A handful of renter’s agencies have opened up in the past few years,advertising themselves as “like a buyers’ agent but for renters”,with fees to find a new home ranging from $500 to $2000.
Renter’s agent Terry Christianos offers to take the legwork out of finding a property. Louise Kennerley
Urban Renter’s Agent owner Terry Christianos said the service took the legwork out of house hunting,and also helped people who were missing out on properties because of mistakes on their applications or prejudice against pets.
“It’s mainly time-poor people not wanting to attend inspections,not wanting to filter through all these properties,just wanting to give me a really good brief of what they want and for me to go out and source it for them,” Christianos said.
She said expats moving to Australia had long used relocation agents to help find a home,but the concept was fairly new for locals.
Demand would be fuelled by the scarcity of rental homes,with SQM Research reporting there were just 12,758 properties available to rent in Sydney in April,nearly half the number 12 months earlier.
The residential vacancy rate for Sydney dropped to 1.6 per cent in April,the lowest it has been since March 2017. In May 2020,in the middle of the first national lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic,it was as high as 4 per cent as people moved house to gain more space or lifestyle benefits such as proximity to a beach.
Marcelle Wever,the owner of Sydney Rental Search,believes she pioneered the concept of a renter’s agent in Australia. She started her business 17 years ago and had no competition until about five years ago.
She said the spate of renter’s agents popping up was because of the tight property market.
“With there being so much competition[for rental homes],people feel like they need an edge,” Wever said.
“I always liken it to when people are looking for a job – they need to have a resume that stands out,or they work through a recruitment company that gives them an introduction.
Tips for a rental inspection
“The stress is overwhelming – I can seriously nearly hear their shoulders dropping when I speak to them because they’ve got someone there to help them.”
A nationally representative survey of 1037 Australians found housing stress from insecure tenancies and unaffordable rents was closely linked to poorer mental health. The research by Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank and the Matilda Centre at the University of Sydney was published in thePlos Onejournal on Friday,
Sarah Elkordi,who started The Rent Fairy in Sydney two years ago and now operates nationally,said the business grew out of her property management background.
“There was always a gap between agents,landlords and tenants because when 40 people go through an open home and 20 people apply and one person gets approved,the other 19 applicants are pretty much forgotten about,” Elkordi said.
Unlike many other renters’ agents,Elkordi also offered tenancy dispute resolution including representing tenants at tribunal hearings.
Within Sydney,renter’s agents report the demand is highest in the eastern suburbs,city,inner west,lower and upper north shore and the northern beaches.
Christianos said she caters for people seeking properties worth at least $1000 a week in rent,which includes everyone from families with children to “rentvestors” who own investment properties in other areas but prefer to rent where they want to live.
Other agents cater for a wider range of properties,from $300 a week to $15,000 a week.
Wever said she did not “just chase the dollar” but often helped young people moving out of home for the first time achieve their first rental and women who were leaving long-term relationships where they were not named on the lease.
Real Estate Institute of NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin said he believed renter’s agents would require a licence because they were providing real estate services,and there was precedent for this with agents who source commercial property.
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