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Find a tenant faster: the take-off of online rental platforms

By Will Keall | 14 Dec 2015

As any property investor knows, it can be a battle at times to find a suitable tenant for your property – or, sometimes, even finding a tenant at all!

Leaving this job in the hands of your real estate agent may also leave you feeling a little powerless over the whole process. There are over 1.4 million private landlords in Australia, and if you are one of them, no doubt you are looking for an easier way to find tenants.

The choices for private landlords in this regard have been limited, as the majority of online platforms for property only cater for real estate agents or larger companies advertising to sell or lease.

This has, at times, forced private landlords into listing their properties on broader sites such as Gumtree, which handles the sale and rental of a huge volume of products and services, and may not be as effective as a listing on a dedicated property site.

These have been the two main choices for private landlords for years – until now.

A rise in dedicated rental sites that allow private landlords to advertise is paving the way for the average Aussie investor to access a wider range of potential tenants. It also means filling up empty properties faster, and finding a home for those currently looking.

Sites such as rent.com.au and nestpick.com.au are changing the way the rental market operates, putting the landlord more in control, rather than forcing them to put their property in the hands of an agent.

Of course, if you prefer to utilise the services of an agent, that is fine too, but there are many who prefer having the option of going solo.

The way these sites work is very simple – which gives it appeal across all demographics, from students searching for somewhere to live while they study abroad, to an empty nester couple renting out some spare rooms in their home.

Some online rental platforms are even taking care of the technicalities for you, running rental history checks on tenants with the aid of the national tenancy databases, or providing localised property information so you can be aware of how many other properties are for rent in your area and what rent is being charged.

http://www.yourmortgage.com.au/arti...akeoff-of-online-rental-platforms-209896.aspx