How to Rent Out Your Property: A Step-By-Step Guide
If you’re looking to rent out your property, make sure your property is clean and in suitable condition, perform market research and decide who your ideal tenant is. Partnering with a property management company helps streamline the process of renting your property out and helps you get the most competitive return possible.
Here’s a checklist of what you need to do to rent your property out:
- Undertake cleaning and maintenance.
- Perform market research on similar rental properties and understand your target market
- Take high-quality photographs.
- Create an online listing of the property.
- Organise inspections with prospective tenants.
- Check tenant references and appropriate databases.
- Select your tenants on the recommendation of your Property Manager.
- Organise the necessary paperwork (a Property Manager would take care of this).
- Charge your tenants a bond.
- Choose your preferred communication method.
Partnering with a rental management company is the safest way to ensure you get quality tenants and enjoy maximum investment returns.
Undertake cleaning and maintenance of your property
If you’re going to rent out your property, you want it to be as appealing as possible. This will mean taking care of all the necessary cleaning, repairs and maintenance so that it looks its best. Plants and greenery should be presentable with the lawn mowed, the shrubs and bushes trimmed, and trees not causing any obstructions. Any stains should be removed from either the walls or the floor, whether it’s carpeted, tiled or wooden. Dust, cobwebs, leaves and any kind of dirt should be swept to avoid having a dirty-looking property.
Additionally, repairs need to be made to anything potentially dangerous like a loose step or something with nails or sharp bits of wood sticking out. There are also legally-mandated safety protocols such as working fire alarms, security requirements for entrances and properly-functioning power outlets. Depending on your property, this can be an extremely time-consuming process; however, at RMA, we’re here to help. We’ll be able to use our experienced trade network to ensure your property is looking its best.
Take photographs
Your property is only as good as the photos you put in the online listing – you need to show people what they will be renting in order for them to see if it suits their needs. Rental Management Australia’s Property Managers have a wealth of experience making properties look appealing, so partnering with them can save you a few headaches. There are various things to keep in mind when taking photographs. Firstly, you need bright lighting so that the images come out clearly and everything is visible. Natural light is ideal, so aim to get this done on a relatively sunny day if possible. A second important aspect is the composition of the shots. This includes camera angles, what’s included in the frame and how everything is positioned in the shot. Thirdly, make sure that the images are of high quality so that people can get the best view of the property. This may seem like a lot, but it’s worth it, given that the images will be the first point of contact with potential tenants.
List your property
The first step of listing your property is research and RMA’s Property Managers can use their wealth of location knowledge to get you the best outcome. They know exactly how to get an understanding of the landscape in order to find the ideal rental price. They look at the criteria of your rental like bedrooms and bathroom number, the location and all the additional factors involved to determine what will work best.
The next step is making the listing because nobody will know that your property is available until you advertise it. You can choose to list your property on one or multiple rental listing websites. Listing on more websites will mean more people see it, but it is also more complicated to keep track of, so decide what works best for you. It’s important to make your listing appealing so that you attract the highest number of potential tenants. In addition to the specifications of the property and the photographs, you will need to write a description. In the description, you should emphasise attractive features that the reader may not know about. This could include proximity to things like cafes and parks or unique features possessed by the property itself like a nice view or quality soundproofing.
Book inspections
Next, you need to organise viewings for potential tenants. Inspection times will depend largely on your personal schedule. You obviously need to make sure that you are available to be there, but another thing to take into consideration is making sure that the times you choose are convenient for prospective tenants as well.
Choose your desired tenants
Once people start applying to rent your property, you need to decide which tenants would suit you and your property the best. It’s important to be thorough so that you avoid a situation where you have tenants causing damage or not paying rent. Some of the checks that need to be made include a police check to make sure they are not potentially dangerous, as well as rental history and financial checks. It can be a bit daunting to choose tenants since you might not have a great idea of what to look for in identifying a good renter. Partnering with an experienced property manager from RMA is great because they will know exactly how to pick the ideal person, thanks to the many landlords they have helped in the past.
Get your paperwork in order
Outlining the terms of your agreement with your tenants is the next step. There are many standard templates you can use for a lease that involve entering the finer details of your particular property. However, you can also add specific preferences you have regarding the behaviour you expect from the tenants and the treatment you would prefer for your property. Bond lodgement is important to prepare so that you can have some monetary protection (more on the bond later). Additionally, you need to prepare a property condition report to show that the property is adequately suited for renting out. If you partner with a quality property management company such as RMA, this paperwork will be sorted for you.
Organise landlord insurance and other necessary protections
It’s important to mitigate the legal and financial risk to yourself and cover all the necessary bases. Partnering with a Property Manager from RMA is valuable thanks to the knowledge and experience they can bring to the whole insurance process, making sure you’re legally covered. Landlord insurance can be reassuring if you have worries about the various costs that can come up. Depending on the insurance you get, it can cover the protection of assets from damage or theft by replacing those goods, loss of potential rental income if you have tenants that are not paying, and it can protect you from liability if tenants are somehow injured at your property. There are other potential benefits, but they will depend on your insurance, so it’s good to ask about all the specifics from your provider.
Charge the new tenants the bond
A bond is important because it provides you with some monetary assurance against potential property damage. The tenants will pay a bond at the beginning of their initial lease signing and receive all, some or none of their bond back when leaving the property, depending on the condition they leave it in. It is important to take pictures of the property before the tenants have moved in so that you have photographic proof of its condition to compare it to at the time that they leave. Typically, a bond is the equivalent of four weeks' rent at the usual weekly rate of the property.
Decide what the best means of communication will be
It’s important for you and your tenants to be able to reach one another when necessary. Choose a line of communication that makes sense for everyone involved. You have a few options, including email, text and various messaging apps. Make sure you’re contactable through whatever platform you choose – if you don’t check your emails regularly, then it’s not an effective way for your tenants to reach you. It’s also important to try and make yourself available in case there is a situation that requires fast action from you. Being a landlord can be a time-consuming practice. If you don’t have the time available, a property manager is your best bet, as they ensure that you’ll get the most from your property.
Looking to rent out your property? Get in contact with one of the friendly Rental Management Australia’s team members to find out if we can help you.