A property agent has urged tenants struggling to secure a property in Australia’s rental market to treat the application process like a ‘job interview’ to beat the fierce competition.

Renters are feeling the pinch of soaring property prices due to inflation and dwindling supply as more international visitors flock down.

Over the past year, rental costs in most capitals have risen by double-digit percentages, with experts predicting they will only get worse as rates rise at the fastest rate in over two decades. ‘a decade.

Although the outlook is bleak, Carlin Team sales manager Tom Carlin, based in Perth, said people can boost their application by writing a cover letter, providing five property references, calling the agent or by offering up to six months’ rent in advance.

“One of the best things tenants can do is treat the process like a job interview,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

“Real estate agents look after clients’ assets. We need to assess what tenants will look like for the next three years and whether they will be looking after our client’s home.

Mr Carlin said people’s character, like their dependable appearance, plays a big role in whether agents will recommend them to landlords – so getting in touch to build a relationship can give you a competitive edge.

While each person’s rental history or how much they can pay differs, he said applicants can increase their chances of being selected by highlighting their greatest strengths, such as in a resume.

“If you’re younger and you don’t have [five] property references, give more personal references from friends, family and workplaces,” Mr. Carlin said.

“We had five young boys who were looking to rent a house for $1,000 a week. They were chosen over other candidates because of their references and their efforts.

Mr Carlin said many were offering to pay above the advertised weekly rental price, especially in high-demand areas, and suggested renters look further to find more living options.

He said an apartment in East Perth that was listed at $420 a week received more than 200 inquiries and ended up renting for $500.

In another case, a Hammond Park property on the market for $595 a week was contracted to someone who offered $630.

Mr. Carlin said someone else offered $700 a week, but his bid was not as strong.

Although he thinks the rental process is fair, Mr Carlin said he feels for low-income landlords and believes the government needs to do more to provide housing.

“It’s absolutely appalling for tenants, it’s difficult,” he said.

Property prices in major Australian cities continue to rise, driving up rental costs and competition

“I just don’t think struggling people would ask for a house at $700 a week…I think it’s really up to homeowners to decide how much to accept for their house.”

However, Mr Carlin said offering to pay an advance on the rent was even more favorable.

“The biggest factor is offering to pay the rent up front,” he said, “landlords just want security more than anything else.”

“By offering in advance, you will put a landlord more at ease.”

According to the NSW Tenants’ Union, “rental offers” – the term for offering to pay more than the advertised price for a property – usually occur when there is a shortage of rental properties available.

Although tenants in desperate circumstances have no alternative – such as those with disabilities trying to find housing with accessibility features – the union says the practice can exacerbate the problem by driving up prices for lease.

And although rent auction legislation varies by state and territory, it is also illegal under Australian consumer law for estate agents to solicit offers for rent, although tenants are free to make spontaneous offers.

The advice comes as experts warn the country’s rental price crisis is set to worsen this year as the country reopens from the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the number of available properties plummets in major cities, Ray White property group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said Australian rental costs are now rising at the fastest speed since the global financial crisis there. at 14.

Mr Carlin said tenants can also stand out by offering to pay up to six months rent up front (stock)

“We’ve never seen a GFC-style housing downturn, but we’re certainly now seeing the start of a GFC-style rental crisis,” she said.

An upcoming federal election and flooding in Brisbane and parts of northern New South Wales are adding stress for tenants.

Ms Conisbee said rents were likely to continue to rise in 2022 with Australia’s borders reopening since December.

“International borders have now opened up and we are about to see more people coming to Australia than leaving,” she said.

“This includes both international students who tend to seek accommodation near universities, as well as migrants who tend to rent in places that already contain high proportions of native-born people.”

South West Sydney has a higher proportion of foreign-born people who also speak a language other than English.

These postcodes are a particularly difficult place for tenants with 76.5% of tenants experiencing rental stress in the Campbelltown area of ​​the Labor federal headquarters of Macarthur, based on new data from the housing advocacy group social Everybody’s Home, Digital Finance Analytics and the University of New South City Futures Research Center.

In the safe neighboring Labor electorate of Werriwa, via Hoxton Park, 66.4% of tenants are stressed.

Everybody’s Home has joined labor unions and 150 community and faith groups in calling on the federal government to build more public housing.

As rental vacancy rates are now tightening in major cities, Ray White property group chief economist Nerida Conisbee (pictured) said Australian rents are now rising at the fastest rate since the global financial crisis 14 years ago.

Australia’s rental stress crisis is set to worsen in 2022 as borders reopen to international students and building costs rise to double the already high rate of inflation (pictured are units in Sydney)

Sydney rents plummeted at the start of the pandemic in 2020 as the border was closed to international students.

Meanwhile, Covid workplace restrictions and an increase in demand for new homes have pushed up construction costs.

Last year, national construction costs jumped 7.3% – more than double the already high inflation rate of 3.5% – according to CoreLogic’s Cordell Construction Index.

This is the largest annual increase in home construction costs since March 2005.

Ms Conisbee said higher costs meant construction supply would fail to keep pace with demand, hurting tenants in particular.

“Construction costs are rising rapidly and as a result the supply of new housing will be limited,” she said.

Widespread flooding in Brisbane in recent weeks is also expected to lead to a shortage of rental properties in Australia’s third-largest city.

Lismore and Ballina in northern New South Wales were also hard hit in areas where rental vacancy rates were already tight.

“Floods in major cities like Brisbane, as well as in regional areas, mean that many homes have become uninhabitable or need a lot of work,” Ms Conisbee said.

“More people will need rental accommodation, and there will now be fewer rental properties.”