G'day bargainers,
just got a letter from the RA advising my rent will increase from $1430 fortnight to $2500 a fortnight. That's almost 75%
Now, I understand I had a good rate due to Covid, but 75% increase? I was expecting 40-50% increase tops. Is this legal?
Any advise on how to negotiate with the RA to bring the rent down? I'm almost having a panic attack here with the huge increase.
Thank you.
What's your annual salary to afford rent like that. I make less than weekly rent listed here. I must be poor.
its 2 bed room 2 bathroom
so a Couple in the ensuite and single in the other bedroom can easily afford it. Assuming the 3 people each earn individual incomes can afford this place easily.
A bonus if you're 2 couples living with each other so that's 4 people even if you earn modest 65k salary
Didn't even answer the question. You did say you were not sharing in another comment.
because its a stupid question, that has been answered tactfully
Move into one of those newish apartments around the Meadowbank area; relax and catch the ferry to town, or rush and catch the train.
Stupid grammarly doesn't like my 'sentence'.
How much is ferry to CBD?
$3.50
It is definitely not $3.50
https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/opal/fares-payments/a…
Adult fares start from $6.43
People actually use Grammarly?
I use the free version. Sometimes it's useful to me.
Move.
A few less mochachinos and avo and toasts and you will be fine ;)
OP understandably it sucks getting a rental increase, but it seems like this is the norm these days.
If you’re not willing to pay the new price. Could you look at areas just outside the CBD?
For example, Neutral bay/Lane Cove etc are all less than 15 minutes into the CBD by bus and much cheaper. You’d save a tonne in comparison to Haymarket. Whilst still being close enough to not sacrifice your lifestyle.
Look, you like lliving there. That lifestyle costs money but I also think your increase is unpalatable relative to your existing rental paymebt and budget.
The propeperty manager is there to.serve the landlord, not thr tenant so very their bias is there.
Redo your budget, even use the official.money smadt one you can talk to a financiaof .counsellor for free like the good shepeard or Salvos. They will rub through a similar process. Contact the REA and suggest your ceiling a figure of x% this is a constructive outcome.
What?
Tell em they're dreamin'
Unless you're picking up girls every Friday/Saturday night and need a place locally for convenience, just catch a train 20mins out and save $50k
Take a look at SQM research statistics for Sydney CBD rent:
1 and 2 bedroom units 30-35% increase over 12 months
Houses: 75% increase over 12 months
Hopefully it will all come apart next year. Everyone should push for remote work and leave the cities. No many can afford those prices. You’d be stupid to put yourself in a position where you have to pay extortionate rents. Generally speaking you always have a choice, choose your sacrifice. Let nature take its course. Hopefully the Govt stays out of it and let’s it.
Does it also talk about how much it has change since pre covid?
There was an apartment in my mates block, that was going for $500 during covid, but was $800 pre covid.
Does that renter who rented it for $500 got a right to whine when he goes up 60% back to $800?
Unfortunately I think the opposite will happen. More migration and students will push rent up. A slowing economy will give the power to employers where they can push for less WFH.
This news really angers me. People give me a hard time for being a Communist. Now I am wondering, with things like an 75% annual increase in rent, what much do people like the free market now?
In democratic/capitalist countries people get rich by stealing from the poor. Inflation is caused by the rich increasing their markups so the poor have even less. Realize that it's a zero sum game. Somebody gets rich at another person's expense. For someone to be affluent, another has to be penurious.
what much do people like the free market now?
They probably still like it to be honest.
Like you said, it's actually been going around in the news lately that inflation is being partly driven by corporate profits. I'm sure we're all receiving fatter pay checks because trickle down economics actually works. /s
For someone to be affluent, another has to be penurious.
Right wingers (who in general are pro-capitalism) don't understand that working hard doesn't automatically mean you'll become rich and successful (remember Joe Hockey's "earn or learn" mumbo jumbo bs?) because in society, you have to have rich people and poor people. Right-wingers present this mantra as a fact because after they've "worked hard" at university, their dad gives them a job at their workplace or refers them to a mate. This is how a capitalist society fundamentally works. This is why the middle class is disappearing. The share of renters in this country is increasing whilst the share of people owning property is decreasing. Money is flowing from the poor to the rich.
100% spot on
Did you forget the massive drop in rent at the early part of the pandemic?
Assuming the rent was $2500/week prior to the pandemic, and it dropping to $1430, that is a 42.8% drop in rent.
zzzz Op has stated he had a good rate due to Covid
Then later says similar apartments in the area are going for the same rate as what the RA is asking for…
nothing to see here… op just whining
Look you got neg for calling it out. Watch out for the entitlement mob!
There are men's refuges in the city and salvos or father Chris Reilly does free meals.
Are you OK?
With Sydneysiders becoming ever more wealthy and wage growth skyrocketing -
Even a rent rise of 150% would be very reasonable
If you don’t like it then move to Hobart
The main reason for those crazy rent increase is greed allowed by weak rental laws allowing completly unregulated rent.
The "Landlord is only passing his increased cost from the higher interest rate" is mostly a BS excuse to not look as greedy.
Why ?
Because:
- Rent didn't go down during the 2008 to 2019 period.
- Only half of properties are mortgaged. The rest are owned outright. OP property might not be morgaged at all.
Not denying that some landlords could be in financial difficulties having paid too much for their IPs with false hope that IR will stay low for a lot longer.
Those would be a minority. And I don't think we shouldn't feel sorry for over leveraged property speculators.
If rent increase were regulated, property speculators would still have the option to get out by selling their dude investment.
This is insane and utterly unacceptable! If you accept this OP, you would have to surrender your Ozb badge. Time to move on and save huge bucks. As long as there are similar people, unfortunately this crisis is just going to continue. I pay your fortnightly rent for a month with a family of 5, just 10 km from cbd
The increase needs to be reasonably justified. It's NSW, for god's sake.
Were any improvements or major corrections to the dwelling made during your tenancy?
If not, then no it's excessive.
achew
'scuse me
no, nothing has changed
It's NSW, for god's sake.
What do you mean by this?
NSW has been run by the right-wing LNP for a decade or so now. Australia has had 10 years of the LNP. This kind of thing, where the rich exploit the poor, is not unexpected.
You had it good during COVID. The landlord isnt running a charity, if there is a demand, they will take it to cover their increased interest costs. Be happy with your good run and look for something else.
My interest rate is going from 2.29% to 5.59%
Repayments are only 32% extra for some perspective.
In Mt Druitt area, you can easily find a house to rent for $600 a week. It's only a 40 min train ride to the city. It's not as amazing as living in the city but there are some fancy coffee shops and Indian/Lebanese restaurants everywhere you can entertain friends at.
I don't even live in nsw and I know Mt Druitt is a shit hole
no thanks
Just to give you some perspective as an apartment owner in the Melbourne CBD area (2br/2bath/1car park - approx. 90sqm).
By no means are we well off, and we simply outgrew the place (3 boys) and hence we are renting out the apartment whilst renting in one of the inner suburb neighbourhoods.
Our mortgage has gone up from $1900 p/m (~1.9%) to $2800 p/m (~4.9%) in the space of 8 months.
We also have body corporate rates of $4500 p/y + city council rates of $1500 p/y + maintenance and repairs of approx. $1500 p/y
All put together, that's around $42000.00 per year which equates to $807 per week. Capital growth rates in the CBD have actually been negative (-2% on average yoy) over the past 10 years hence we aren't making any money off of the value of the property either.
We charged our tenants $450.00 per week during covid, and increased it earlier this year to $550.00 per week which was still considered lower than the market rate. We have now been advised to increase it to $690 p/w when their tenancy ends in February next year. This still implies we will be out of pocket although some of it will be negated through negative gearing.
Not saying what is right or wrong as I have rented for the majority of my life as well but wanted to just explain why rental prices are increasing so rapidly as its not just driven just by greed.
Thanks for the article - unfortunately, doesn't apply in our situation and we constantly discuss with our family accountant on best ways moving forward.
I presume that's P+I repayments you are making so those figures you are quoting is a little misleading. If you only count the interest part of repayment the loss is a bit less. Still painful but the principal payments are like forced savings
Although you are correct, (a) the start of your mortgage, it is predominately interest payments; (b) there is a lost opportunity cost re: interest and earnings from the deposit + payments you have made to date.
Maybe I need to buy a place there to rent out if the return is that good.
Do you have a spare few $mill?
rental returns have been poor/super poor for a LONG time, decades
What investors have relied on is capital gains.
Another reason property has been popular is because its seen as stable by Pensioners.
The 2-3% net they get after costs is/has been much better than the 1-2% savings interest rates that has been around for the last 10 years
$5416 rent per month? Get out there and buy something.
People get addicted to the city metro 'hip' lifestyle and then they overstay their welcome and get old. By then they can't leave because all their friends are already established and they have reached middle age and start to lose their youthful looks that used to get them everything…..they finally realise that all the 'friends' they met during partying and having fun in the younger years are all superficial and will never visit them if they move just 30 mins away. They find the cheapest sharehouse they can and live in a tiny box for the rest of their lives unable to move and stuck in a 'life zone' as their youthful days fade away. They cling to it for as long as they can. Luckily we have tight gun laws here…..a lot of these 50yo still sharehousing and partying 'psychos' in Newtown, Eastern Suburbs, etc in Sydney, they live week to week.
This is a depressingly cynical yet realistic capture..
Rentvesting is a good alternative if you want the CBD lifestyle but enforce a savings plan. That or regular dollar cost averaging into an index fubd. The trick is to get into a saving habit and let compounding do its magic
I do save and put my savings into ASX, currently I'm down 50k and also lost 15k in crypto
@Homr: ASX, that's the problem.
The ASX has zero innovative companies listed. (it's all about real estate and digging up the ground)
With low trading fees on Walls street these days, there's no reason to only invest in the ASX.
@Homr: zoom out and breathe. you won't be worrying about the cyclical up and downs in you have a 30 year outlook
50yr old still sharehousing? how you know?
I have a family owned investment property in Marrickville.
@dreamscene: Your tenant is 50yrs old? Aren't you concerned that they are a "partying pyscho" that can trash your place?
Yikes! What exactly is a partying psycho btw?
Horrendous yet accurate account.
I rented an apartment across from Crown Casino in Melbourne when I was younger. Was there about 5 years, had a lot of fun, but then moved on. It wasn't real…. but it was good!
lmao thats more than most peoples monthly incomes after tax. thats just ridiculous.
Average income is $1,769.80 gross. If you're a couple then its 2x of that
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-workin…
Market rent is market rent. Pay it or leave - simples.
To those touting they should buy instead or rent…well..unless you're paying cash, your landlord becomes the bank. Try not paying them and see how that goes
Thank you for taking the time to post your comment
People need a house to live in. They have no choice but to pay whatever the market rate is. You’re so out of touch with reality of those scraping by.
Oh nvm you’re that business owner forcing his employees into the office lol.
Supply and Demand is a huge factor in what determines market rent. During covid, rents went down significantly quite simply because nobody wanted to live in the CBD thus demand was non existent.
Now that demand is back, rents have gone up again.
So if you can't afford it, there are tonnes of people who can and are willing to - so no, you are the one that's out of touch with reality. If you are barely scraping by, you shouldn't even be looking at living in premium options in the CBD. Maybe OP needs to adjust their expectations and look at cheaper areas
Oh nvm, you're that entitled employee looking to bludge at home sucking on the teat of their employer lol.
Yes and when inflation goes back down. Do you think landlords will drop prices? No because with a steady demand of foreign slave labour coming back into the country. Demand is only going to expand and stress the market out.
Hopefully more public housing is built before it’s too late.
Oh nvm, you're that entitled employee looking to bludge at home sucking on the teat of their employer lol.
I work permanently from home, since it’s my Uncles software business. It’s great, as he’s flexible and offers to accomodate our staff to their needs if we want to WFH. I haven’t been in the office since July for our mid year in person meeting :)
@Griffindinho: Myself as a landlord owning properties from 20 years ago, I remember at times having no choice but to drop rents to get a property tenanted otherwise it would remain vacant for months. Just like what happened during covid when all the rents had to go down. So all these people claiming landlords won't drop rent are completely ignorant. It literally happened a few years ago. Both landlords and tenants are equally at the mercy of what the market dictates.
If you look historically, rents particularly in Sydney have remained relatively stagnant for the past 10 - 15 years as house prices have soared ahead. If you look at any previous boom cycle anywhere, rents increasing always follow like clockwork. I am surprised most haven't seen this coming
Inflation and rising interest rates have only accentuated that
Imagine paying $1500 - $2500 a fortnight in rent and being labelled "scraping by" lol. Who's out of touch with reality?
The good thing for the OP is that the cost of buying and owning an apartment is going down.
So if renting is no longer attractive to them they can put their savings and energy towards a mortgage.
And hold the bags in two years.
Sorry to hear op.
All you can do is suggest a lower figure, maybe 50% and state you won't be able to stay if its any higher.
Worth a shot, if they ask to vacate then agree to the amount.
Crying poor sometimes works. They will need to pay the REA more to refill the tenancy with a new unknown so they have some incentive to keep you.
Sorry you're going through this. :( There are good land lords out there, and as much as the increase on interest rates will impact fees, it should not be a 75% increase to you.
My rent in Geelong, 4br house, has been renewed at the same price. Zero increase. And our owners sent us a lovely gift hamper including wine, candle and sea salts as a thank you for being good tenants. Not complaining here!
Your landlord is nice, is it privately managed or through a REA?
I don't communicate with the landlord directly since its run through REA
Through a REA…. but they sent us a letter and a hamper when we moved in and gave us their phone number if anything ever needed to be done or we wanted to discuss anything. They said go to REA if the hot water is out, but feel free to message or call them on other stuff. The letter they sent was lovely and basically said 'welcome to our house, we hope you can make it a home'.
When we moved in, we asked if we could put bird spikes on the inside roof of the outside entertaining area. They said no problem and sent us a Bunnings voucher to buy the spikes!! Crazy good people. I let them know the rear garage door, there's a front garage door and back (so you can drive through) was really noisy and clunky and didn't move very well. We could use it just fine, but you could tell there was resistance. I let them know via text message and they spoke to REA who sent a handyman who re-calibrated and lubricated the door. Handyman said it cost them a service fee, but saved them a new door install only 12 month down the track. Occurred to me I never would have cared to let the owners know in any previous house as I could still work the door just fine.
Wow, that's is crazily nice. Isn't the whole point of going through the REA so the owners can hide behind them and avoid direct communication with the Tenant? This won't happen where I live lol. It's a dog eat dog world here in Sydney
@Homr: Yeah it's crazy nice. We're so not used to it. And yep, always what I thought of the REA. Our owners go through them for accounts, emergency services and the like but to discuss anything substantial can contact them.
Ironically Geelong is pretty hectic for Real Estate too, certainly not Sydney or Melbourne levels, but with Covid a lot of people have moved Regional in Victoria. I think we're just fortunate with good owners.
Life won't be easy under…….
Putin!
All comrades are best mates!
A similar increase should be justified if the decrease was.
Mine just went from $240/week to $350/week, tried to negotiate to $320 nope, $340? nope, $350 or leave.
Basically negotiations atm purely come down to if your owner takes pity on you, otherwise you're (profanity) pay it or get out because they know they can rent it higher in a day.
I asked the REA if they were willing to accept a 50% increase. They refused and said the offer was way below market for them to even send to the owner to consider. Looks like Im getting priced out :(
How about moving to Ultimo, Chippendale, Pyrmont, or Surry Hills?
I don't think a nice 2BR with car space will be more than what you are currently paying in Haymarket. And you will still be able to walk to work, the pub, restaurant, club etc…
Yes im looking at those surburb now
Or satellite inner city suburbs like forest lodge / glebe / inner west that has a lively local scene within 10min commute to CBD
Similar situation to Venezuela: All it took is a comrade elected by media brainwashed voters and the situation has changed, just a little! Can see similarities everywhere, loss of crime enforcement etc….
Cloh!
That's pretty high rent, OP. $1250pw in Haymarket would mean that's a pretty exceptional 2/2/1. High floor? Decent view? Newish building? I reckon you've been getting a steal until this point.
I pay $740pw for a 2/1/1 on a low floor in a newish building in Haymarket, lease began several month ago.
It's not that high, I'm on the 13th floor in a 14th floor building.
Newish building, under 8yrs old, it's facing towards Darling Harbour but there is nothing to see as the view is blocked by the W hotel
It's not that high, I'm on the 13th floor in a 14th floor building.
"I don't earn that much, only $250k after tax."
(Just making fun of you with this comment btw.)
Haha, come on 13th floor is not high at all. High to is like crown towers or world square meriton
'$1250pw in Haymarket would mean that's a pretty exceptional 2/2/1. High floor? Decent view? Newish building? I reckon you've been getting a steal until this point. I pay $740pw for a 2/1/1 on a low floor in a newish building in Haymarket, lease began several month ago'
My Haymarket unit agent just increased the rent of a 2/1/1 on a high floor in approx 30yo building from $580pw (COVID price) to $780pw
$1250pw for a 2/2/1 Haymarket mid-floor unit with no view - obvs a newer unit - sounds wanktastic and suitable for lovers of shiny-new stuff
unclear if OP was paying $700pw+ alone, or sharing with another couple where the OP was paying more like $230-350pw ?
If you can't afford to buy, or the job cannot be done in a rural area (for a different company if need be, or different job entirely) where the rent is much cheaper and there's plenty of vacancies, one word: vanlife.
If you're married and wife wants something more permanent, get a motorhome and book into caravan parks well in advance along rail lines to get to work. You get a pool, toilets/shower she doesn't have to clean, tennis court, etc maybe… Save the difference to what you would have been paying in rent - save like crazy so you can buy SOMETHING before retirement age SOMEWHERE before NOBODY can afford a house ANYWHERE in Australia. i.e. It's better to own a dump in some rural town, than not to own one anywhere, and the last time you were able to afford to pay rent was two decades ago.
are the showers and toilets clean?
Does it have NBN?
Most that I've stayed in are cleaned daily, but can have broken tiles making them look unclean when they're not. But meh, who cares. With the way things are going, saving is the new home owning. ;-p
Put a urine-diverting composting toilet in the motorhome if need be. Make your own, or get a "Nature's Head." (Most motorhomes have a "cassette toilet" but they're pretty gross to empty. Composting toilets are much better in that way, urine in a bottle or tank, feces in a bucket/bag, and they have a small fan on the side/back that = no stink inside with the urine separated from feces.)
You could also get a gym membership and use their showers/toilets, if planning to save even more money by not paying caravan parks.
You could also live "stealth" by having a van that looks like a work van, or a small truck, no windows in the back section or blockout curtains… drive to where you're going to park to sleep, get in the back, no TV, no lights, just go to sleep… and no one knows you're in there. I'd probably put some signwriting on the van that makes it a pointless target for thieves like "Mobile Dog Wash."
If you're going to avoid caravan parks get a vehicle that can be driven on a car license. (Larger than a car license usually means you can only park in built up areas for an hour.)
So caravan parks = motorhome
Stealth camping = van or light truck
Because a motorhome sitting on the street for hours draws attention - could be broken into while you're at work. A dog wash van no one is interested in. A van also means one of you could park AT work for increased security.
Look at "vanlife" on youtube for lots of self-builds in vans and trucks. There's Facebook groups too where people fit them out and sell them.
You could also get a nice caravan, move from park to park. (There's a time limit how long you can stay in each one I think.) All depends on what level of comfort/expense/ongoing rent you want to pay.
Thanks, I'll keep this in mind when I'm in the 40s when my party life is well and truly over
@Homr: You'd be surprised. Plenty of people living great lives this way. Check out this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py4zetCEYzA.
Oh and most caravan parks give you a free wifi internet code when you stay there too, but it probably has a smallish data limit. I've been paying a few dollars a month for 4G SIMs. Do the same and that's another what… $60 or $70 a month saved.
@Homr: Already posted most of that, but it's the same as everyone else who already does it. Shower at work, at the caravan parks if he rents there, get a gym membership, public pools, beach change room/showers, in his own motorhome from his own water tank and gas water heater, a camping hot water heater from BCF, police boys club, YMCA, University if he attends there, sporting clubs, truck stops (buying a meal first is polite and/or required)…
Electricity, again, same as everyone else who already does it. Solar panel/s on the roof during the day recharge SLA or lithium battery/ies, plugin at the caravan park, plugin at work, friends place plugin, fit a second high current alternator, simply go for a drive out of the city or to an industrial area (because they're usually closed at night) to either recharge from the alternators during the drive, or to recharge using a petrol generator… ;-)
Good on you, you're a great landlord with only $40 increase per month, that's just $10 a week!