Source: Daily Mail —
A real estate agent has called out her landlord clients for jacking up the rent too much, with stunned tenants welcoming the ‘brutal truth’ of her comments.
Ping Han from Place Sunnybank in Macgregor in Brisbane‘s south sent out a pointed newsletter to owners – which was posted to social media this week.
Ms Han said landlords should consider the plight of renters and not overprice their investment properties amid exceptionally low vacancy rates in the city.
She added some landlords may have missed the point about the affordability of their tenants amid the turmoil renters face.
‘This is what most landlords don’t like to hear about but most of the time it is also the brutal truth,’ Ms Han said.
The bold comments come as SQM Research found Brisbane vacancy rates tightened to 0.8 per cent last January.
The numbers have been on a steep decline since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, while the city’s rent prices also grew a whopping 24.8 per cent in the last 12 months to January this year.
The real estate director said in the letter she has seen renters coughing up an extra $150 per week in the properties she manages, compared with last year.
‘However, the tenant’s wages have not increased that much, with grocery prices also going up, many good tenant families have been through a real struggle,’ Ms Han said.
‘If you have a property online for rent and you have been waiting for weeks and there is no good application coming through, more likely you are overpriced,’ she added.
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