As many of you would know the rental market across a lot of Australia can be highly competitive. You may well have found yourself at a property inspection looking through an apartment with 40 other eager renters.
So how can you give yourself the best chance of being the successful applicant? How can you create a winning rental application?
To help shed light on this we spoke to Justin Butterworth, CEO and Founder of Snug.com, Australia’s first rental community platform, about what makes a winning rental application.
Justin stressed the importance of having a complete and verified online rental profile that is ready to go is key to success. One that contains up to date rental history, employment and completed background checks. He states that “timing is critical and having your profile ready ensures renters can act immediately and they don’t need to spend time collating forms and information. By being able to submit a completed rental application on line while you’re at the property inspection can prove to be the clincher in a rental race.” Tree Trimming and Removal
So what information should be included in your online renter profile and where can you create this?
Creating your online rental profile
Creating an online rental profile that can be saved, amended and shared with agents is an important first step. Justin explained how his industry leading platform, snug.com can help here. “Our user friendly interface guides renters through the profile building process to ensure they have created the best possible rental profile. The service verifies each renter’s rental history and completes their background checks so their application is ready to go, giving them a decisive advantage over other renters.”
Justin explained “renters can re-use their Snug profile to securely apply for a property anywhere. By having a complete profile ready to go, saves time and trouble with multiple forms and enables prospective tenants to get their application in faster, maximizing their chance of success.”
Snug also enables renters to link their profiles when applying and submit a stronger joint application as a household group. The platform keeps all parties informed as their application progresses to approval.
What information do you need to create your profile?
Rental History
Rental history includes your current and previous rental information such as the address of the rented premises, lease start and end dates, amount of rent and details of the property owner / manager. The Snug platform requests a rental reference from the outgoing property manager to attach to the renter profile. This saves time for the ingoing property manager assessing your application suitability.
The key aspects property managers are looking for are that you paid the rent on time, looked after the property and were easy to deal with on matters such as repairs or inspections. Professional Carpet Cleaning
If you have a good rental report you’re more likely to be approved for a rental than if you have a poor rental history report. It’s important that you understand what’s in your rental history report so you are not faced with any surprises.
This can be a crucial addition to your application.
Employment & Income
Significant scope is placed on your ability to pay rent, as most often landlords will prefer tenants that have a constant and reliable source of income.
Adding a few recent pay slips and bank statements to your application will not only show proof of employment, but should also allay any fears a landlord may have over missed payments.
Keep in mind the property manager or landlord may contact your employer to validate you are still working there so it’s a good idea to word them up.
Supporting Documentation
Proof of identity. You will need 100 points of Identification to prove you are who you say you are. They must be in digital format and in some cases, legally witnessed and stamped.
Cover letter
Most landlords don’t require a cover letter, but preparing one can set you apart from other applicants and increase your chances of securing a rental.
Write a few paragraphs about who you are, what do you do for a living and perhaps the reason for your move. It’s a good idea to be professional but not overly formal that your personality doesn’t shine through. Give a brief overview of your rental history and make mention of any special circumstances such as pets. If you are applying for a number of properties and have some time – it may be worthwhile if you tailor each of the cover letters and mention the features of the property that appeal to you the most.
Find the best matching property
Snug.com doesn’t just finish there…its patent pending Snug Match score helps renters understand how their profile matches up to the property owner’s requirements and helps renters find their most suitable new home. Realtors Appointment Setting
For instance, a property owner may be looking for an experienced renter willing to sign a long term lease and to be paid fortnightly for a studio apartment in Newtown. The renters profile would be analysed based on their rental history, employment and background checks and assigned a relevance score. Property managers would then use this score to identify the most suitable applicant. Snug Match enables them to systematically find the most suitable tenant for each property.
Snug Match helps renters understand how their profile aligns to the property owner’s requirements and gives renters an opportunity to personalize their application to help them lift their Snug Match Score to be more suited to a property they love.
This is a new age for renters and landlords – a transparent way to find the right tenant for the right property. Snug Match = happy landlords and happy tenants. We buy house in Daytona Beach.