. So yeah, we do prefer that people see it, but Obviously, desperate times call for desperate measures and a lot of people have been wanting to apply sight unseen.
Right, that's interesting. I actually didn't know that that still happens.
It does, yeah. Right.
You mentioned rent bidding is illegal, how so?
Well, it's stated in the laws that you can't encourage rent bidding. It is something that, People have asked me about a lot, if they, oh, if I offer more per week, do you think that, that will get my application approved and I have to tell them all the same thing.
It's not something I can encourage. It's completely up to you. It creates, you know, a really, how would you describe it? It creates a really competitive, marketplace to begin with, and then that drives prices up even more, which is something that is a big problem in the current rental market. Like it's just not affordable looking at what things used to go for in certain areas.
So wasn't there a recent change in legislation about rent bidding and what agents can't do anymore?
Yes. So we've had a slew of, changes to rental law in Queensland. over the last year. And one of them was, getting rid of accepting offers over the advertised amount. So prior to that, landlords could accept that offer.
But now you can't take it at all. It's just straight up illegal. And so it stops them being too greedy. It stops people, pricing others out of the market. And it just, it's just in the interest of creating a more fair playing ground for tenants looking.
Right. So, we're up to the open house. What do you do to prepare for that open house and what's the etiquette of a potential tenant?
So, the first thing I would determine is whether it's still tenanted or not. Ah, yes. We can issue an entry notice. to suit our time, but I just, I prefer to, you know, keep a good working relationship with these people, even if they're on their way out and moving on. So I prefer to get in contact with them just to make sure I'm not interrupting anything, making sure I'm not showing up during a bond clean or while removalists are taking furniture out.
So that's my first step. Is to find a time that will suit me and the current tenant. The next step is to advertise it. So, like I said before, with the inspection software, that sends out a notification to everyone who's registered their details so they can say whether or not they're attending. And then, coming through the property, I, We'll check everyone in, make sure I can verify everyone's registered so that we can send out application information.
And then that's their time to have a look, take any photos or videos that they need to take for their reference later on. If they have to show up a partner, a spouse, a friend, a housemate, anything, anyone that didn't, get to make it to the inspection. And then that's also their chance to speak to me about the, about the property.
And, if it's in a building about the amenities, about any, bylaws that might affect them in any way, and, we can go from there.
Oh, that's really good information, Lach. Thank you for that. So, when you get back to the office, you have a slew of applications. How do you go about sorting them out to start the application process?
Yeah, so, more often than not, I'll come back to, within my drive from the property back to the office, we'll already have, at least one application, so already you have to hit the ground running. With our inspection software, they can submit their application digitally, so they can have it saved, ready to go, like a Facebook profile.
It's got all of their details there, and then they can attach their documentation, and so as they're viewing properties, they can click, click, click, apply.
Oh, okay.
So, that makes it easier for them, they don't have to fill out. A paper form, 10 times over while they're applying for places, and also makes it easier for us because when it comes in, it automatically sends out the references, which are arguably one of the biggest, and most important factors of a rental application.
So, I will go and check that all of those references have been sent out, and then I'll go through and check if they've sent in all the documentation. that we need to determine, identification, proof of address, proof of income. And then, I, that's my starting point because nine times out of 10, they haven't included everything that I need.
And I will then have to get in contact with them to get what I need. So then that slows down the process for them as well. So I like to tell people at, these inspections, when they ask, what can I do to get my application approved? I tell them the most important part is doing the application right the first time round.
Because if I have ten applications on my desk, three of them don't have proof of income, or two of them haven't included any rental history, but I've got all these ones that have done it right, it's probably not going to always be worth my time hitting them up to get everything approved. That I need.
Right. And so that's your opportunity to make sure that it is a viable application because if it's not a viable application, the landlord can't consider it.
Right. Right. So
it's just going through and checking that I've got everything I need before we do everything that we need to do to send it off to the landlord for their approval.
Thanks. Lach That's, that was really good detail on, marketing the property and then getting people through to have a look we've got a whole bunch of questions on that one, but that will be another topic. And You've given a good understanding of what it's like for you even to get all these properties rented and over the line.
So, , for further information on, our services, uh, go to www. spmg.com.au or give us a call on 5507 5535 8854. Thanks so much for coming in, Lach.
My pleasure. I look forward to coming back to chat rental applications.
Thanks so much for watching us today and hopefully we'll be able to bring you some more information very soon.