Property Management update

The world keeps turning, and southeast Melbourne’s rental market rolls on –at record speed.

Results throughout the last three months have spanned the solid to the spectacular – to the simply sensational. In some pockets, we’re achieving rents that, six months ago, nobody could have foreseen. And helping our clients see returns that, in many cases, dwarf those of even the loftiest pre-pandemic peaks.

Renters, feeling the pressure, are turning out in force. Inspection attendance is strong. And renters are upping the diligence of their applications, along with the speed of their decision-making: meaning transactions are proceeding at a rapid pace.

With the compliance deadline having come and gone, renters have also upped their knowledge of what properties need to be up to scratch. Prospective renters are walking into properties and questioning (rightly so) whether they meet minimum standards.

Another trend we’ve seen is rental providers – keen to capitalise on a buoyant market – selling their rented properties. If this is your scenario, there are two documents you, as a rental provider, need to familiarise yourself with:

• A notice of intention to sell: informs the renter of your plans to sell.

• A notice to vacate: informs the renter that you are selling; and that they must soon leave the property.

There’s nothing worse than wishing only to convey your intention to sell, then inadvertently issuing a notice to vacate. So please seek advice from your property manager to ensure you complete the right document.

If you’re thinking about selling, work with your property manager to plan a strategy – and consider the length and conditions of the existing lease.

Often, we see sellers accepting long (say, two-year) leases, then finding themselves unable to sell when their circumstances change. Our property managers can talk you through the pros and cons of long leases, and how they’ll affect your ability to sell your asset.

Not renting your property out right now, but thinking about doing so? Head down to your local Gary Peer office for a chat. Because of the sheer amount of properties we lease, we can share the latest data with you. From one or two weeks – rather than months – ago.

Ultimately, it’s a fantastic time to be renting (and buying!) a property. We’re seeing clients not only revelling in record rental returns. But taking advantage of the market to add more properties to their portfolio. It’s a win-win situation –and showing no signs of slowing down!

Looking for someone to manage your investment?

JENNY CAUGHEY Branch Manager, Property Management Division 03

ANTHONY LEE Branch Manager, Property Management Division 0418 350 414

A Conversation With

Dani Krstic, Business Development Manager

0411 581 381

When did your property management career begin?

I started my real estate career in 2011, working as a receptionist for a family company called Toop & Toop. Shortly after, I went into a property management role.

I moved to Melbourne in May 2016, and started working for Gary Peer a week later. This year, I’ll be celebrating my seventh anniversary with the company.

What do you love most about working for Gary Peer & Associates?

Easy! It’s the culture. I love how supportive the environment is. The company also gives us so much room to move around within the business. When I started, I was a property manager. Now, I’m a business development manager – a role I’ve wanted for so long. (And that I absolutely love being in!)

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love to build relationships with my clients and provide them with the best possible outcome for their investment.

I also enjoy bringing the client on board with us. It makes me feel like I’ve made a positive impact on them.

How do you spend your free time?

Staying active and healthy is important to me. I love exercising – so you’ll always find me either at pilates or going on long walks. When I have a free weekend, I’ll travel back to Adelaide to catch up with my family. I also love cooking.

Tell us one thing about you we don’t know?

I speak fluent Serbian.

As autumn slips through our fingers and the colder months inch closer, Melbourne goes into hibernation. The demand for quality new-build property, however, is doing anything but.

Downsizers are still around. But the real movement we’ve seen is from the first-time home buyer market – itself in a kind of deep sleep this last six months – beginning to stir. And why not? With rent prices high, interest rates set to stabilise, and an array of first-home-buyer and off-the-plan incentives to take advantage of, there’s never been a better time to wake up.

For our part, we’re continuing to offer first-home buyers brand-new, high-quality properties suited to their tastes –and their budgets.

One such development is Maple. Located at 380 Dandenong Road, Caulfield North, it’s a series of one- to three-bedroom homes for young professionals looking to step onto the ladder in style and sophistication. Construction’s only just started, yet less than a third of the apartments remain. For now.

Downsizers, too, remain in the market and their hunger for off-the-plan product remains as irrepressible as ever. We’ve only just launched them, but two of our latest premium developments – Caulfield’s Olive Green and Elsternwick’s Seymour & Blanche, as seen in the previous issue of The Peer Review – are selling fast. These developments are a testament to downsizers’ eye, and appetite, for the highest standards of living.

High construction costs remain a factor. But the lack of developments they’ve led to means that, sooner or later, builders will need work – and will be coming back to the table. So we believe an equilibrium is just around the corner, and costs should start to settle over the next six months.

That’s the broader outlook. But here in the New Projects team, we have a couple of exciting announcements. Because our portfolio and our team are growing. We can officially tease – here, for the first time – two brand-new upcoming developments. Designed for families seeking the utmost levels of suburban luxury, the first project is a collection of eight four-bedroom townhouses in Carnegie. The second, already in construction, is a slick series of 11 four-bedroom townhouses in Bentleigh East.

Finally, our Balaclava Road-based team has expanded. We’ve recently added the talents of Kane Nissenbaum to the fold. He’s slotted in seamlessly, has proven a fantastic addition to the group – and is already getting himself into (all the best kinds of) trouble!