How to Maximise Rental Returns

Maximising return isn’t about squeezing the highest possible weekly rent, it’s about the combination of rent, vacancy, tenant quality and costs across the whole year. These are the levers that matter, in order of impact.

1. Minimise vacancy

Vacancy is the silent killer of returns: at $650 per week, every vacant week costs you 2% of your annual income. Pricing accurately, marketing well and running home opens when tenants can actually attend, including weekends, matters more than winning an extra $10 a week.

2. Set rent from evidence, not hope

Rent set above the market doesn’t just slow leasing, it filters out the strongest applicants, who have the most options. A proper rental appraisal looks at what has actually leased near you in recent weeks, along with what’s currently competing for the same tenants.

3. Review rent at every renewal

Small, regular, well-evidenced increases keep your rent tracking the market without pushing a good tenant to move. Skipping reviews for years and then correcting in one jump is how owners end up with a vacancy and a re-letting cost at the same time.

4. Spend where tenants pay for it

• Air conditioning: consistently supports higher rent in Perth.
• Dishwashers and modern appliances: small outlay, broad appeal.
• Fresh paint and flooring: transforms first impressions and photography.
• Reticulated, low-maintenance gardens: protects presentation for the life of the tenancy.

5. Keep quality tenants

Every changeover costs you: letting fees, potential vacancy, wear from moving. Responsive maintenance and fair treatment are the cheapest retention tools that exist. A quality tenant on a fair rent, kept for years, will out-earn a rotating series of maximum-rent tenancies almost every time.