Meg Barrett,
Investment Property Consultant at Image Property.
How to make your tenant application stand out
Our rental market continues to be impacted by strong tenant demand versus low levels of property supply, which is a situation that is likely to persist for some time.
It is a stressful time for tenants as well as property managers who are at the coalface of the current rental undersupply.
However, rental properties are regularly listed for lease because tenants are moving out or have transitioned to home ownership.
While we do have a strong number of applications from tenants for each rental property that becomes available, there are strategies that you can employ to make yours stand out from the pack, including the following five.
1. Up-to-date information
One of the easiest ways to make your tenant application stand out is by ensuring that all of your relevant information is up-to-date, including your current employment as well as your previous rental history for each applicant.
2. Supporting documents
As professional property managers, we are unable to process your application until we have all of the necessary information to support it. This includes supporting documents such as payslips, bank statements, and ID.
Without these vital supporting documents, your application will not be considered, and you may miss out on the opportunity to secure the rental property.
3. Pet information
More and more rental properties allow pets, but it is not a blanket rule without checks and balances to ensure your pet is suitable for the property.
So, if you’re applying for a rental property and have a pet, make sure you supply all the necessary information, such as breed and size, so that your property manager has all the required information to progress your information.
4. Lease preferences
As a prospective tenant you no doubt have a preference on when the lease starts as well as whether you are interested in a six- or 12-month lease period.
Again, without this vital information, your tenant application will not be able to be assessed, so make sure you include this at the outset.
5. Valid references
Professional property managers will always check references to ensure that a tenant applicant has a proven and verifiable rental history.
So, it stands to reason, that you should include valid references with your tenant application, who are also available to be contacted as well as being relevant for a tenancy application.
