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Just thoguht I'd give everyone an update. Got a call from the agent this morning who stated they would not be looking after properties in that location anymore, so I have 14 days to sort out the management. They say it is because they cannot perform the services requested by the landlords?? Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to do it myself???
After I decided to be loyal too?? Can they do this if I have a mangement agreement with them?JL
Zig,
I owned one with a fairly new pool for about 5 years until last year. We had 3 different tenants in that time and for 2 we had a pool guy come in once a month and a pool lesson for the tenant when they first moved in. We paid for this but we built it in the cost of rental. We also only paid for the maintenance – not the chemicals. Our agent we had was on the ball and put this in the lease. We also made sure we had motor burn out insurance which we used due to the pool filter blowing up. I think this was the tenants fault for having the water level too low.
I would check with the council about water restrictions in regards to the pool, because they do need topping up every now and again, and if you have to buy water this may be expensive- maybe you could put this in the lease too? We got about $50 a week more for the pool, so we figured it was worth it. We also had a pool that was quite young – 8 years when we sold, so maintenance was not a real issue. When the pool man did his maintence it was in his contract to check the pool fences and surrounds too, so I figured if the worst occurred and someone drowned, we had done everything reasonable. This allowed us to sleep at night. The only other maintenance issue was during the 5 years we replaced the Cell twice. They are around $300 each and last around 3 years or shorter if not cleaned regularly, or longer if you are a property investor with your own pool and want to save money.
The last tenant we had we negotiated a lower price because he had come from owning his own home with a pool and did not want the additional cost. This dropped our rent by $10 per week – although we had increased it by $20 per week. He also did not get the lawn service we were providing at our expense. We had no real problems with the pool during this time.
Good luck and don't be put off. There will always be a market for pools, so I say why not, just factor in some small additional costs.
JLTammy,
Does that mean if you have a 12 month settlement, you pay stamp duty 9 months prior to settlement? If this is the case and you don't settle, can you get a refund.
JLWorld Changer,
Thanks for your comments. An update. The agent has served the notice to vacate to the tenant. The tenant had actually paid rent, the PM had just inputted it incorrectly in the computer. So rent is up to date. I have a very understanding tenant who is loyal to the PM company, therefore, I have renegotiated the terms between myself and the PM. They have gone out of their way to help me. I have now signed the authority for the PM.
No one can find a copy of the lease. The tenant is away and returning in a couple of weeks and happy to resign. Maintenance issues have been sorted – but they cost a lot more than I expected without my permission. At the beginning of every new agent agreement I obtain updates from the PM every week for around 6 weeks. I guess this time, this was not enough. I have come across lazy agents before, but not ones this bad. Lesson learnt. I will be more careful without becoming paraniod.Emu,
As for honouring lease agreements, why not approach the tenant and ask if you can mutually agree to terminate the lease with compensation from you? Maybe if you pay for the phone reconnection etc they may be in it?? Just check this is legal before you do it.
JLCongratualtions Aimmee!
JLTrakka, Linar,
I agree with what your saying, and think that it is a great wealth creation tool. Imagine life without anything less than 20% down. But from a business point of veiw, I doubt that many people would be turned off by not getting a refund (as you said, nice bonus). I wonder if this practise will continue as times get tougher and more lending institutions are making claims.
JLLisa,
Nice place, well done.
JLTrakka,
If you did not get the refund, would you still invest the way you do with minimal deposits paying LMI?
JLTrakka,
I thank you for your feedback. This is what I am wanting because I am obviously emotionally involved in the money side of things. All that you say makes sense, and I guess now I will wait until they call on Tuesday armed with some new thoughts. I did tell the girl who rang me yesterday that I do not blame her for what has occurred, I just want the best possible outcome for all involved (but obviously my family first). At this stage I beleive the tenant to be unaware of any problems with the lease, and I expect it to stay that way.
JLTrakka,
What I'm getting at is why the company's would give you a refund at all. I understand the agruement from a consumer point of veiw, but because the market is so limited, competition is not really a factor. Buisiness will occur anyway, if you give refunds or not. So why would they offer refunds, or portional ones.Is it more of a good will guesture to encourage you to engage the insurer again. Are the insurers then trying to target people like yoursalf, who as an investor who for lending purposes require LMI.
JLLinar,
What is the point of them giving you a refund. What benefit do they get? It's been a long time since I have used it, but why would the company do this unless it is in there policy as a selling point. I thought that most insurance was taken through the bank, the customer just paid for the banks preferred insurer. Do you purchase your own and give the documents to your lender?
JLSteve and others,
It still does not make sense to me for a bank or lending institution to give a refund no matter when the loan is paid out. I don't understand why any company would unless legislation stipulates that it is to be refunded.
JLTrakka,
Funny you should write this because after my last post the agent called again to ask more questions because they have decided to send someone there on Tuesday to find out what the story is. They were really good about it. I assume they have thought about the position I have been placed in and are now wanting to help remedy it for me, or like you say, maybe I am one in a number that they are dealing with and are a bit overwelmed by it all. I will now wait until Tuesday.
They did ask me today how I would like to solve the rent issue and I suggested that waving their fees for the next 12 months would leave me in nearly the same position. The girl then just moved on to the next question, so we will what happens. She did state that she would not send a Notice to vacate until she had received formal notification from me regarding my instructions. I guess I will see next week if the tennant is there, if the maintanance has been attended too and if the A/C's have been installed. I like to remain loyal and will hopefully do so, becuase like you say, I can always get worst.
JLRichard,
Does that mean it is a bank charge or do the banks engage a third party? And when you pay out the loan, are you entitled to a refund no matter what, or only a portion?
JLChris,
My understanding of LMI is that the banks pay an indepedant 3rd party for the insurance, it's not a fee, therefore I doubt it very much. Ask your bank though, can't hurt.
JLThanks Nicole,
I'll keep you posted.
JLXenia,
It's really hard to tell because it is in such a small market. The agency I went through has 7 properties and I have found another that services the area which has11. The agent I bought it through thinks the rental value should have been 25% higher, but they do not deal with rentals in the area. I am unsure in such a small market on how to prove that they did rent below market value. I had instructed them to not lease the property below a certain amount and they have. The diffence is not huge (10%) but the margin on this property was small due to the value being low. I have had one bonus in that I did not expect to find a tenant in such a short space of time, but again this is no good to me if they don't pay, which at this stage they haven't since early Feb. Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated.
At this point my thoughts are to just go with the other agency, who manages more in the town anyway, and chalk it up to a learning curve.
JLRang Dept of fair trading today. They told me I can't do a thing because I had a verbal agreement for them to lease the property, even if they did lease it below market value and below my request. The agency has not returned my calls and now I don;t know how to chase missing rent? I have no lease documents. Anyone have any other ideas?
JLLucky,
Can't you take this sort of thing for approval at any council within the state. Maybe try another council. Others may be able to clarify this, but I am sure this is the case, just not often done.
Kind Regards,
JLCheck this out:
Just received a call from agent. They will not deal with me anymore unless they have a signed authority. I guess they are making my 'dob in' option easy. This is not all. Tenant moved in and is now 3 weeks behind in rent. I would change agents to sort it out, but i do not know of any other agent who services the area. I guess I am making some phone calls. Any suggestions.
Looks like I'm the one being held to ransom.
JL
