Short-term lettings are under the spotlight again following changes to the State’s short-term letting laws. The new rules aim to address impacts such as noise levels, disruptive guests and effects on shared neighbourhood amenities.

Strata owner corporations now have the power to introduce by-laws prohibiting the short-term letting of houses or apartments in their block if they are not the principal place of residence of hosts. For those based in greater Sydney, the changes also cap the number of nights per year the home can be rented out at 180.

Regional areas will have no caps, however councils can choose to impose limits.

While much of this legislation is aimed primarily at Sydney, where rental property is scarce, it does highlight why short-term letting is a problem.

So what’s in short term lettings for the landlord? Some landlords believe they will make more money listing their property on an online short-term booking portal but there are a lot of things to take into consideration.

For starters, as well as being fully furnished, initial outlay for the property includes other essentials such as kitchen utensils and bed linen.

From an ‘operational’ point of view, short-term lettings involve marketing the property regularly, managing cleaning and changing of linen between lettings and additional paperwork for your tax return.

Plus you need to work hard on the guest experience to keep satisfaction and drive guest reviews.

Then there are the risks.

Not every location is suited to short-term lets, and for many properties, the majority of income is only earned during the summer months. While the property may enjoy a bumper six months of rental, the next six months it may sit empty – and this may cancel out any potential extra earnings.

Plus there’s the risk of letting unscreened strangers come into your property, potential damage and very little redress if things go wrong or there are disputes as you don’t hold a bond; we’ve all heard the horror stories!

In our opinion, long-term lets are a better option.

There is less outlay to prepare the property for rental for starters.

Using a quality agent means you’ll get your property marketed correctly and your prospective tenants properly screened.

Once the property has been tenanted, there is a regular income for the next 12 months, enabling you to budget properly as you work towards your financial goals.

Most importantly, you haven’t got the stress of having to manage the property between bookings, and if you are using an agent, you haven’t got the stress of managing tenants and managing repairs and maintenance.

As we’ve been in the business for over 40 years, we have a wealth of experience behind us when it comes to letting property.

If you want to know more about letting your property and our property management services, our experienced team would love to help.

We work hard to ensure your property is leased with reliable and good tenants, and we take the stress out of marketing, managing and running your property and looking after your asset.

Simply give us a ring on 02 4956 9777, send us an email to mail@newcastlepropertymanagement.com.au or pop into our Cardiff office for a chat.

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