Landlords, Tenants, Renting and Management (Page 7)

RealEstate.com.au (REA) recently unveiled a new feature aimed to improve the user experience for prospective tenants. It’s called the HIDE feature, and it’s available on their live portal right now, I’m bringing it up because it has the potential to impact how we go about marketing rentals. The feedback REA received from prospective tenants was they were sick and tired of seeing the same listings over and over again, every time they did a rental search. REA’s rather novel solution, was to create a feature where if ANY listing started to annoy a tenant, they can simply click HIDE and *poof* the listing vanishes fromRead More →

Happy New Year everyone! We’re officially in 2020… The 20’s! It’s the first decade that has a proper name since The 90s! Gosh it feels good to be able to refer to our present era. If you haven’t made a New Years Resolution yet, I’d suggest ensuring all your tenant data is safely backed up! I know it sounds boring compared to yoyo diets or spending more time with your kids, but this resolution is vital for your business! Allow me to expand: 1Form is a wonderful tenant application platform. It can gather all the information you need to know about tenants, compile it allRead More →

The Minister for Housing and Public Works, Mick de Brenni has announced Stage 1 of proposed rental reforms that would significantly damage Queensland’s rental market and create the most onerous rental laws in the country. The REIQ strongly opposes the proposed reforms which are a slap in the face to every day ‘mum and dad’ property owners who provide the majority of housing to Queensland’s renters. If enacted, the law change would erode fundamental landlord rights and deter property investment across the state. The reforms’ ripple effect would see renters struggling to find suitable housing under already tight conditions. In a further blow to renters,Read More →

Never before has technology taken such an invasive knife to our privacy. It’s a well known fact that our smart phones and appliances track our every move, search, and even our conversations and share this information with “private” corporations like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. The ATO will now demand granular data on all trading information and use advanced data-matching to identify anomalies and trigger audits. Banks and financiers these days pick through bank statements with a fine-tooth comb and if they feel an applicant takes too many overseas holidays, or spends too much on cosmetic surgery, may decline to offer them finance. We haveRead More →

“So, how’s your vacancy rates these days?” I asked a manager who I’d popped in to visit for a quick chat. “Great, we’re almost full, and our two bedders fill faster than we can list them!” “Oh that’s excellent” “It is” she continued before pausing “there’s just this one listing I’m having a really hard time shifting…” She went on to explain she’d had this unit sitting vacant for over a month, the owner wanted two thousand dollars a week in rent. It was in a great area, it was a penthouse, it had incredible views and a stunning private rooftop terrace, but even so…Read More →