rent contract

$10 a week is not much to be paying. Just think about what would happen if that single mother stopped or got behind in her rent payments. Could you handle having to ring her up asking her why and being given some sob story? I’d probably give in and say ok next week would do.

Sometimes it is best to put some distance between you and the tenant.

Terryw
[email protected]

[HI Glenn,

having had some VERY ordinary experiences with property managers, I am now managing two properties ‘by myself’.

So far, all is well…I take care of my places, I CARE if something is broken or not working, because I want my place looked after, and I want my tenants to come to me if there is any problem, I check the bank account to check the rent is going in, I give the neighbours my contact details and say if there is EVER any problem, feel free to ring me any time of the day or night, I tell the tenants the same thing, mind you, I choose tenants who seem ‘handy’, I don’t choose tenants who whinge about their current situations (I hear alarm bells) etc.

I rang Residential Tenancies Authority (Brisbane), who are on the ‘tenant’s’ side, I guess, but they send out all the paperwork you need, ie contract, the form for bond, all the rules about managing a property to protect your rights as landlord and the tenant’s rights etc.

I have rung them many times to check on little things, if I can do this or that, and I have always found them helpful.

I also advertised myself for tenants. I was ‘positive’ but ‘honest’ when people called about the property. I asked them what sort of property THEY were looking for etc. eg one of the houses I rent out is VERY small, 2 VERY small bedrooms, a VERY small garage, no storage, it is fenced, ie suit a dog etc.

I had MANY calls from couples with a kid and a big Pajero…desperate to live in a cute house by the beach. One man got quite abusive with me when I told him he was very welcome to come and have a look, but I really couldn’t see that my place would suit his family…(too many people, lots of belongings, big car – he would have been miserable in my place and the cuteness would have worn off VERY quickly…)

If you are good at sussing people out without appearing to be discriminatory, you can find a person that ‘suits’ your house, and if you think they will be happy there, and you guess right, your job as property manager has just become that much easier.

I was NOT prepared to take the first thing, which a property manager, in my experience, IS prepared to do.

When people came to see the house, I took their details, I asked them questions, and I told them I would let them know by…xyz date, and I did.

I told them all I wanted to find the right person for my house, because it won’t suit everyone, and I wanted my eventual tenant to be happy blah blah blah.

Now, I got a single mum with kid and visiting boyfriend, a couple of boys on welfare, rich couples with big cars, etc and a single guy with dog – he suited my place, it was meant for one person, and he could afford the rent – i had priced it above market, figuring I could always come down, but I didn’t have to.

I asked for references, and I got two, his current employer and his previous two landlords, his drivers licence, a credit card, and I asked for two recent pay slips. he provided all and all checked out. You CANNOT be lazy about these things. Now, he might be on some ‘tenant blacklist’ that I can’t access, but all seems to be fine so far…

I was worried I might be ‘discriminating’ against the single mum, the boys on welfare, etc, but I rang Residential Tenancies about that, and they were good. They said I was quite entitled to choose the person I felt best suited my house, and that’s what I did, and it’s working so far, fingers crossed.

I was a bit embarrassed to ring the ‘unsuccessful’ applicants back, but there is always an excuse to let you and them save face – ie thanks for coming to see my house, at this stage I’ve let the house to someone else – he was happy to take a 12 month lease and you preferred 6, or he was happy to take the propety from today and you preferred next month, or whatever, but thank you again, if anything changes, I’ll get in touch.

With the tenant I chose, I was very up front. I didn’t pussy foot around. I filled out an entry condition report and asked him to sign – all these papers come from residential tenancies – I charged him the 4 weeks rent as bond, I told him I wanted 2 weeks rent in advance, I told him I wanted the house left in the same condition when he left, I showed him photos I had taken, and I said I would make a claim on his bond if there was damage other than fair wear and tear.

I told him I hoped he was very happy in our place and to please let us know if he wasn’t, we are very reasonable, we will help if we can etc.

I sussed out at the time he looked over the place if he was happy to mow, etc, and he was.

Look, so far, it is going fine with both houses i ‘manage’ myself.

The two houses we get ‘managed’ are in a country town and there is only a choice of’bad’ property manager and ‘appalling’ property manager, both claim 9.5 per cent, plus expense, and both do NOTHING to ‘manage’ our properties.

I am doing a MUCH better job, in a tougher market.

If I were you, I would give it a go doing it yourself…that’s what I decided to do because I was so disgusted with the service I was getting from the agents at the beach, and I am still disgusted with the service I am getting from the agents in the country town, and I am MUCH happier with my service, that is for sure.

I think agents try to ‘scare’ you with how much they can do for you (but they don’t) and how much they know (which many of them don’t) – get informed about YOUR rights and your tenant’s rights.

IF you are going to let the ‘single mum’ stay on, if you are a WUSS, get the property managed. If you think you can be kind and fair but UP FRONT, do it yourself. If you can’t speak up for yourself, DON’T do it.

The bond will have to be refunded from the agent and paid to you for you to send in to Rental Bond AUth. Get the tenant to sort that with the agent, I think you can get it transferred, but why take that on, get her to sort it out and get the money to you asap, up to you, check it out with Rental Bond and do whatever is easiest, but look after yourself, this is your BUSINESS.

Do an inspection when her lease expires, talk to her about what is working and what is not, fix what needs fixing, set limits on what you will not fix, if she wants something you think is not reasonable, tell her you can do it, but the rent will have to increase by $20/wk, or whatever (by the way, if you increase the rent, I think you have to give about 2 months notice…in writing, so do it now if you are going to increase the rent). Be very up front. Tell her you love your house, you want her to be happy in it, you want the rent two weeks in advance, agree on the condition it must be in when she leaves etc, BE UP FRONT!

Now, a single mum would not be my choice of ideal tenant…but one isn’t allowed to discriminate, and there are single mums and single mums.

I am sure many are capable, can ‘fix’ little things, ie you don’t have to run over every 5 mins for a blown fuse, and have steady incomes…some are not.

I had a bad experience with a ‘single mum’ – yes, I gave in when the AGENT told me I had to give her a try, such a nice girl, etc – she did a runner, went to court to get the lease broken under ‘hardship’, just before xmas, what about my hardship??? this was my first property and things were VERY tight for me too, didn’t damage the place or anything, but didn’t clean it either, and the agent had another no-hoper all lined up very quickly and I just said NO, NO, NO to everything the agent dished up for the next 6 weeks – it took me (her) 6 weeks to find someone I thought seemed OK – no more leaving it to an agent – and the guy I got eventually was excellent, he only left when I eventually sold the place…

anyway, i could rave on for hours and i already have, email me if you have anything specific you want to ask, [email protected]

Good luck if you decide to give it a go yourself – you can only be wrong and it might all turn out very right, as long as people know UP FRONT what is expected of them, I think it’s a good start.

quote]
hi everyone

i’m currently pondering if i should use an agent to rent out my property or do it myself?

the agent wants the first weeks rent and 7% every week after that (about $10)

i just purchased the house and the single mother still has 2 months left on her contract and wants to sign on again long term.

so i think i will be able to take care of everything myself (if i had to find a tenant it might be different) so can someone please help me out if they have an existing contract they use when renting out privatly or atleast somethings i would need to include or beware of

thanx

[email protected]
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