How to attract a tenant

If you wouldn’t live in it don’t expect tenants to. That is the investment advice from one of the state’s top property managers.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria property manager of the year award winner Hayley Mitchell said tenants were becoming more choosy and if investors weren’t “drawn in” by a property then tenants wouldn’t be either.

“If you wouldn’t live in it, don’t buy it,” Ms Mitchell said.

“A lot of owners go ‘it’s terrible, but I don’t have to live in it, so that’s okay’.

“That attitude won’t secure you a quality tenant that will look after the property as if it’s their own.

“That’s what you want. You don’t want just any tenant, you want a quality tenant.”

Ms Mitchell, of Geelong Property Managers, said buying a house tenants wanted to call home could be tricky, but there were some general “must haves”.

She said the top features tenants wanted included open-plan living, quality airconditioning and heating and good appliances, including a dishwasher.

“It does depend on the tenant but there’s also demand for floorboards rather than carpet and little things like fly screens, so if they want to open the windows they are not inundated with bugs,” she said.

“You also want to do maintenance on your terms not theirs.

“Be proactive and have things like heating, cooling and smoke alarms serviced regularly.”

Buyers advocate Nicole Jacobs, of Nicole Jacobs Property, said investors needed to know their market and target audience before buying.

“You can’t just say I’d love to invest and I’d love to buy an apartment in Richmond and then all of a sudden no one wants to rent it because it’s a shoebox,” Ms Jacobs said.

“When you buy as an investor you need to know your market, know your demographics and whether or not you want to attract a young couple or a family with children.”

Investors also needed to consider whether their strategy was to attract high rental yield or capital growth, to minimise the risk of having to sell a property they couldn’t afford to hold.

Ms Jacobs said outdoor spaces, such as balconies and courtyards, were high on tenants’ wish lists, as were properties with good natural light. Properties close to cafes and infrastructure were always popular and investors should also consider elements outside the home, such as which school zone they bought an investment in.

“A lot of people rent a home within a particular school zone even though they have a house in another area,” Ms Jacobs said.

“You need to have leased for two years in some areas before your child can go to that school.

“As an investor you want to be as close to that school as you can so look at whether the property you’re thinking of buying is on the cusp of that zone, because school zones can change.”

Selling Houses Australia host Andrew Winter urged investors to carefully analyse the supply and demand equation.

“If you’re buying in an urban area you may think a two-bed, two-bath might be a good idea but in reality there’s a bit of oversupply, so a one-bedroom or three-bedroom may make more sense,” he said.

Mr Winter also suggested investors buy in an area they knew well.

“They make less mistakes in an area they know compared to an investor who’s buying because they’ve heard it’s a hotspot but don’t have the same insight into the market a local has,” he said.

They say home is where the heart is and investor Richard Judge wants his tenants to call his properties home.

Over the past 20 years, Mr Judge has bought and sold about a dozen investment properties.

He currently owns a two-bedroom townhouse in West Footscray and a two-bedroom house in Newport.

“You want to have something a tenant can move into and think ‘I can make a home out of this’,” Mr Judge said.

“The biggest feature renters are after is heating and cooling.

“It might seem like a no-brainer but there are many properties that don’t have either.”

Mr Judge, the chief executive at Judge Realty, became a property manager four years ago after becoming frustrated with how his own properties were being managed.

He said renters also sought homes that were close to public transport and local shopping or cafe scenes.

He said his investment strategy had always been to buy and hold to achieve capital growth and he used the services of a buyer’s advocate to find the perfect properties.


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