Most common renting key word searches
When people are looking for a rental property, they will first look within a certain area, and within their budget.
They will look also for a particular type of property and the number of bedrooms.
But what then?
The filters on a rental search can give an insight into what tenants are looking really for, and recent data has revealed, for tenants in New South Wales looking for a house, the most common key word used was ‘pet friendly’ followed by ‘swimming pool’.
Meanwhile for tenants looking for a unit, a ‘furnished’ property was the priority followed by ‘pet friendly’.
In NSW the Top 10 renter key words are:
Having a pet-friendly rental shouldn’t really come as a surprise – we are a nation of pet lovers; according to Animal Medicines Australia, approximately 69% of households in Australia own pets, with dogs being the most common (48%), followed by cats (33%).
While we’re still waiting for the official outcome of the NSW government consultation on ‘Keeping pets in rental homes’, which closed at the end of last year, the quick poll on the consultation webpage shows 87% of those who had taken the quick poll thought it should be easier for renters to keep pets in their home.
While there are plenty of arguments for not allowing pets into a property, such as wear and tear on the property, this recent data gives a very compelling reason why landlords should consider tenants with pets, if the property allows it.
When looking at the data relating to units, renters are predominantly after furnished properties. There could be many reasons for this, such as they’re just entering the rental market and purchasing furnishings are an additional cost.
Regardless, providing a fully furnished or partially furnished unit may also be something for landlords to consider.
Year on year changes
Interestingly the data goes on to show what has changed over the past year; with rising rents, it appears tenants are also searching for more affordable or flexible properties.
We’ve been advocates of granny flats for years, and now we’ve got the data to prove why they are a good investment. Read our recent blog post on why granny flats make great investments if your property allows it.
Top 3 rent keywords with the largest year-on-year growth
The realestate.com.au interactive maps also reveal what renters are looking for in your suburb. Click here to access the interactive maps.
While these interactive maps are a great resource and give good guidance, if you really want to know what renters are searching for in Newcastle and the surrounds come to us!
As we’re a local agent, we know the questions prospective tenants are asking and we have a database of tenants looking for particular features which are not on the internet search filters.
Contact us on 02 4956 9777, send us an email to mail@newcastlepropertymanagement.com.au or visit us in our Cardiff office for a chat. We can also fill you in on how our property management services can help you get the best out of your property.
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