As the saying goes – “Dont leave home without it”.

We’ve had some absolutely brilliant tenants who we thought were so good that we didnt need landlords insurance for……$12 000 later we learnt an expensive lesson. Always have it. $300 per year is nothing compared to the loss of having to refit a house, rebuild the backyard and not have any rent coming in in the mean time. We use CGU insurance and they are very good and very reasonably priced. As far as I’m aware you can get insurance on already tenanted properties as long as they are up to date with their rent and have paid there bond. You also have a signed lease with them by the sounds of it so there shouldn’t be any problem.

If we are all so unhappy – there must be others that think the same, why dont we get together and start our own property managing company down there. We could employ someone like Jeff (maybe even him). That way we get someone who sees the tenant as an asset, will look after the property correctly and also communicate properly with the landlords.

fullout

With a fixed term tenancy you cannot raise the rent until after the lease has expired. You also need to give notice prior too raising the rent – this used to be 3 months prior but has changed recently i think to 6 weeks but you may need to check that. Get hold of the tenancy booklet (from any r/e agent or tenancy tribunal) it outlines it in there. There is nothing stopping you notifying of the increase prior to the expiry of the lease but it cannot increase until then.

A really really good plumber in Morwell is Ken Gooding 0418 512679. Does a good job, no hassles.

I’d suggest you actually phone Jeff and talk to him. He works best over the phone. Tell him that he was recommended on an internet site and that you have talked to the “peppers” – he’ll understand! By the way – they charge us 6% (dont tell him I told you) – I think we probably could have got it cheaper (KW offered us 4%) but we were happy paying a bit extra when Jeff was managing.

fullout,
There are 4 in Morwell. The S one, BJ Bennett, Keith Williams and Ross Madaluno. Of them all BJ Bennett is best and unfortunately as I said Jeff is not hands on anymore. However, I would suggest that you talk to him as he is very obliging and will do what he can to look after you. I actually talked to a friend of ours who has said that Jeff has agreed to look after their properties personally instead of the usually PM and their wrapped cos things now happen when they call. One of the best things about Jeff is he actually picks up the phone and calls you if there is a problem. He doesn’t wait for you to contact him or send a letter. He’s straight down the line and wont BS you. If he screws up he’ll admit it. Pretty unusual these days.