What do renters look for in 2018?

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Perhaps you have a property you want to rent out to help you pay the mortgage?  How has the rental market changed in 2018 and how can you keep up with the curve…I’ve worked for a University city letting agency as well as rented her whole life so it’s easy to point out some of the ways a landlord could offer a great package to their tenants.
 
With the Millenials now topping the charts as the biggest rental group, it’s worth knowing what it is they are looking for and how to craft a tenancy agreement that will attract quality tenants.
 
Offering high speed wifi – streaming, uploading pictures and constant social networking means your average millennial needs tons of bandwidth – both UPLOAD and download speeds need to be fast.  If you don’t have high speed fibre broadband consider installing it and make it part of the rent so renters have one figure to aim for each month.
 
Allowing renters to pay online in a variety of methods.  Paypal is fast becoming an alternative bank for people.  Consider creating an online payment portal so your tenants can use whatever payment source they have available as they might have a cool millennial job such as crafting on Etsy!
 
Pets – this is such a hard one as pets have always been a no-no for landlords, it’s generally assumed that pets are never allowed in rental properties but if you choose the right flooring and washable sofa covers from your tenants it’s not !  just take a bigger damage deposit and be clear about what will be taken from it for pet clean up afterwards.  Eg new mattress (as dog hairs get embedded in them really easily!) and new doors for scratchy dogs!   Compared to rentals in other European cities where pets are commonplace in rental properties.  A good quality landlord insurance + homelet would be essential if allowing pets.
 
When you are advertising your property, a few grainy pictures won’t cut it any more – your top selling tour is a video walk through.  Try iMovie or using your phone to take the video, walking into each room and also views out of the window as for some renters, a good view is essential!
 
Another common no-no in rental agreements is the unwillingness of landlords to allow renters to decorate.  On the continent most properties are rented unfurnished and you can paint walls to your liking and hang things on walls.  Allowing renters to decorate the place with the agreement it is returned to the original state (usually white walls) isn’t a difficult thing to do and if it isn’t returned – you have their deposit right there to pay for the changes.
 
Allowing subletting.  This again is a very contentious point but in particular in bigger towns where you have several people sharing a rented property-it would make more sense for one person to have control of the lease and decide who they have to share with them instead of the agency deciding who gets to stay in the property.  
 
What are your thoughts? As a renter or as a landlord…!

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