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A leading director says PMs must be more proactive in preventing massive holiday-season losses due to inefficient leasing arrangements.
Besser & Co head of property management Marcel Dybner said now is the time for proactive property managers to be planning ahead to prevent 12-month leases expiring in the quiet holiday season next year.
Mr Dybner said PMs should be signing up 13- to 14-month leases now, to reduce the risk of properties sitting vacant when the lease ends in next year's festive season.
“For us, by putting 13- or 14-month leases into play now, we are reducing the risk that we will have next December/January,” Mr Dybner told Residential Property Manager.
“It is planning ahead – we want to minimise the number of people giving notice at the end of December or the start of January. A lot of people are away at that time of year, and if property managers are doing what they are supposed to be doing, then tenants should be on 13- or 14-month leases,” he said.
Mr Dybner said forward-planning helps your landlord save money by ensuring their property remains occupied over the Christmas/New Year period.
“I think property managers often forget about this, but also, sometimes, they might not be confident enough in bringing it up with the tenants,” he said.
“It is really a very easy discussion to have and it's beneficial to them – they get an extra month at the same rent they would've had for 12 months, but they get it for a little longer.”
Leading Property Managers of Australia executive director Bob Walters agrees PMs should take measures to ensure leases will not expire at Christmas time the following year – or prepare owners for the consequences.
“It is frequently a landlord's worst nightmare to get a tenant vacating in December, when rental demand often falls away and the property sits vacant for a few weeks until the demand increases again in the New Year,” he told Residential Property Manager .
“PMs that get vacancies in the lead-up to Christmas need to ensure that their clients are educated on market conditions and either adjust asking rentals or use other initiatives to make their properties more attractive than the competition. Otherwise, be prepared for an empty property until the New Year.”
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