Landlords FAQ 

• Do I need to keep my rental apartment clean and presentable? I mean, I have not even visited my investment property for the last 3 years.

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 - Yes. A more presentable apartment generally receive higher rents. But do not worry, we will help you on this when conducting Open Inspections and make sure a Professional Move-out Cleaning Service is employed when necessary, for FREE.

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• Do I need to make sure my rental apartment is up to a suitable standard of safety and privacy?

 

- Yes. There are a dozen of items in the property you are not responsible for as a landlord, but Safety and Privacy is certainly your responsibility. For example, if your apartment is on the Ground Floor, coverings to the window and lockable front door is essential. We will double check if the standard has been met during our initial inspection, and make suggestions on what you may need to do.

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• Do I need to repair or replace leaking taps, sticking doors, broken light fittings, loose door handles, rotten floor boards, leaky gutters and torn fly-screens; ensure that all electrical wiring, power points, and electrical appliances are safe in the property?

 

- Yes, we strongly recommend you to do so before renting out your apartment. It may cost you some time and money, but it certainly will cost your a lot more later on if a handyman has to be called on weekends, an emergent attendance has to be called in the middle of the night, or the tenants are injured due to the fault of your property.

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• Do I need to take out comprehensive insurance cover on the property?

 

- Yes, we strongly recommend you to include Public Liability and Rental Income Cover. If your apartment is on the Ground Floor, you may also consider Theft and Broken of Glass Cover.

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• I heard some Management Agents are giving out discounts and sounds like a good deal?

 

- Do not be carried away by discounts, such as No Letting Fee or Low Management Fee; it will only cost you 1 week's rent as the letting fee for your Agent to make avg. 4-6 trips to your apartment to attend Open Inspections, answer questions for all enquires, follow up all potential tenants, handle paperworks, and compete with other similar rental apartments on the market to lock in a tenant for you. An Agent could easily be a bit "lazy" and keep your apartment vacant for 2 weeks more than it should be, which costs you far more than the discount you are getting.

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• Why is my rent decreased from last year? 

 

- Your rent is affected by many changing factors and could decrease for a short period of time. For example, a newly settled apartment building will flood the local rental market with 300 new apartments, a lower rent and longer vacancy period shall be expected during the next 3-6 months. Another example will be at the end of each year, when a large number of renters returning to foreign countries, 45% owners experience vacancy longer than 4 weeks and eventually dropped their rent by up to 50% during holidays. But you do not need to worry, we understand how the apartment rental market works and will employ suitable strategies for your best possible results.  

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• Why is there always a vacancy period between the old and new leases?

 

- In some of our cases, there is no vacancy at all between leases, for example in February when all students are coming back, apartments near universities could be leased within 1 day. But in most cases, it is normal that there is a 2 week vacancy between the old and new lease, simply because most tenants start to look for a new place at least 2-3 weeks in advance, some need to service a minimum 3-week notice to terminate their current lease before signing up a new one. If you add on time for application reviews, approvals, and deposit payments, it could stretch to 4 weeks. But do not worry, we start advertising and conducting Open Inspections 2 weeks before the current lease's expiry and endeavour to minimise your vacancy between leases.