Guide to Renting

Renting Guide

Renting a property is incredibly common in Australia. There is a multitude of reasons as to why people rent a property. Renting is more flexible for a short term arrangement, they might be teenagers who become independent, people may want to be closer to work, or young families may want to save for a purchase of their own.

 

Preparation

Before renting, it can be a good idea to consider about your needs and financial situation. While you are hunting for your new home, you should already have the necessary supporting documents. Once you find the right property, you will be in the position to submit an application immediately. The time you saved in preparing your documents previously to looking for a property could well be the difference in securing the property or not.

Following are some hints for your application:

  • Each individual tenant who lives in the same property needs to complete both sides of the application form.
  • Provide 100 points of identification, e.g. driver license, passport, birth certificate, 18+ photo card, banks statement etc. The requirements are listed on the form.
  • Proof of income such as two recent payslips or an employment contract (if currently unemployed). You will be asked to provide any parental support or bank statements showing sufficient savings or a large lump sum deposit.

 

Inspection

When you are ready to go, check for the open inspection times or you can contact the agent to arrange a private inspection. Keep in mind that the availability of a property may not be applicable as the tenants who occupy the property may have negotiated to not allow inspections.

During the inspection, you should check with the agent about the property’s inclusions such as parking, storage, facilities etc.

 

Ready to rent

If you want to rent it after the inspection, you will need to submit the application with the necessary supporting documents via online application, email or alternatively you can physically drop it to off at our office. The more documents you provide, the more likely your application is to be successful.

Our professional property management team will access the documents and find the best potential tenant for our client. A number of checks are necessary to ensure that you are suitable for the property. These include:

  • A reference from your previous property manager. Normally a good tenant ledger would greatly assist with your perspective application.
  • Contact with your employer to ensure employment is current and income is correct, as well as personal and professional referees.

Once the reference check is completed, we will provide all potential tenant information to the owner, and the owner has the right to choose the most suitable applicant.

We will notify applicants on whether they have been approved or not. The approved applicant will need to pay one week rent to secure the property.

 

What next

We will prepare the Residential Tenancy Agreement and arrange for signing at our office. Our property manager will go through the agreement with you and ensure that you understand the legal rights and obligations. The agreement has no cooling off period after you have signed it. Therefore, it is important that you understand the the terms of the contract and the legislation prior to signing the document.

 

Bond

By the time you sign the Residential Tenancy Agreement, you are required to pay another week of rent, which would  come to a total of two weeks of rent in advance. Bond is equivalent to four weeks rent and online payment via link that we will be creating at the time you sign the agreement. Many people think the bond is held at the agency. However, the Bond is actually required to be lodged to NSW Fair Trading by law.

 

Rent payment

Paying your rent on time always comes first as your tenancy agreement could be terminated if you are 14 days or more in arrears. We recommend that you set up an auto payment to minimise the chance of falling behind with your payment. Some tenants withhold the rent to force the owner hand to make repairs, which is not a wise action. Ceasing payment will only lead to breaching the agreement.

 

Utilities connection

Don’t forget to connect Electricity, Gas, phone service and internet before you move in. Electricity and gas connection normally can likely take up to two business days. You will need to check with the agent or building manager if there is any embedded service provider.

 

Moving in

You will get the keys on the commencement date and a property ongoing condition report. You need to check the property conditions carefully, put a note into the report of which is not included by the agent and take photos of the your concerns and return the report with the images back to us within 7 days.

Most of the apartments require a move in booking that should be booked in at least 48 hours prior to the move.

 

Pets

Any pets should be included in the application as we need to seek approval from the owner and Strata manger. If it is a Strata title property, Pets must be Micro-chipped and well trained.

 

Getting repair done

During the tenancy, repair requests can be raised by the tenant.  All requests should be given by written notice (an email will be most effective). A brief description of the issue and some accompanying photos or video will drastically expedite the process. Once we receive the email, we will review the request and seek approval from the landlord and arrange for repair if needed. In some cases, the cost may apply to the tenant.

 

Safety

Ensure you lock all windows, doors ( including sliding doors) to secure your belongings. The landlord has no responsibility to compensate any loss in case of break in. You can consider to purchase contents insurance from any reputable insurer to ensure that you protect yourself.

We hope this was a useful guide on how to rent a property. There are a rules and legislation’s a tenant will need to comply with. For more information, you may refer to Residential Tenancy Act 2010 or feel free to contact us.