Do certain suburbs attract certain demographics? There seems to be somewhat of a trend this way and it is usually characterised by tenants’ needs to access certain amenities at certain times in their lives. Your property manager is adept in targeting your property to the right tenant and will often suggest/advise allowing for a broad range of tenant enquiry.
As a landlord, it’s important to consider that in order to get the right tenant, you need to appeal to the largest tenant pool, and this includes across all generations. Although it may appear some suburbs generate interest from one generation over another, this may not always be the case. For example, if investing in a property close to a university, there will undoubtedly be interest from students wanting/needing to rent close by, but this does not necessitate students being the only option as tenant. Academics, professors and other university staff, or anyone for that matter, may wish to live in close proximity.
When looking at what makes your property appeals to tenants, first and foremost consider the basic amenities your property provide. These will generally appeal to all generations and may include:
- Access and parking at the property
- Mobile and internet connection
- Heating/cooling
- Proximity to shops/parks/health facilities/transport
Additional features of a property may be appealing to some tenants, but may also appear unnecessary to others, limiting the tenant pool. These may include:
- Anything which may require regular maintenance
- Anything which may take up unnecessary space with little function for the tenant
- Fire pits, sand pits and play equipment
- Even pools are sometimes looked unfavourably upon by potential tenants
At the end of the day, your property manager’s priority is to ensure your property is well-tenanted. This is done through proper screening of tenants to ensure that, to the best of our knowledge, the tenant is the best fit for your property. The first step in this process is ensuring that the property itself will attract the best tenants possible, and by not limiting your market to just one demographic.