Equipping tomorrow’s tenants

Do you ever think back to when you first left school? I do. I was so eager to ‘grow up’ and move out of home, become my own person… pay my own rent (and why ever did I want that so badly!). It wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. Finding a landlord who was willing to take a 17-year-old university student and her two friends as tenants was a challenge I didn’t anticipate. It was both frustrating and disappointing but, with the help of some kind people who stuck their neck out for me, I eventually had my rental property. Your experience may read much the same, perhaps with even more challenges.

Someone helping others get off on the right foot with landlords and property managers is Katie Knight from RE/MAX Success. I spoke with Katie about her involvement in the Queensland Government’s Tenancy Skills Institute and how she’s helping our future tenants.

Katie, how did you become involved with the Tenancy Skills Institute? I met with the organisers at a function some time ago - at that stage they were running the program independently. I remember looking at what they were doing and seeing the value in what the program had to offer.

Can you explain what the program is all about? The program targets anyone who wants a rental property or like to improve their skillset in maintaining private tenancy.

It’s now a Queensland Governmentfunded program where students can either book themselves into a course online, or may be referred to the program by someone like me.

It’s designed to give students the skills and understanding of what is involved in renting a property. It covers everything from communicating effectively with property managers and neighbours, care and maintenance

of the property, independent living and budgeting. It gives basic information that no-one tells you as a first-time renter and it does it in an in-depth, thorough way.

How do you work with students? I’m invited to speak with course graduates. I’m excited for them and am keen to show them how they can connect with property managers (friends not foe!).

It gives me a chance to talk to them about how things really work and what to expect. Fostering good relationships from the start is really beneficial to everyone.

Already the program seems to be making a big impact. I see that, of the first 100 graduates, 70 per cent had moved from homelessness to securing a house and over 80 per cent were living in private rental market housing. Yes, not only is it arming people with skills in finding and securing property, it is educating them about living independently. I had a great upbringing in a very stable and supportive household but not everyone has that - for a variety of reasons. Some find it more challenging to find secure housing. The program gives students knowledge and access to resources out there that may help them, especially in a situation where they feel helpless.

It sounds as though it goes a lot further than just helping people find a rental property. It does. There are many services out there that can help but often people don’t know what to do. They end up avoiding the situation and do nothing. The program encourages confronting those issues head on and directs participants where to find assistance and access services to bring about solutions.

As well as your involvement with this program, you are developing a program aimed at giving school-leavers the right information about renting. What can you tell me about that? I’ve been working with a few schools in my region for a while and have had great feedback from the information sessions. I’ve spoken with large groups of senior students and even met smaller groups at properties to work through the process of looking at a rental.

We cover everything from finding the right property, how to apply and what to include in their application; things like questions to ask a property manager, what to record on a condition report and understanding the value of a property. I encourage them to carefully consider who they are moving in with as they are entering into a legally binding contract, one that cannot be easily changed due to a simple change of mind.

We’ve been collaborating to put together a competency-based online course that schools can implement with their students. There’s quite a bit of red tape to get this through but we’re hoping that it will one day be available to students.

How do you think property managers and landlords will respond to this new wave of educated renters? We’ll all love it! Encouraging great communication from the start is vital and showing they have the understanding and respect toward renting will no doubt be positive. I encourage students to include the course certificate they receive in future rental applications so a landlord can be confident they fully understand their obligations as a tenant.

Katie, what else does 2020 hold for you? There are a lot of changes on the horizon for 2020. As we see what happens with the rollout of changes to rental law reforms, we’ll be navigating and managing that alongside our landlords and tenants. I’d love to see the rollout of the online training course in schools, but that’s more likely a longer-term plan given the red tape!

TOP TIPS FOR NEW RENTERS

• Include some personal information about yourself when applying for a property. • Be mindful of who you rent with. • Make sure you’re budgeting correctly.

• Maintain a good relationship with your property. • Establish a good relationship with your neighbours.