A ‘Leg Up’ With Finding a Rental Property
Monday 11 November 2019
With many of our towns and cities experiencing a housing shortage, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to land a rental home. Here’s our advice on how to get to the front of that ‘rental queue’.
First impressions count.
Just like a job interview, arriving well-presented and on time goes a long way to help make a positive first impression at a property viewing. Some successful renters even go so far as printing a ‘renting CV’ or cover letter with information about themselves and their renting background. A short blurb about you and how long you’ve lived in previous properties gives the landlord confidence you’re not going to move out quickly. Make sure you take time to chat with the property manager, so they learn a little about you and can remember you when going through their stack of tenancy applications.
Complete the application form (yes, really).
Ensure your pre-tenancy application form is well filled out. It should go without saying, but a surprisingly large percentage of potential tenants leave blank spaces where their referee details or driver licence number should be (used for credit checks). In a competitive market, the landlord or property manager will be unlikely to chase you for this information, and you might find yourself at the bottom of the shortlist.
Move quick!
With many renters refreshing online listing sites multiple times a day, it’s no surprise that a property manager will start receiving enquiries within hours or even minutes of publishing a listing. If you’ve been sending emails or filling out online forms without much luck, consider taking it old school and picking up the phone - we’re looking at you, millennials. A phone chat helps you jump to the front of that ‘first- impressions queue’ and pitch your story to the property manager before they’ve even unlocked the door for the open home.
Setting up an account on summitrentals.co.nz and subscribing to saved searches will mean you’ll receive daily alerts whenever a property that matches your criteria hits the market. So, you’ll always be among the first to know about newly available properties, and you can phone our property managers as soon as possible.
