We've been saying to investors and others via our blog for some time that the rental market has been running hot, resulting in some landlords and agents aiming very high with the rent they seek for their property. 

Often it is the currently advertised rental pricing which influences where a landlord or agent predicts that rent should be set. However, this provides only part of the story. 

In this post we discuss 3 reasons why you shouldn't use currently-advertised rental pricing to determine your own property's rent.

This week we were engaged in a discussion with some industry peers around the need to consider more than just the dollar value when setting rent for an investment property. Below, we share a real-world example of the outcome of an investor seeking high rent above other considerations, and the avoidable results of this approach. 

In the process we introduce the 3-Way Balance of Setting The Ideal Rent. 

We often hear from landlords who are disappointed with the service they have been receiving from their current property manager. Keen to make a change, we advise of the minimal steps involved in changing property managers.

The first of these steps is to identify the notice required to give the current real estate agency, as per the notice period included in the Managing Agency Agreement. 

But how long should this notice period be?

Back in September 2020, we wrote a number of articles sharing data specific to Newcastle and Lake Macquarie investment property, which showed how people were relocating to regional areas away from capital cities. Those changes were cited at the time as resulting in driving house price growth and low rental vacancy rates in regional areas.

Now, a full year later, fresh research continues to emerge showing that this trend is lasting - great news for investors in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region!

In this post we summarise the latest research and data highlighting the impacts of regional migration on rental vacancy rates and housing affordability across the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region. The findings are remarkably similar to our article 12 months ago. 

We've all seen property prices skyrocket post-COVID, particularly in regional areas such as Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. Exodus from capital cities, increase in numbers of people working from home, and a desire to live somewhere with more space and a greater lifestyle has all been part of this shift. 

In this post, we detail what this shift to the regions - specifically to the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie area - has had on two primary measures of the rental market: rental vacancy rates and weekly rental amounts.

We take a look at how these two measures have changed over the past 12 months across the following broad areas of the region, to provide a snapshot to answer the question "How's the market?":

• Adamstown, Adamstown Heights, Garden Suburb, Highfields, Kotara (Postcode 2289)
• Cameron Park, Cardiff, Cardiff Heights, Cardiff South, Edgeworth, Glendale, Macquarie Hills (Postcode 2285)
• Charlestown, Dudley, Gateshead, Hillsborough, Kahibah, Mount Hutton, Redhead, Tingira Heights, Whitebridge (Postcode 2290)
• Merewether, Merewether Heights, The Junction (Postcode 2291)
• New Lambton, New Lambton Heights, Kotara East (Postcode 2305)

Management of investment property can certainly be complicated. With or without a property manager, you need to navigate a world of legislative requirements, insurances, and for many starting out their investment journey, you need to chart a course through the unknown.

At the same time, finding quick answers to complex questions can be hard, just as it can be hard finding the time to research the questions you have!

So, we've developed a simple resource to help: PropertySnacks. 

While rental yield figures can provide an interesting indicator of a suburb's viability for investment, as is usually the case there is more than meets the eye with this statistic and often the finer detail is not considered. 

​Let's start by understanding what rental yield is.