Working out how much rent to charge on your property has a big impact on the performance of your investment. You want to maximise the income you can earn and increase your return, but at the same time, you don’t want to price the property so that it’s out of range for potential tenants.

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So what other factors make it so important?

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• It helps to ensure that you are getting the right tenants and avoid long periods of vacancy
• It ensures you are able to cover your costs
• It helps to maximise your profit
  

There are a number of factors that, as a self-managed landlord, you should consider when determining the price to advertise your property for.

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We take a deep dive and look at the most important ones below.  

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It’s all about Location

Where your property is located has a significant impact on the amount of rent you can charge for it. Knowing and understanding the market value for your property and area gives you an advantage as well as knowing how much supply and demand there is.

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​​If there is a high demand for properties in your area and limited availability, you’ll likely be able to price your property at the higher end of the scale. If there is a higher supply in your area but not enough demand, then it would be best to revise your strategy to reflect that to attract a tenant.

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The Competition

Find out what similar properties in your area are being offered for rent. You can do this simply by conducting a search of one of the main property sites like www.realestate.com.au for comparable properties or you can use our Price Estimator Guide (More on that below).

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It’s important to know the going rate and understand what your property has to offer in comparison to others. You don’t want to price your property at a much higher rate than the competition in your area and equally, you also don’t want to price it too low.

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‍Consider:

• What does your property have to offer?
• What are its strengths and weaknesses?
• Is it close to public transportation? Schools? Shops and Restaurants?
• Test the market - attend some open inspections in the area and look at comparable properties online

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Your Costs

It’s a smart idea to take into consideration your monthly costs including your mortgage, costs of any work needed and taxes when deciding the rental rate.

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While this shouldn’t be the sole factor determining your price, you want to be able to ensure you are covering all your expenses as well as potentially making a profit, depending on where you are at with your investment.