Breaking your Lease?

Let's face it: sometimes life demands more flexibility that what a standard six- or twelve-month lease affords us.  We may be relocated for work, a family crisis might occur, we might start a new relationship - or end one, or simply decide that our home no longer meets our needs.

So what's the best way to break a lease?

Well, the first step is to read your residential tenancy agreement to find out what is says in relation to breaking your lease and the fees that are payable by you.

The next step is to communicate your intention to break your lease verbally and in writing to your landlord or property manager. 

Most cases involving a break lease will leave you out-of-pocket, but in some cases, if you find a suitable tenant who can take over the lease for you, your costs can be minimised.

My suggestions

• Be co-operative, flexible, open and communicative when you're dealing with your property manager or landlord

• Try to negotiate areas of common ground so that the break lease can be as smooth as possible

• Return vacant possession on the day that you say you will. This means, leave the property, remove all of your goods and valuables and return the keys on the date that was agreed. Don't leave things behind ... or fail to move out!

• Leave the property in excellent condition. This means clean, all light globes working, lawn moved (if applicable), rubbish removed, everything in working order (or as you found it) and the keys returned.

• Leave a forwarding address

• Use your best endeavours to find a tenant (if this is a possibility for you)

• Understand that in most cases, a break fee will be payable and be co-operative with this payment

Landlords and property managers are people, too, and they will understand that life happens and sometimes we need to move before our lease is up.  The tips above will assist you in dealing with your property manager / landlord for a smooth outcome while minimising your costs.

Melissa Maimann is a Licensed Real Estate Agent, Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licensed Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

A typical week

Many people have asked me what a typical week looks like in my work as a rental search agent.

Saturday is my busiest day, with almost all available properties open for inspection on this day.  When I have finished my inspections, I use the rest of the day to prepare inspection reports for my clients.

On Monday, I follow-up with agents re: applications submitted from Saturday’s open homes and help my clients to secure their new home and celebrate.  Very few homes come on the market on Monday as the property managers usually use Monday to process applications.  Inspection times for the week are usually not posted until Tuesday or Wednesday because the property managers do not know what is still going to be available for lease until the weekend’s applications have been processed.  There are generally no open homes on a Monday because the agents are busy processing applications.

Tuesday generally brings new properties to the market.  Tuesday is a busy day for me, searching and evaluating new homes that have come on the market in preparation for open homes on Wednesday / Thursday.  By Tuesday, homes that remain available from Saturday’s inspections will start to have open home times scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Wednesday and Thursday are the most popular days for mid-week inspections. 

Wednesday and Thursday are again busy days as I have inspections and reports, ongoing property searches and property research / evaluation. 

Very little happens on a Friday in terms of new homes coming on the market, but this is again a busy day for me as I continue to evaluate homes ahead of Saturday’s inspections.  On Friday, I confirm my inspection schedule for Saturday (my busiest day). 

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

What to look for in a rental search agent

What to look for in a rental search agent

Here's my list of things to consider when you choose an agent to find a rental property for you.

License

Ensure that your agent is licensed.  Check the Fair Trading licensing section and ensure that they hold a current real estate agent's license.

Insurance

Ensure that your agent has insurance that covers them to work for you as a real estate agent.

Experience

Ensure that your agent has had experience in finding rental properties for clients - and preferably one who also works as a buyer's agent, as the experience in securing properties for purchase provides excellent experience for securing rental homes and negotiating leases and rents in your favour.  Plus, a buyer's agent is skilled in inspecting and evaluating homes and in interpreting the nuances of the data surrounding the home.

Service

Ensure that you have a very clear understanding of what the service entails and which parts are flexible, ie, would you prefer to do part of the service yourself, or outsource the entire process to your agent?  Does the service include advice through the course of your lease? 

Fee

Ensure you understand the fee and what it covers.  How long does the service last?  Are there any other fees that are payable?

Flexibility

A service that is $x for one day of inspections; $x for a certain number of hours, $x for a certain number of inspections etc is bound to make you feel nervous.  Go with a service that is unlimited for peace of mind.

Accessibility

Your rental search agent should be accessible to you by email and phone and should promptly respond to your communication.

Melissa Maimann is a Licenced Real Estate Agent, Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

What secrets can you tell me about the rental home that I'm thinking of renting?

In a word, many!

As a licenced real estate agent, I have access to property data portals (both APM PriceFinder and CoreLogic RP Data).  Put simply, if the information is available, I have access to it!

The sort of information I can uncover for my clients includes:

• Sales data: how often has the property sold? Is it currently for sale? Has it been difficult to sell in the past?

• How does the rent compare with the value of the property (rental yield) and with the median rental yield for the suburb?

• Rental history: what did it previously rent for, how long do the tenants tend to stay? Is it vacant for long periods of time between tenants? Does the rent always need to be discounted so that they can get a tenant? Is the rent able to be increased over time, suggesting that this is a home that the landlords continue to invest in and improve on

• History of renovations

• How old those online photos really are

• The floor plan

• Size and aspect

• Whether it's likely to be sold soon, or whether it is purely an investment property

• Nearby developments / DAs

• The rental and sales history for the block

Why does this matter?

• If you've ever signed your lease only to find out shortly after that the landlord is going to sell;

• If you've ever moved into this freshly-painted unit only to find after a couple of weeks your belongings are covered in mould;

• If you've ever moved in, chatted with your fellow resident tenants and found that you're paying way more rent than them;

• If you've ever moved in and shortly after, returned home one night to see that the house next door has been bulldozed and a new apartment block is to go up in its place

Then this information matters to you!

Melissa Maimann is a licenced real estate agent, buyer's agent and rental search / relocation agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Airbnb and the Sydney Rental market

Many people believe that Airbnb impacts the rental market, and recent research tells us that these beliefs are well-founded.

Cconsidering the small size of Airbnb in comparison to the total rental market in Sydney, the impact of Airbnb ought to be minimal.  However, this study shows us that the impact is not equally distributed, as the majority of Airbnb accommodation is in the higher-end areas such as beach-side suburbs and those areas that are closer to the CBD.

In these areas, there is a very real danger of local residents being pushed out of renting and living in these most sought-after areas, so that tourists can move in.  This impacts supply and cost of rental properties because those homes that remain on the rental market are able to command higher rents (due to shorter supply and higher demand).  Once again, tenants lose out.

Melissa saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently.  If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Struggling to pay your bond?

You might be relieved to find that there's a new service to help tenants who are struggling to pay their bond.  BONDSURE enables tenants to have their rental bonds paid on their behalf by the company, while the tenant pays it off over 6-12 months (for a hefty interest rate).  BONDSURE also offers tenants the option to take out bond insurance for $18 per month.

Bond insurance ensures that the tenant will be refunded their bond at the end of their lease, while the loan of the bond ensures that the bond can be paid upfront.

It might sounds like a great option for tenants to have, but we need to be mindful that Landlords and property managers are unlikely to rent a place to a tenant who cannot provide for their own bond up front.  That said, the bond insurance would add an extra layer of protection to tenants and property managers alike.

Melissa Maimann is a licensed real estate agent (renter’s agent and buyer's agent) in Sydney. She saves renters valuable time and frustration offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and effortlessly. If you need a Licensed Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Using a Rental Search Agent

Many people struggle to find a rental property.  It takes a lot of time out of your day - searching on the Internet, contacting agents to ensure the property meets your basic requirements, inspecting, evaluating and applying.  And that's all before being accepted.

The best time to engage my service is 6-8 weeks before you are thinking of moving.  This provides us with plenty of time to find the best home for you, and alleviates you of all of the legwork involved in finding a rental home.  We do all of the Internet searches - and also search off-market for you - we enquire about homes, inspect them, write comprehensive reports including photos / video and even help you to write a successful application.  Our fee is a fraction of the time you will spend in your busy week.

Contact us today

Rental struggles

Mary (not her real name) recently approached me for some help.  She was moving to the Southern Highlands from interstate with her young family.  She planned to rent for about two years.  Being a long-term rental, it was important to her that it was the right property.  Moving twice with a young family is not ideal.

I was delighted to assist her, not just with inspections, but also with searches. 

How did I do more than what Mary could to search for a rental property? 

Well, here's a few other things that I did:

• I contacted all of the local property managers to explore what properties might be coming up that were not yet on the market

• I contacted all of the local sales agents to understand which properties had recently sold to investors

• I contacted my network of buyer's agents to see if any of their investor clients had recently purchased

• Examined my database for leads

You can appreciate that there is far more to a rental search service than a simple browse through the internet for rental properties.

Having found and short-listed properties, I was now ready to inspect them for Mary.  Mary received a detailed property inspection report, complete with photos.  It's not uncommon for there to be around 50 photos per property inspected.

I love to help people with their rental searches.  Finding a great rental property can be challenging, frustrating and at times lead people to feelings of despair and desperation.  I can alleviate my clients of all of those feelings and present solutions instead.

Melissa Maimann is a licensed real estate agent (renter’s agent and buyer's agent) in Sydney. She saves renters valuable time and frustration offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and effortlessly. If you need a Licensed Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Renting Success

For tenants across Sydney, finding a new rental home is tough.

In many areas of Sydney, competition is steep, and unless you're amongst the first to view a property, apply for the property and secure it, you may find you have limited success.

What sorts of things can make you stand out from everyone else?

Well, the first thing is to be first to become aware that a new property is on the market, and be quick to evaluate it and view it.

Yet, this is where many people are stuck.  How can one become aware of properties and be available to inspect them a moment's notice when perhaps they do not reside in Sydney, or the demands of family life or work make if difficult to attend open home inspections as soon as they come up.

This is where many people are now finding great value in my rental search service.  I know you have a full-time job that may extend to 40+ hours per week across 5-6 days.  My full-time job is finding hoes for people.  I'm available and on task every day, becoming aware of new properties, evaluating them and of course am available to inspect them, whatever time the inspection is taking place.  This brings a huge relief to my clients.

If you need a hand with finding your next rental home, let me help you!  All day long, I help tenants find homes.  I search for homes, short-list them, enquire about them, inspect them, report on them and help my clients apply for them - successfully.  If your rental search experience has been over-rated, contact me so that you can enjoy your Saturdays and keep your sanity.

Rental vacancy rates are under 2%. What does this mean for you?

In many areas that I cover for my rental search service, rental vacancy rates are down under 2%.  I'm hearing many clients lament that the home they love that's just come on the market has been leased before they even had an opportunity to inspect it.  They are wondering if this is normal ... or what?

Unfortunately, yes, this is the norm.  In most areas in which I locate rental homes for my clients, vacancy rates are down under 2%.  This means that fewer than 2% of all possible homes that can be rented, are available for rent at that point in time.  It is Landlord's Paradise but a Tenant's Nightmare.  For me, finding homes for people is my full-time job.  For most people, their full-time job is very different, and they try to squeeze finding a rental home into their spare time, but this approach sees them missing out again and again.

The other issue is that it is an incredibly competitive space for tenants when rental vacancy rates are so low.  It means that more tenants are competing for fewer homes, landlords can be very picky with regards to tenant selection.  This presents another issue for tenants: how to stand out from all of the other tenants who are applying for the same home.  Unfortunately, the average tenant applies for several homes and only gets approved for one, and that home is not necessarily their favourite home.  In my service, I have found that 100% of the applications submitted have been approved. 

The final issue that low vacancy rates presents for tenants is that there's not a lot of choice!  The best that a tenant can do is to have a very clear idea of what they need, what they want, what they don't want and where they're prepared to be flexible.  I can add value to this area as well, with extensive experience in helping tenants appreciate what they can afford for their budget, what to expect of the area they're considering living in and how to be realistic and flexible so that a great home can be found in as little time as possible.

If all this sounds way too familiar, let me help you!  All day long, I help tenants find homes.  I search for homes, short-list them, enquire about them, inspect them, report on them and help my clients apply for them - successfully.  If your rental search experience has been over-rated, contact me so that you can enjoy your Saturdays and keep your sanity.

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Has your agent asked you to have your home professionally cleaned when you move out?

If your agent has asked you to have your home professionally cleaned before you vacate, you're not alone.  But did you know that you cannot be required to have the home professionally cleaned?

Your residential tenancy agreement requires you to leave the home reasonably clean, having regard to the condition of the home at the commencement of the tenancy.

As well as this, agents cannot require you to have the carpet professionally cleaned when you leave, unless you have agreed to clean the carpets professionally as part of a condition that allows you to keep a pet at the home.

This being the case, you might be very surprised to hear, as we were, that end-of-lease clean-ups are tenants nearly $200M.

Apparently, 20% tenants lose an average of $1,224 of their bond when landlords find the property is dirty upon departure.  With 821,830 bonds lodged in NSW currently, this could cost renters as much as $191 million.  It seems that the CBD, Liverpool and Bondi are the worst geographies at keeping their bond.

Tenants do need to leave their homes reasonably clean, however how the tenant achieves this is their decision.  For some, professional cleaning is the way to go: perhaps they don't like cleaning or they're busy or they want the job done well.  It's true that if the home is not left in reasonable condition and the tenant fails to rectify this, their bond may be withheld.  However, landlords and agents cannot require a tenant to have the home professionally cleaned unless animals have been kept at the premises.

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Getting Smart! Understanding those rental ads.

One of the biggest issues that face people who are searching for a rental property in Sydney is that oftentimes the home they inspect looks or is, nothing like what was advertised.  Frustrated, people often wonder how this can be possible.  They have read the description and viewed the photos .... but .... there is some kind of disconnect.  Use our guide to understand the real meaning behind those somewhat deceptive terms.

1. "Good" condition

Beware of anything that is in "good" condition.  It usually means it looks awful and requires a complete renovation, but it is functional.

2. $800 per week

The advertised price is not always the price that the property will end up renting for.  This is merely the price that the Landlord would like to achieve for the property.  Unless you know rental vacancy rates for the area, current demand and comparable rentals, you might be in for a shock!  $800 might end up more like $820, or even $750! 

3. Views

Is a view still a view if it can only be viewed up on tippy toes in the very corner of the window?  If the ad says there are views, ensure that there's a photo of the view that you can expect to see.

3. Close to transport

When they say ‘close’, check the place out on Google maps and see just how close.  It might mean the bus stop is right outside your bedroom window, or that your windows and doors will vibrate every time a train goes past!

4. Garage

Not all garages fit a modern car!  Sad but true.  The cars of the 1930s were a tad smaller than our modern cars.  The other consideration is whether the double lock-up garage is a tandem garage. 

5. " Good-sized"  ...

Anything that is "good-sized" is probably small. Particularly the "double" bedrooms.

6. If it doesn't say it's bright and light ...

It probably isn't. Unless you turn all the lights on!

7. Comes complete with washing machine, dishwasher and air-conditioning

Sounds great - but anticipate that they may not work (or work well) when you move in (they'll be repaired though).

8. Brand new carpet and paint

Sounding good!  Expect that it will be cheap carpet and paint that looks great but damages easily.  Take care!

If you need an agent to find your next rental home in Sydney for you, contact me

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Relocating to Sydney? Here's what you need to know

When you're relocating to Sydney, there are some things you'll need to know to make your move smoother.

• A car is necessary in many areas of Sydney, although many areas are well serviced by public transport.

• Housing and rental prices in Australia are fairly high, and most people are shocked at how much they will need to pay to find housing in some areas of Sydney.

• Enjoy Sydney: it has a lot to offer, from breaches to shops, entertainment, Blue Mountains, cafes and restaurants, dancing and of course the Zoo.

• We have an excellent healthcare system, and being a capital city, we are blessed to have excellent access to a full range of medical and health services seven days a week. Ensure that you have health insurance arranged before you arrive.

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search / Relocation Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Who uses a Rental Search Agent?

It's a common question I am asked.  People use my service for a whole range of reasons. 

No time to find a home

There are many variations on this theme.  You might be busy at work, unable to take time off for inspections, enquire with agents, search for properties etc.  You might have family demands.  You might be caring for someone who is unwell. You might be traveling a lot for work.

Relocating from Overseas or Inter-State

Some of my clients are not physically in Sydney to inspect the homes and they need a licensed agent to inspect the homes on their behalf.

how do i rent a home in sydney?

Most of my clients do not know the market that they would like to rent in.  They are unsure what they can get for their budget, the dominant property types in their areas of interest, general lease terms, what to expect of renting a home, rights and responsibilities, how to apply and how to search for homes.  They appreciate an agent acting on their behalf, after all, landlords have agents representing them.

Unsuccessful and frustrated

Some of my clients have been trying for a while to find a home - unsuccessfully.  Perhaps they can't find what they're after, their applications have been unsuccessful and they're not sure why, or they feel dismayed at the sheer volume of competition.

If all this sounds way too familiar and you're over it, let me help you!  All day long, I help tenants find homes.  I search for homes, short-list them, enquire about them, inspect them, report on them and help my clients apply for them - successfully.  If your rental search experience has been over-rated, contact me so that you can enjoy your Saturdays and keep your sanity.

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Who loves searching for a rental home?

Did you know that searching for a rental home can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming activities a person can engage in?

Some say that the same can be said of finding a home to buy to live in, however, there's a few key differences:

1. Agents generally treat potential buyers better than they do potential tenants ... emails and phone calls are returned, for example

2. Time is not necessarily pressing, because if the potential buyer cannot find a suitable home, there is another alternative - renting - until something suitable comes up, yet with renting, time is usually more pressing and the inability to find a rental home usually has more expensive implications (ie short-term accommodation)

So ... finding a rental home.  What exactly are the issues and struggles?

• Turning up for an open home, only to find it has been falsely advertised as having or not having things that are actually deal-breakers for you

• Inconveniently-timed inspections requiring you to leave work early / start late

• Agents not returning calls or emails

• Agents not knowing about the property other than, "It's open at 12pm on Saturday. Why don't you come and have a look for yourself?"

• Turning up for an open home, along with 20 other excited people, only to find an application has being processed and the new tenants are set to pay their holding deposit in an hour

• Arriving on time for an open home, but with a fairly booked schedule of open homes - the first open home you have planned is a great property, but where is the agent? Someone calls the agent and they say they're running 15 minutes late (for a 15-minute inspection) ... and you need to get to the next open home.

• Coming out on a cold, wet day to inspect a property that seems to be great. Parking is a challenge, you get heavily rained on, step in a big puddle you didn't see, and the property is a disappointment.

• Beware the "double" bedroom, the "good" kitchen, and "transport right outside the door" - unless you like bus stops at your bedroom window.

• Properties advertised as available, that are really leased already, they just haven't been removed from the property websites.

• Deceptive photos ... yes, the room does have the carpet that's in the photo, but it is stained and smelly; rooms that are nowhere near as bright as the photos suggest; lawns that are far from green and lush: they're practically destroyed; a lock-up garage that doesn't open, or fit a car, or both.

Let's just say for argument's sake, all the stars have aligned.  The property is as it presents online, the agent does come for the open home, it is still available, and you really love the home.  Now you need to make it yours.  This is where the fun begins.

How do you make that home yours when there's 5 other applications on it?

How do you get your application to stand out from the competition?

How do you get honest feedback on your application before it's submitted?

If you're like most people, you apply, sit back, and wait to hear something ... anything.  Days go passed.  "This can't be right", you think.  You're right.  It isn't right.  The property is not yours.  It went to someone else four days ago, but no-one thought to let you know.

If all this sounds way too familiar and you're fed up and over it, let me help you!  All day long, I help tenants find homes.  I search for homes, short-list them, enquire about them, inspect them, report on them and help my clients apply for them - successfully.  If your rental search experience has been over-rated, contact me so that you can enjoy your Saturdays and keep your sanity.

Relocating from Overseas?

Many of my clients are relocating to Sydney from overseas and are considering short-term accommodation while they find a rental home. 

Short-term accommodation can be costly, and with limited knowledge of the Sydney rental market and limited time to find a home, costs can quickly add up.

Many people who are immigrating would love to have a licensed real estate agent to find their home for them, or at least assist with the search and short-listing process.

Each person needs to weigh up for themselves whether they prefer to pay for expensive short-term accommodation until they find their own rental home in Sydney, or whether they wish to outsource their rental search to an agent and go straight from the airport to their new home. 

Melissa Maimann is a licenced Buyer's Agent and Rental Search Agent in Sydney. She saves tenants time and frustration by offering an affordable service that finds and secures the best rental properties quickly, easily and efficiently. If you need a Licenced Real Estate Agent to find your next rental home for you, don't hesitate to make contact.

Sydney's HOT Rental Market

The rental market in Sydney is hot.  Good homes that are well-priced lease quickly.  Like, within a day.

Whilst there is a lot on the market, there are also loads of people looking for a rental property.

This can make it challenging to know how to structure your open home inspection planner to accommodate all of the best properties.  One key is to ascertain as much information about the property as possible before you allocate time to inspect it. However, the best information about homes is usually hidden from prospective tenants.  The best information is available only to real estate professionals, on paid subscriptions.

Using a service such as Find my Rental Property can assist here, by accessing all of the behind-the-scenes information about your rental property: things like a floor plan (even when it's not published on the usual property websites), proposed developments, previous rental history, additional photos, recent renovations, size of the property and rooms, whether it is pet-friendly, sales data and so on, not to mentioned aerial and street views of the property to ensure its location is right. 

The more information you have prior to inspecting, the more certain you can be that the one you inspect will be the right one for you.  There's nothing worse than venturing out on a Saturday morning - battling traffic, parking and short open home times - only to find that the home you're inspecting is not right, and that you missed out on the one that was right.  Give us a call today - we'd love to help you find your next rental home.

Tips for Moving from one Rental to the Next Rental

moving to your next rental home?  Here are some tips to help you.

1. Choose a removalist based on personal recommendation and interview them thoroughly.

2. Anticipate that things will not go to plan on your move day. Emergencies come up, sometimes the removalist doesn't show or turns up with a smaller truck than is needed, or it's raining and so the move takes longer, or a whole raft of other issues than can crop up. Anticipate that things may not go to plan and build in flexibility wherever possible.

3. Don't plan to collect the keys and move into your home on the same day. Collect the keys and plan to move in a couple of days later. Occasionally there are mishaps and the home you ought to be able to move into is not ready, or the keys aren't there on time, or the agent thought you were coming in on a different day. Anticipate this and plan to move in a couple of days after you are meant to collect the keys.

4. Remember that you'll need to leave your old home spick and span. This means a thorough clean and ensuring that everything is in the state that you found it in, fair wear and tear excepted. I recommend first cleaning your new home, then moving into your new home, and then returning to your old home to clean it (or engaging a professional cleaning service).

5. Unpack the things you'll need, first. When you're packing, consider what things you'll need first and pack them at the top or in their own box. Label your boxes so that you know which box/es you need to unpack first.

Three Tips when you're Setting out on your Rental Search

You need a new rental home, but where to start?

Here are my top three tips for tenants who are setting out to find their new home.

Know what you want and don't want, and why

Knowing what you want / don't want will allow you to easily recognise when the right home comes up.  This is important because the best rental homes can lease within 24-48 hours of hitting the market.

Knowing WHY you want / don't want certain features will help you to become more flexible and build in options that may expand your search.

Act Fast

Be ready to act quickly and decisively when the right homes comes up.  If you don't, someone else might.

Have your finance all ready

This means the equivalent of four weeks' rent for the bond and the first two weeks of rent to be paid up-front.

If you need a hand with your rental search, or if you need to outsource it to a property professional, Find My Rental Property is here to help.

An Agent Representing Tenants?

In so many aspects of our lives, we engage professionals to represent our interests.  Those professionals range from accountants to financial planners, solicitors, conveyancers, financial advisors, and so forth.  In fact, for most people, it's a no-brainer to seek out a professional to advocate for us, advise us and guide us.

Time and time again, I find tenants' needs disregarded, their rights trampled on, and their value minimised.  I believe tenants deserve only the utmost respect and consideration: we are paying someone else's mortgage and looking after their property, after-all.

Renting a home usually represents the single largest expenditure for a tenant.  It is one of the biggest expenses we usually incur, and considering most leases are for 12 months, it is a decision that is binding for a good length of time.  Yet time and time again, tenants rent their homes without professional representation in both choosing the right home and in the months and years that follow.

I've often been curious that most landlords engage agents to select tenants for them and manage their properties, yet when a tenant leases a home, although there are two parties coming together, only one is represented. 

The information that is publicly available about the property is usually minimal, and tenants are provided a mere 15 minutes to inspect the property and decide on it.  So in effect, tenants are genuinely going in blind. 

To make matters worse, tenants are then required to pay a holding deposit to secure the property, without even reading the terms of the lease, as that is not prepared until after the holding deposit is paid.

Consider the process to purchase a home: interested buyers obtain the contract for sale/purchase before they pay a deposit and they seek legal advice on the contract.  Their conveyancer / property lawyer may request amendments to the terms and conditions, which may or may not be accepted by the vendor.  But no deposit is paid until the contract has been viewed and terms and conditions agreed.  Yet when tenants rent, they pay their deposit and then view the contract.

Unfortunately, tenants are up against property managers and agents who rent out homes all day, every day.  They know exactly what to say - and what not to say - to secure a tenant.  These agents rent out homes every day, whereas a tenant usually only rents one home every two or three years, and so this creates a very imbalanced situation, especially given the agent's access to public, private and inside information about the property, whereas the tenant is only able to access scant, publicly-available information.

Most tenants don’t have access to rich, complete and detailed private information about rental properties.  This information is only available to real estate professionals on paid subscriptions.  My service accesses this information for clients to even-out the playing field so that my clients are not going in blind.  Landlords have agents to research their tenants for them - and we all know just how lengthy those property applications are.  But who is researching the property, landlord and agent for the tenant?  This is where Find My Rental Property comes in.

Renting a home in Sydney is tough at most times of the year.  Good homes are leased so fast that there's almost no time to consider them.  I find homes all day, every day: it's my full-time job.  When a home comes up, I know about it and can easily and quickly research the home and everything there is to know about it.  Engaging my service helps to address the significant imbalance that exists between landlords and tenants.  My service represents tenants and ensures their interests are represented, both in finding and securing a home, and throughout the lease. 

Good news for Agents and Property Managers

My experience is that agents and property managers love dealing with my service.  Why?  They know I have a client who is going to love their home, who has been screened and qualified, whose application is in tip-top form (no need for the agent to request additional documents or go through lengthy discussion to get the information they need to process the application).  Agents understand what I bring to the table, which is a fantastic client who is ready to look after the home, pay the rent on time and be responsible, communicative and reliable.  In short, every landlord's dream.

I've been thrilled to have helped so many tenants find and secure their perfect home and to provide ongoing support through their lease.  My wish for all tenants is that they are able to go into their next lease with their eyes wide open and lease the right property at the right price, so that the rental period is satisfying and rewarding for both the tenant and the landlord.  Happy tenant = happy landlord!