Tax time again, time to visit the accountant to see if this is the year to grow your portfolio again, is it the right time to buy investment properties?
For our investors at the moment it is always good to be reporting back to our landlords that we have a strong week of interest with the properties.
With vacancy rates still at a low, it is not hard to tenant out good properties in good locations.
As soon as our new investors are settling with their properties we are assisting tenants with move in & connections, so the need for more rentals is definitely what Melbourne needs.
Good family homes in good locations, close to schools, shops, parks etc., are highly sought by tenants, each week we get enquires about what is coming up, and we struggle to keep up with the number of tenants wanting properties in these good locations.
For our landlords – the tenants are looking at what the house / Unit has to offer – is it clean, and fresh, is the kitchen updated / in good condition, is the bathroom updated / in good order. What heating does the property have, is there air conditioning?
Your return on investment is always a high priority, however if the house / Unit is not in good order the rent will reflect on this, and the vacancy time will also reflect on this.
One question we are continually asked – Can we have a dog. This is asked so often and will happen more and more as people have to sell their family homes to move to where they can afford to rent in this current market, and most families do have pets, so it seems unfair they are struggling with trying to find a place to live with their animals
– As a landlords you need to think if this will affect your long term capital growth, most times it won’t…
As it is the tenant’s responsibility to return the yard / home to the order they rented it. This is just something landlords need to think about…
This weekend saw each open have numerous prospective tenants visiting, with one of our properties in Richmond showing great interest, as you can see the lights of the MCG.
Location and condition are what you are appealing to tenants with to ensure you get long term tenants, so if you keep your property in the best condition possible,( which your property manager can assist with and report back to you after each visit and recommend if any works could be done to ensure your property remains in good order.) Tenants are more than likely to stay if they feel you are making an effort to keep your property cared for.
And after all if you have an investment property it should be for long term, to enable you to get the best capital growth from your property to allow you to continue to purchase more properties for your future.
Below you will find info from the REIV, regarding the latest Census info.
Census shows more renters
The first release of the 2011 Census provides some interesting information about the structure of housing in Melbourne and how it has changed.
In summary: over the past five years there has been an increase in the proportion of people renting compared to those owning or buying their own home.
At the same time, there has been little change in the types of homes we live in.
In the 2001 Census, 883,012 homes were owned or being purchased in Melbourne out of the 1.26 million in this city. By 2006 that has increased to 929,834 dwellings; however, they represented only 68 per cent of all homes, down from 70 per cent in 2001.
By 2011 the total number of homes that were owned or being purchased increased in raw terms to 998,860 but they dropped as a proportion of all properties to 67 per cent.
This drop in the level of home ownership is a concerning shift, as it directly reduces household wealth.
Over the past five years the proportion of detached homes has not changed. In 2006 72 per cent of all homes were detached houses and that was the same in 2011. The more obvious shift in housing type occurred between 2001 and 2006 when there was a drop in the proportion of detached houses from 75 to 72 per cent.
This suggests that, while there seems to have been an increase in high-rise living, there has been a commensurate increase in detached homes as the city itself has expanded outwards.
Source *REIV
If you have an investment property and would like further info about our property management, don’t hesitate to call or email,
If you are looking to purchase an investment property, call or email and let JPP Buyer Advocates assist you.
Sam James