12 Things Quality Tenants Want
Quality tenants have choices. After thirty years of Perth tenancies, here are the twelve things that make a great tenant choose one property and stay in it.
Every owner wants a quality tenant: someone who pays on time, looks after the home and stays for years. But attracting that tenant is a two-way street. The best applicants are comparing your property against every other rental on the market, and they can afford to be selective.
These are the twelve things we see quality tenants consistently look for, drawn from thousands of home opens and applications across Perth.
The twelve things
- A clean, well-maintained home from day one: first impressions at the home open decide who applies.
- Fair, market-based rent: overpriced properties attract fewer, weaker applications and longer vacancies.
- Working heating and cooling: in Perth, a functioning air conditioner is near the top of every tenant’s list.
- Quick, reliable responses to maintenance: tenants talk to their current property manager before they apply. A reputation for responsiveness matters.
- Secure doors, windows and locks: safety is a baseline, not a bonus.
- Good natural light and ventilation: homes that feel fresh at the viewing photograph better and lease faster.
- Modern, working appliances: they don’t need to be new, but they need to work.
- Storage space: cupboards, a garage or a shed are frequently the deciding factor between two similar homes.
- Reliable internet availability: increasingly asked about before application, especially by professionals working from home.
- A tidy, low-maintenance garden: tenants want outdoor space they can enjoy, not a second job.
- Clear communication and easy ways to pay: professional management is a feature tenants actively seek out.
- A pet-friendly attitude, where it suits the property: being open to pets dramatically widens your applicant pool.
What this means for your investment
You don’t need to tick all twelve boxes to attract a great tenant, but each one you can offer widens the pool of quality applicants and shortens your vacancy. Many of these items cost little to address and pay for themselves in the first weeks of a faster lease.
When we appraise a rental property, we walk through this exact list with the owner and identify the small improvements that make the biggest difference to the applications you’ll receive.