Why would you give someone a discount for doing what they contracted to do? ie pay on time and keep the property in good condition.

I don't get a discount for paying my bills on time.

This is a business, you are robbing yourself by not keeping rents up to date. To go 2 years without a rent review is ludicrous. Having said that I think every 6 months is too often. As you have to give 2-3 months notice (depending where you are located) it would seem like you just got a rise when soon after that you would get the letter about the next one. I think yearly is enough.

Think of how many bad tenant stories you hear about. Now think how many hundreds of thousands (millions?)of people there are that rent.

I have many friends with multiple properties. Some have had problems, most haven't. Haven't heard any actual tenant nightmares.

The ones you hear about on TV seem to be people renting privately to so called friends. Go through an agent with correct checks and that straight away minimizes the risk.

I keep mine close to market but don't push the envelope. Tenants just need to look on RE.com to know they can't find the same for the same money. Or if the same rent they are still behind by moving (costs, inconvenience of moving).

Met a lady that had a villa which she hadn't put the rent up for 10 years and she didn't want to put it up now because it needed painting. She is getting $235. Market rent would be $320 as is, up to $360 with new carpet and paint. That's one lucky tenant.

Generally if the lease has 6 month review the tenant is probably expecting some increase, so a review reflecting CPI is not too unreasonable. As other Addicted said, owning residential property investment should be regarded as a business not as a hobby. After all buying investment property should be to expand your property wealth over time to enable a passive income at retirement.

It also depends where they property is,(why do so many investors buy property close to where they live?) considering current tenant demand and whether the property is a company let or rented to a person and the condition of the property. To keep a good tenant at market values its important to have a well maintained property. This will also assist when the property is revalued reflecting in the LVR – Loan to Value Ratio.

Other aspects apart from rent reviews is managing the property affectively. That’s why we developed an online property manager and advisor. It’s important to know you are claiming and tracking all your legitimate tax deductions including the ATO’s division 40 and 43 depreciation. It can make the difference of making an investment property cash flow positive, enabling a quicker purchase of the next rental property.

Cheers

Antony
www.MyProp.com.au