How to score your dream rental, according to a tenant agent

“You can’t get champagne on a beer budget.”

The housing market is nothing short of disastrous. But we didn’t need to tell you that – you’re reading this for a reason. Whether you’re searching for a home in Perth or Sydney, dodgy landlords are trying to undercut you and real estate agents are just trying to dodge you.

Oftentimes, it feels like there’s nobody in the corner for tenants. You go through the gruelling process by yourself – searching, inspecting, applying, rinsing and repeating. To put an end to this painful cycle, there’s a growing body of tenant agents who do this work for you.

Looking for more thought-provoking reads? Try our Life section.

The Rent Fairy was established in May 2020 and since then, it’s helped hundreds of people secure rental properties. “Think of it as a personal assistant-based service, where we act on your behalf every step of the way in securing a property,” founder Sarah Elkordi tells me. In order to appease some of the stress and headache of finding a dream (let’s be honest, we’ll just take liveable at this stage) property, Sarah shares some of her best tips on navigating the rental world.

Be realistic

One of my top tips is [to] make sure your expectations and criteria in the current market are realistic. One expression I tell a lot of my clients is you can’t get champagne on a beer budget. So make sure what you’re [wanting to] achieve is well within what’s available and what’s in your budget. Another part of that is to avoid over-committing. We understand that rental prices are increasing [and] wages aren’t following suit.

We want to make sure that you aren’t over-committing to a rental price and a rental property, which is then leaving you short and cutting you out of normal life experiences that should be experienced. Especially for 18 to 35-year-olds, you don’t want to be working just to pay for the rent over your head and then saying no to dinners or experiences because that’s the time in life when you should be going out, making memories and travelling.

Optimise your application

A lot of people come to me and they have absolutely no idea what to put in their application – and that’s okay. Make sure your application provides enough documentation and enough [supporting] information so you actually move forward with the process of the application.

I think it’s really important that if you are currently renting, your rental agent in your current property is aware you are moving. Having that conversation with them prior so it doesn’t come as a shock to them will help you when they need to actually complete references. Build a little bit of rapport with your current agent [and] say, “Hey, we’re currently looking for our next home, I’m going to get some rental references, can you please fill them out?”.

What I’m finding is holding back a lot of people [are] the references that aren’t being completed, that includes personal and business. Employers are busy, HR is busy – you want to be able to get there and say, “I’m looking for a new home. We’re in a tough market at the moment, can you please ensure my references are completed?”.

A lot of the time we are finding that we’re chasing people’s references because they’re not being completed, which means when they go through the chain of getting processed, their application is actually sitting there in the unprocessed pile because their references aren’t completed [or] up to date.

Write a cover letter

[A cover letter] just gives [your application] that little bit of a personal experience and puts your name in the agent’s mind… When you meet them… it triggers that memory to remind them of who you are. Breaking down your application takes away the agent going through [it] with a fine tooth comb.

You break it down and you say something like, “Hi, my name is Sarah, I came to the open home for 123 Bob Street. I am currently looking for my new home as I’m moving in with my partner. We’re looking for a two bedroom, one bathroom [home]. We came through this property [and] we believe it’s most suitable for us. My current income is $50,000, my partner’s is $80,000. We’re looking to move in ASAP, we’ve been offered the asking price with a lease start date of whatever the date may be”.

Check for property red flags

Look out for the three Ds, that’s dampness, darkness and dirtiness. We want to make sure that the property isn’t showing any signs of mould or damp mould, [it’s] very easy to clean and paint over – and then it comes back.

So make sure that when you go through a property you are touching, looking at the walls, checking the carpet to see if there are any water patches, if there are any water patches on the roof or if you can see any leaks. It’s always great if you go through an open home on a rainy day. But if you can’t and it’s a sunny day, smelling is very important. You can normally smell dampness very quickly when you walk in.

Another one is darkness. There’ll be people [who] like a dark property, [like] shift workers [who] sleep through the day. Eight out of 10 people come to us and say [they] do not want a dark property because [it] impacts their mental health. Make sure [the property] is nice and bright for you, whether you want the morning sun or the afternoon sun.

Another [tip] is a house can be tidy, but it can be dirty. When you’re going through [the property], look inside the cupboards, look in the wardrobes, look at the built-up grime and soap scum in the bathrooms and in the shower. What people need to remember is how you view the property, if it’s vacant, is how you’re going to get the property.

Hear more about our current renting crisis here.