It can be hard to be unemotional about your investment property – especially if you have decorated it with care or worked hard to buy it.

At Stills Properties, we love well renovated properties with beautiful fixtures and fittings. In fact we always emphasis these features in our professionally taken advertising photography because it helps to secure high quality tenants.

But the bottom line is, your rental property is an investment so your primary concern should be the financial returns you receive.

To check if you are ready to be a landlord, ask yourself these 6 questions:

1. Do you have an emotional connection to your investment property?
2. Are you giving your agent instructions on what your tenant can or can’t do?
3. Did you leave any personal items in the property which the tenant will use?
4. Do you feel you need to check on the tenant to see how things are going?
5. Have you asked your neighbours to “keep an eye” on the tenant?
6. Have you renovated the property with your personal choices?

When seeking the perfect tenant, we look for a tenant who is suited to your investment property in every way, including:

• Can they pay their rent?
• Do they have good employment?
• Do they have any financial backing or savings?
• Do they have references and what do these references say about them?
• Is the tenant looking for longevity or do they tend to relocate often?
• Checking all potential tenants’ rental histories through the TICA database

What happens after we find the right tenant for your property?

Once we have selected the right tenant for your property and obtained your approval, you need to leave the rest to us. Our founder, Brigitte Stills has been managing Sydney properties for over 35 years so she knows what she’s doing.

Importantly, we don’t just hand over the keys to the tenant and let them loose on your investment property. We have very firm expectations on how we expect our tenants to maintain a property. This is explained to them in detail before handing over the keys.

We also follow up with an inspection 3 months after the tenant moves in, just to check everything is OK with them and to double check they know what’s expected.

After that, we conduct regular, routine property inspections. After each one, we provide you, the landlord, with a report. This report outlines the presentation and cleanliness of the property as well as the ongoing suitability of the tenant. So even if you are a nervous, first time landlord, you should be able to feel at ease. In addition, we recommend all landlords inspect their rental property at least once a year.

Property management you can trust

Our landlords tend to stay with us for a long time because they know we are looking out for their properties and will work hard to ensure they receive a good return on their investment.

They also appreciate that at Stills Properties, Brigitte personally inspects every property so she can identify and remedy any problems with the way the tenant is caring for your investment. Our landlords also accept that their rental property is their tenant’s home so there will be some wear and tear on the fixtures and fittings – just like in their own home.

For a property manager who will genuinely care for your investment, call 1300 091 638 or email propertymanager@stillsproperties.com.au