Forum Replies Created
Interview a couple of PM in the area. Look for someone who has been in the industry for a number of years and has plenty of experience. ask them to provide contacts eg. current landlords that you can speak to and ask questions about their experience with this PM and maybe others in the area. look for someone who is an REI Member and accredited PM. a good PM should be able to provide certificates of training that they have done (this will show some commitment by the PM). If you let me know what area you are in i may be able to reccomend a couple of PM’s for you to speak to. If you are in VIC there is no exclusive period for managment of a property so if you are not happy you are free to take the property eslware. You may also want to put your issues in writing to the director of the company as they may not be aware that the PM is not doing their job properly and to your satisfaction.
Bottom line you need to be comfortable with the person you choose, confident that they will keep you informed of the good and the bad and have the experience and knowledge to manage your property.
If i can be of any assistance please let me know.
Good luck[biggrin]
Also see tenants union of Vic handbook – clearly explains rent in advance
http://www.tuv.org.au/homepage.aspx
and click on new publication tenant handbook[exhappy]may vary from state to state. it will all depend on what is on the origional lease! i do all leases on at least fortnightly figures so that i can ask 4 weeks rent in advance. and it runs exactly as you have suggested.
Section 40 (Residential Tenancy Act) VIC Limit on rent in advance. A landlord must not require a tenant to pay rent under an agreement more than 1 month in advance
Section 41 a landlord must no require a tenant to pay rent under a tenancy agreement more that 2 weeks in advance in the period in respect of which rent is payable under that agreement is not more that 1 week.
so provided you have a lease agreement that states that the rent is fortnightly or above you can ask for 4 weeks in advance.
will depend on what state your property is in.
You would probably need to be able to supply invoice to show that the carpet was new, photo’s of the damage that has been caused by the tenants. If your claim went to VCAT (Victoria) they will depreciate the value of the carpet also (as per tax depreciation figures), so unlikly you would be able to claim the full cost of replacement. Also if you have a quality Landlord Insurance and the carpet has been burned you may also be able to claim the cost of replacement on your insurance.
Your property manager should be able to advise and should be organising your claim of the bond for you and would also represent you at any hearing you may need in order to claim the bond. If the carpet is in such a bad state after only two years there may be other issues/damage. If your tenant agrees with you (highly unlikly) you can get them to sign over the full bond to you without having to go to a hearing.
Property WA
The neighbouring property to ours is a corner block so they have a seperate drive for each house. the block is approx 1000sqm.
they origionally paid approx $180, 000 for the origional house as it was a bit run down. are currently building the second property (nearly finished) two bedrooms & a garage. will be looking at $230,000 for the second property and will do a quick reno for the origional house and probably sell for around the $240,000.
wish we were quicker and purchased this property ourselves.[blink]
You mention adding a second dwelling. the property next to our rental property in Ballarat has done just that, renovated the origional house and added a second dwelling.
this has now made us thing of doing the same as our block is a good size and council seem to be reasonable about these things.
I live in Ballarat and worked in real estate in the area for a number of years. rental demand is usually high and vacancy rates seem to stay very low latest 2.0.
i also have an investment property in Ballarat and the capitol growth has been been great over the past 5 years for this property and now looking for another.
if i can be of any assistance just let me know.
You need a new PM.
Under certain cercumstances the tenant does have the right to get repairs done themselves and get reimbursed for it. but there are steps that the tenant needs to take for this to happen.
I would be advising your PM that you will not be paying the account as they have not lived up to their end of the deal as they are obviously not managing your property. If things get nasty i would also (if your agent is a memeber of the REIV, REIT etc) lodge a complaint. if this is happening to you they are probably doing the same to other landlords and this just gives the industry a bad name. [angry2] If you are in VIC i may know someone who can manage your property professionally.
If i can be of assistance let me know.
Good Luckmay differ a little depending on what state you are in. you need to lodge an abandoned goods with consumer affairs (vic)
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au
go to renting, then forms & publications and you will then find the form for inspectin of goods left behind.the inspecter will then come and assess the goods, and will then instruct you what you need to do wih them, he may instruct you to auction the goods or you may be able to just send to the tip. will depend on what assessment the inspector makes. they will be able to guide you with the next steps.
You must have a possession order for the property either for rent arrears or abandonment. you will also want to lodge a claim for cleaning, arrears, costs etc. then depeding on what the inspector advises you may be able to auction the goods and keep any proceeds to the value of your orders from VCAT.
Please be carefull with abandonded goods as some tenants will try to claim that there was cash, jewelry or something of value left at the property and now its gone! they can then make a claim for compensation. You must have the order from the abandoned goods inspection, this is the only way you can avoid the tenant coming back at you.
If your property is managed by a PM they should be doing all of this for you and should be able to explain the process to you and provide information, it can sometimes be complicated if you have never had to deal with this before.
If i can be of any assistance just le me know.
Good luck
REIV Landlord Insurance (REIQ, REIT etc depending on what state you are in. and Terri Scheer Insurance
http://www.terrischeer.com.au/index.php
http://www.rentalprotectionplus.aon.com.au/
Both are great policies. You need to make sure you are covered for Loss of rent, rent defult, accidental & macicous damage by tenants, public indemnity etc. a lot of the policies on the market do not offer accidential damage by the tenant so make sure you read the fine print.Glad to see that your tenant has paid the rent. Make sure your agent does not cancell the hearing, ensure that they seek an adjournment. this is valid for 3 months so if the tenant falls behind in the next 3 months you do not have to serve any notices you just have to fax a request to VCAT to have the matter relister. this saves a lot of time and you will normally have a hearing within 2 weeks.
You can manage the property yourself and can download the forms from the consumer affairs website
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.auSome insurance policies will exclude self managed properties so you will need to check (terri scheer will not insure self managed).
If you ever need any other questions answered i am more than happy to assist as have been a PM for 9 years (Country Vic)so have some knowledge that may be of assistance. You need to make sure that your PM has expierience & knowldge of the tenancy act & VCAT as they should be doing all the hard work for you and be keeping you up to date. look for an REIV accredited PM as they will have had to have min 3 years exp, and have completed numerous training/courses to get accrediation.
Once the tenant was 14 days in arrears your pm should have served the 14 day notice and applied to VCAT. once the 14 day notice is up you should have had a VCAT hearing scheduled in the following week or 2. provided the tenant is still in arrears on the day of the hearing you should be given a possession order. from there if the tenant is still in the property you should immediatly purchase a Warrant of Possession. This is served by the police/sherrif and the locks changed while the police are at the property. If your property manager has a good relationship with the local police you should have the tenants out within the week. once you have possession of the property your PM should then apply to VCAT for the bond for rent owing, damage, cleaning and all related costs. Another thing to remember if you have a good landlord insurance policy you should be able to claim all rent owing & damage costs.
VCAT is usually all fine as long as your PM has done all of the paperwork correctly and is organised.
If there is a next time plese do not wait to serve notice. As soon as the tenant is 14 days in arrears jump on it and the process will go a lot quicker.
