Is It Tough To Secure A Rental Property When You Have Kids?



High Demand Areas Usually Lapped Up By Working Professionals

It is difficult for families with young children to secure rental homes in highly sought-after suburbs because working professionals are usually given preference. This is because working professionals typically cause less wear and tear in the home and move out every few years. Many landlords are more likely to rent out to single professionals without kids or pets, so parents will miss out when the competition gets intense. While there’s always an exception to the rule, having children can reduce your chances of getting the rental property you desire in a popular suburb. Your best option is to stop looking in CBD areas. Instead, look for family-friendly suburbs with plenty of parks, sporting facilities, daycare centres and schools, so that your children can flourish.

 

Knowing What Concerns Property Owners/Managers

Landlords and property managers want to ensure minimal damage to property because no one wants the hassle of a damaged home. Common worries are that children will stain carpets, dirty walls, scratch cupboards and break blinds. Some parents may even renovate certain areas of the home to make them more kid-friendly. For instance, parents may make holes in cupboard doors to affix protection clips. They may also use masking tape to secure padding in lower areas of the home, which can leave stains on walls and doors. Families may refuse to pay money for these changes because clauses can be ambiguous in tenancy agreements, so the onus of repairs may end up resting with the landlord.

 

Strengthening Rental Applications

The unfortunate reality is that landlords prefer working professionals over parents because they expect rent to be paid on time with the least amount of hassles. Instead of worrying about your inadequacies, think about ways you can strengthen your rental application before you visit a home inspection. For instance, you can get your bank statements in order, so that the landlord or managing agent know that you’re in a position to pay your rent on time. You can also get strong character references from employers, previous landlords, colleagues and friends to demonstrate your appeal as a tenant.

 

Convincing Landlords To Choose You

While strengthening your rental application is a good way to get landlords to consider your application more seriously, you’ll want to ensure that you secure your dream rental. You can do this by offering a longer-term lease than the normal yearly or half-yearly tenancy agreement. Landlords may consider a long-term application because it reduces their burden in terms of marketing and advertising the property to new tenants every time. Staying longer will help to maximise the monetary return for your landlord while reducing vacancy rates – this is an excellent way to transform the situation to your advantage. This will benefit both you and your landlord because you obviously don’t want to uproot your kids from their schools too frequently.

 

Having a young family is certainly not a disadvantage. Make small changes to your search strategy and turn the tide in your favour.