When a tenant gives notice, a self-managing landlord can find a new tenant by advertising the property through a discounted listing service such as RentingSmart's partnership with For Sale By Owner, then showing the property either in person or remotely using a tool like Renters Connect, before screening applicants and setting up the new lease.
Vacancy is the part of self-managing that tends to worry landlords most, mainly because it's the one task with a real deadline attached. Every day the property sits empty is a day of lost rent, so the goal is to move from "tenant gives notice" to "new lease signed" as efficiently as an agency would, without paying agency fees to do it.
You don't need to be a licensed agent to list on the major property portals, you just need to go through a platform that has the listing agreements in place. RentingSmart customers can advertise on realestate.com.au, Domain and other major sites through a partnership with For Sale By Owner, for a flat, heavily discounted fee (currently $119), with the ad running until the property is leased. That's a fraction of what an agency typically charges for the same listing exposure.
Write the listing the way a good agent would: clear photos, an honest description of the property and any conditions (pets, smoking, parking), and the rent amount and available date stated plainly. Ambiguous listings generate more time-wasting enquiries, not fewer.
This is where self-managing landlords in regional and lower-density areas run into a problem that doesn't get talked about much: turnout at scheduled opens can be genuinely low. A capital city apartment might get a dozen groups through a Saturday open. A property an hour outside a regional centre might get one or two, if any, especially when prospective tenants are relocating from further away and can't easily justify the drive for a fifteen-minute inspection.
There are two ways to handle the actual showing:
Remote showings solve the exact problem above: a prospective tenant relocating from three hours away, interstate, or even overseas, can still see the property properly instead of being screened out by logistics alone. This matters more than it might first seem: someone relocating for work from another state, or an expat organising housing before they've even landed in Australia, has no way to attend an in-person open at all, a remote showing isn't just more convenient for them, it's the only way they can view the property before applying. It also means you're not standing at an empty property waiting for a no-show.
Renters Connect is built specifically for this: live HD video showings that let you walk a prospective tenant through the property in real time, without either of you needing to be in the same place. You can offer it alongside or instead of traditional opens depending on how much interest you're seeing.
The first 5 showings are free, with no card required, so there's no upfront cost to test whether it suits your properties before committing to a plan. From there, both monthly and annual billing are available (annual includes two months free), so you can match the plan to how often you're actually re-letting.
For a landlord managing one or two properties in a regional area, this can be the difference between a listing that drags on for weeks with poor open-home turnout and one that fills within the first week because distance was never a barrier to viewing it.
Once you've got interest, the fundamentals don't change whether the tenant saw the property in person or remotely:
Can I advertise my rental property myself without a real estate agent? Yes. Platforms such as RentingSmart's partnership with For Sale By Owner let self-managing landlords list on major portals like realestate.com.au and Domain for a flat discounted fee, without needing to go through a licensed agency.
Do I have to hold an in-person open for every rental listing? No. Remote HD video showings are a genuine alternative or supplement to in-person opens, particularly useful where in-person turnout is low, such as regional or lower-density areas, or where prospective tenants are relocating from further away.
What does Renters Connect cost? The first 5 showings are free with no card required. After that, both monthly plans and annual plans (with two months free) are available, so you can pick what fits how often you're re-letting properties.
Can someone view my rental property before they've even moved to the area or the country? Yes, that's one of the clearest cases for a remote showing. Interstate movers and people relocating from overseas often need to secure housing before they arrive, and an in-person open simply isn't possible for them. A live video walkthrough lets them see the property properly and ask questions in real time, without either of you needing to be in the same place.
Is a remote video showing as effective as an in-person open? For many prospective tenants, particularly those relocating or unable to attend a set open time, a live video walkthrough is more accessible than an in-person inspection, since it removes the travel and scheduling barrier entirely.
Give remote showings a try with your first 5 free, no card required. Explore Renters Connect.