When renting property is your main source of income, having your property empty for any length of time can be a problem. Profit margins can be reduced considerably when good tenants cannot be found reasonably quickly although a certain amount of down time is inevitable even when long term tenants are renting, they will eventually move on.
Should there be a time limit on finding good tenants?
We are talking about the best type of good tenants here not just anybody, and the socioeconomic area where your property is situated can influence how quickly it is re-rented. If the property is in a more affluent area then it may only take one or two weeks to find the A1 tenant.
However if the property is in an area which is less desirable it may take longer to find the type of top class tenant you are looking for – just because the property is lower on the ladder of desirability does not mean an A1 tenant cannot be found, they are out there, but they may take longer to find.
If you rarely find the good tenants you desire why is that?
Have you struggled to get good tenants into your property? In this case your first step would be to review how your property is being advertised or whether the tenant application procedure is flawed in some way.
If no faults can be found in either advertising or the application process then perhaps marketing the property more aggressively or for longer may produce results.
As mentioned above down time on a rental unit is undesirable. However by not carefully evaluating prospective tenants and just taking them on to keep the property tenanted can cost more in the long run than taking more time to find the best possible tenant. As mentioned in other newsletters less desirable tenants tend to be more short term and not look after the property as well as an A1 tenant would so by upping your marketing strategy and waiting a couple of weeks more the choice of tenants could improve considerably.
Barry Bridgman has been managing his own investment property portfolio for 25 years. During this time, there has never been any occurrence of rent defaults or property damage and Barry’s goal is to achieve the same for your property. Bridgman Property Management is based in Auckland Central, where Barry has lived for more than 18 years.
