Hi Don & Liz,
Yes, utilities/cleaning of common areas/lawn mowing etc, would be covered in their room rent. [biggrin]
Regards,Sharon
I have a clause in our agreement that if the usage is higher tha the previous year they pay the difference. others have a set figure per bill.
I think it wise to ban fan heaters so we bought the more efficient oil filled radiators for each room. Studnets always love those $20 fan heaters and they use an awful lot of power plus are dangerous!
Cheers,
Simon Macks
Finance Broker
[email protected]
0425 228 985Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.
Yes there are heaps of pitfalls in renting property as a boarding house. Utility costs can blow out – I’m not really sure how you can control these costs effectively – If residents pay extra for over use how do you get the extra money from them given that most are on low incomes.
As for 1a 1b considerations I think if you can stay under the radar and away from council interference the happier you will be. Once you slip into 1b catagory you may open a can of worms for yourself regarding fire regs, health regs, building and zoning requirements, insurance catagory.
Sometimes I have been able to work through these , sometimes it gets a bit too hard!Originally posted by Don and Liz:Sounds good Simon. Have you ever had any problems with the administration of this or have you found that the utility cost stay reasonably stable over time. ie are not that big an issue.
.
regardsHasn’t been an issue to date.
Cheers,
Simon Macks
Finance Broker
[email protected]
0425 228 985Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.
Hi Simon (Mortgage Hunter)
I got two question for you about the utilities – since obviously you’re very experienced in this.
The Utilities bill (gas, water, electricity) do come up when the winter comes. Since tenants still pay the same rent, therefore it’s landlord profit margin that got hit by it. Do you have any suggestion regarding this?
Also, since I live in Melbourne, Victorian State Govt will increase the utilities cost step by step until another couple of years. Based on your benchmark, which is if the utilities cost is higher than the year before, the tenants will have to make up for it, The tenants could argue that the utilities cost go up because of the govt policy, not because of their increasing usage. What’s your view on this?
Thanks a lot,
Keep The Spirit Up!
The Utilities bill (gas, water, electricity) do come up when the winter comes. Since tenants still pay the same rent, therefore it’s landlord profit margin that got hit by it. Do you have any suggestion regarding this?
Agreed. Factor it in as a cost of this sort of investment. All of us use more power in winter. Keep control of them though with strategies such as mine and reminders through the year. Consider a bonus if they use less power? A Pizza night perhaps – I don’t do this but it could work I guess.
Also, since I live in Melbourne, Victorian State Govt will increase the utilities cost step by step until another couple of years. Based on your benchmark, which is if the utilities cost is higher than the year before, the tenants will have to make up for it, The tenants could argue that the utilities cost go up because of the govt policy, not because of their increasing usage. What’s your view on this?
It is not the dollar figure I compare but the physical usage normally expressed in megawatts I think. From this you can see if the pattern changes and a cost to be levied as per our lease.
Mine are nice kids, who work very hard. They seem to really want to look after the place – I am sure others have a different experience though. I have developed a strategy to choose my tenants and I have enough quality applicants to fill my house three times over with a single email. I think successful people usually find a niche, develop a system and duplicate it. I am looking for my next house atm[biggrin]
Keep The Spirit Up!
[/quote]Simon Macks
Finance Broker
[email protected]
0425 228 985Comments may not be relevant to individual circumstances. If you intend making any investment, financial or taxation decision you should consult a professional adviser.
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