At the beginning of the year in Australia, we see a new wave of college and university students. With the influx of students comes the higher demand for accommodation close to their place of study. For the university, finding a cheap and comfortable place is a priority. For the landlords, there is a strong opportunity to generate more cash from willing university students. It is a golden opportunity for landlords, however there are some precautions that they should take to minimize the risk that usually comes with renting to the under 21 crowd:
Make Sure They Are Clean
You want to make sure that the people who are living in your home are clean. Especially when it comes to food disposal. The last thing you want as a landlord is to gain unexpected guests in the form of pests. Even though you can invest in pest control services to remove the pests from the areas of the home, it is important that the tenants maintain the cleanliness of the property to avoid attracting unwanted rodents and insects. For landlords that are based in Geelong that may be in need of these services, consider pest control services in Geelong.
Get References
References are extremely important in the rental industry. You need to minimize the risk to the loss of income and any additional costs that you could potentially incur from having bad tenants. Put measures in place that will allow the potential tenants to be screened based on their rental history. Check with the previous landlords how they were as tenants and any damage or costs that were sustained to the property.
Make Sure They Pay Rent On Time
Ensure that you have a strict tenancy agreement in place and that you receive payment for the rent in a timely fashion. Arrange to have formal contracts and payment instructions for the rent of the property. Add in clauses that will give you the power to provide penalties or to evict tenants should they not follow through with their agreement as per the signed contract.
Know Where to Look
If you are looking for lodgers, it is much easier to have them find you nowadays. Since most students are on their smart devices or computers, you can list your property or room rental on sites like Gumtree, Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au. Alternatively, you can partner with the university student unions to promote your property across their internal portals or place poster ads about the availability of your property.
Specify The Expectations
It is important to set the expectations of the property that you are renting out. Establish consistent rules for the lodgers to comply to and if there are any complaints, how they can be escalated and resolved. It is best to be upfront with these rather than face problems, which can lead to further headaches for the landlord.
Landlords have the opportunity to profit well from college and university students in their property, however they should exercise a sense of caution. Getting in the right tenant to the property can be profitable over the long run. However, the wrong lodger can be costly and potentially put you on the path to financial ruin. Play it safe and be smart to avoid the pitfalls of share accommodation.
*This article was contributed.
