Real Estate & Managing Rental Property QLD
Everything you need to know about the QLD real estate market - how to start a lease, lodge a bond & more.
Get To Know The Rules & Regulations In Queensland (QLD) Before Renting Out Your Own Property
Many property owners prefer to cut out the real estate agent (and their fees) and simply self-manage their property themselves. Renting out your own property is certainly not rocket science, and can be an extremely rewarding experience (both financially and personally) but it is worthwhile getting the basics right so that you and your tenant are set up for success. You can also register for a demo of the RentBetter Platform and see how it can help you through the process
This article aims to provide readers with a quick reference guide on where to go and what to do when starting out.
- Know The Real Estate Market
- Pricing Your Property
- Starting a Lease
- Get Started With RentBetter
Know The Market
When preparing to rent out your own property, it is important to familiarise yourself with similar rental properties in your area. QLD is a large geographic area and the property market can seem complex, so we have compiled a summary of 'Fast Facts' that will help you understand the rental landscape.
There were 4,703,193 people in QLD as at the last census date in 2016, and here are the key figures to know:
- 50.6% female and 49.4% male
- Average weekly gross household income increased from $1,235 in 2011 to $1,409 in 2016
- 3% of population aged between 15-6 and only 15.3% over 65
- Of occupied private dwellings in Queensland – 34.2% rented, compared to 33.7% mortgaged and 28.5% owned outright
- Of occupied private dwellings in Queensland, 76.6% were separate houses, 10.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 11.3% were flats or apartments and 1.0% were other dwellings.
- In Queensland, of occupied private dwellings 4.3% had 1 bedroom, 16.6% had 2 bedrooms and 39.7% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2.
- The average household size was 2.6 people.
- In Queensland, of all households, 71.8% were family households, 23.5% were single person households and 4.7% were group households.
- In Queensland, 34.2% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 19.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.
Knowing The Right Time To Increase Rent
Most State government have rules about when a landlord can increase the rent on their investment property. The restrictions only apply where there is an existing tenant in the property, so if you are looking to sign on a new tenant you can just change the asking rent when you advertise.
Residential Tenancies Authority
- Fixed-term lease: Cannot increase the rent during the fixed-term unless the terms of the lease specifically allow for it and define the amount (in this case, give tenant 2 months written notice)
- Periodic (continuing) Lease: Can increase the rent by giving at least 2 months notice in writing but can do so only once in any 6 month period and it has been at least 6 months since the tenancy started
- Notice Form: no specific form required but notice must be in writing
- Tenant’s rights: the tenant can apply to QCAT for dispute resolution if they think the rent increase is excessive
Starting a Lease
Starting a lease typically consists of 4 key elements, which have slightly different names depending on which state you are operating in, but ultimately have a similar intent and outcome. The ‘big 4’ are;Starting a lease typically consists of 4 key elements:
Residential Tenancy Authority – Phone 1300 366 311
- Guide (click here) – some of the basic rules of renting in Queensland
- Lease (click here) – to be signed prior to, or within five days of moving in
- Condition report (click here) – to be completed at the start of the tenancy
- Bond (click here) – download a paper-based bond lodgement form
More information on lodging bonds in QLD: Lodging a bond in QLD is best done online through the Residential Tenancies Authority website and should take about 10 minutes to complete.
1. Accept T&C’s
You will first need to accept RTA’s Terms and Conditions to receive electronic notifications about lodging your bond online.
2. Register
You will then need to register here and provide state-issued identification. Your digital identity will need to be verified through the Queensland Government’s QGov service.
3. Complete Lodgement Form
You will then need to complete an online Bond Lodgement Form. It can be helpful to refer to the lease agreement when completing the form.
In this form you will list your tenant as a ‘bond contributor’. They will receive an email to verify their identity and confirm association to the property.
4. Pay the bond
The rental bond must be paid in a single payment directly from the person lodging the bond online. All contributors as well as the owner will receive a digital receipt to confirm payment of the bond.
You may either request that the tenant pay the bond to yourself directly, and then you can lodge the bond through the site. Alternatively, you can have the tenant lodge the bond themselves through the RTA website. Be sure to attach this form to make their life easier!
Alternatively, you can complete this by downloading a paper-based bond lodgement form.
How Can RentBetter.com.au help?
Of course, at RentBetter.com.au our aim is to make this a seamless, frictionless experience for you and your tenant by including the necessary documents and compliance into our process – you can click here to sign-up and get started.
RentBetter is designed to help you find and manage tenants using the RentBetter Platform. Our customers use RentBetter to advertise their property on the major property portals (Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au), and our platform can help with enquiries, applications, tenant checks and lease documents to assist you in finding a high-quality tenant for your property.
The RentBetter platform can also help to onboard your tenant to your lease, and automate the process of rent collection, tracking, receipts, maintenance, and reporting.
