Antonia Mercorella shares top tips for Aussie renters in the nation’s current rental crisis

A real estate expert has shared her top five tips on how to secure a property during Australia’s current rental crisis.

With a national vacancy rate of 0.8 per cent, Queensland Institute of Real Estate chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the market was “not looking positive” for tenants, with no quick fix in sight.

Tenants in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth are facing record low vacancy rates, with those in Perth and Adelaide facing the fiercest competition in the country at 0.3 per cent, Domain reports.

Speaking to Sunrise on Friday morning, Ms. Mercorella said her top five recommendations were to be prepared, do your research, consider joint ownership, get organized and act quickly.

‘What we’re seeing are unprecedentedly low vacancy rates across the country. It’s proving incredibly challenging for tenants,” he said.

“The demand for rental properties far exceeds the level of available supply.”

While the housing crisis could be solved by adding more supply, the chief executive said, she also recognized that there was no overnight or quick fix.

With few openings available for struggling tenants, there has been an increase in prospective tenants offering above-market rents to secure ownership.

However, rent bidding is illegal in most jurisdictions, Mercorella warned.

With a national vacancy rate of 0.8 percent, renters across the country are struggling to find a property and some applicants resort to rental offers, offering a higher rent than the asking price or paying rent in advance, to secure a spot (pictured outside of a Sydney property available for rent)

“You’ll find that property managers or property owners can’t really ask for a higher rent,” he said.

“But what we’re seeing is applicants are offering more rent but they’re also offering up rent or looking for other ways to stand out.

“This is human nature: when we are desperate to secure a haven for ourselves and our families, people will look for ways to stand out from the rest.”

Ms. Mercorella said people may have heard stories of real estate agents creating bidding wars, but in most of these situations it was applicants looking to “step up.”

“Ultimately, what any landlord is looking for is financial capacity… to ensure that someone can meet financial obligations and pay weekly rent,” Ms. Mercorella said.

“Second, looking for an applicant or a tenant who will take care of the property, so references that speak to your ability to pay rent on time and take care of the property, that’s absolutely fundamentally important.”