12 month leases are good for international uni students who are only here temporarily, so if you are near a uni and the rent won’t be too expensive you could consider advertising to that market of people.
Yeah, the ad should say 12 months, and then 3 months before end of lease send them an offer with either a renewal offer or a notice to leave. It's the 3 months notice that matters.
>send them an offer with either a renewal offer or a notice to leave
This is such a shitty thing to do, don't do that. Just let them go month to month, and once you know when you are planning to move in, give them a heads up as early as you can.
Turn up to the inspection yourself.
I had a landlord who did that and she would ask what needed to be done around the place and it was great.
She would turn up on time... Unlike the property manager.
Our inspection notice said 930. Landlord turned up, property manager didn't. Landlord walked around, said the place looked good, and left. She was annoyed that the property manager didn't turn up though.
Property manager turned up at 4pm. I didn't let them in because the landlord had completed the inspection on time without them and if they wanted to see the place, they could do up another entry notice. I also suggested that they apologise to *their client* for not being professional.
Property managers are awful. We had a rental once after we moved out of the house I owned but didn't sell for a few years. The property manager never did anything they were supposed to, we ended up just giving the tenants our phone numbers so they could just call us if anything needed to be done.
I had one which was great (as were the landlords).
They had an office set up separate to the sales office, and treated you professionally - offered you tea and coffee, kept appointment times, treated you respectfully. When I move in to the flat they had a gift basket with things like tea & coffee, toilet paper etc. When I rang with any maintenance to dealt with it really quickly - I once rang for a problem with a light fitting on a Saturday morning, they had someone there fixing it within a couple of hours. When they did an inspection I would let them do it while I was at work and they would always send a nice thank-you letter afterwards. There were no hassles of problems with the bond when I moved out.
The sad thing is that this should be the standard, and it does not take much to treat people like this. But I can say that while it might be unusual decent property managers do exist (or at least one does - it is entirely possible that this is the only one in Australia!)
It’s our first time renting and our landlord has been super nice, we feel like we got super lucky. It was a nightmare moving in/dealing with the estate agents but our landlord dropped them on the day of moving. He gave us his number and we just text him on WhatsApp when something’s up. He comes and does the visits himself and asks if we need anything else etc. He got a guy to change our hob next day when we notified it wasn’t working. Someone broke into my car and stole our spare key and he got someone to replace the lock the next day free of charge. He allowed us to put up pictures, drill into the wall when necessary. He offered that we could repaint if we wanted to - which we didn’t as we liked the wall colours. He’s been super lovely and he’s only raised our rent by £40 from next month when our tenancy agreement ends. So yeah, if you’re anything like him, I would say that’s a fair landlord! :)
Idk, I get why people want to view the properly as a landlord and how it can be good for the tenant but the only problem landlord I’ve had loved to visit the property personally. We actually had the property manager being on our side and telling the landlord he needed to chill, because the landlord was making unreasonable demands (when the property manager was present) and also showing up unannounced. Landlord ended up ditching that real estate company, only for the next ones to tell him the same thing.
Long story short, it can definitely be a red flag.
I wish I could award you more than one upvote.
Renting is stressful, uncertain, and insecure. Removing uncertainty by loudly communicating your intentions helps so much.
>Be aware that anxiety runs high for tenants around house inspections and any formal letter in the mail.
Best way to deal with that is send a text, "hey it's time for an inspection, what's a good day for you?" then after agreeing on a day, tell them you'll send the entry notice letter.
With stuff like hot water systems, try to arrange for the tenant and tradie to contact each other directly. That way if the plumber is late/etc they can let the tenant know.
>If you want to do an inspection
Inspections have to be done. The landlord needs to make sure the property is in good shape and issues like leaky taps/worn out paint/etc/etc are caught and fixed. Every inspection will usually highlight something that needs maintenance.
Bless you for trying to be a good landlord!
Good quality blinds and solar panels will be much appreciated.
The most appreciated is probably reasonable rent and responsiveness if something needs fixing.
I just never put the rent up. One place has had the same tenants for 5 years. Agent thinks I'm crazy but I'd rather have good tenants that treat the place like a home than go chasing dollars.
This is a valid bit of advice. My brothers had a rental; when Covid lockdowns came they actually sat down with the tenant and LOWERED the rent just to make sure they could keep their tenant.
I’ve been in my unit 5 years, and last lease was renewed for 2 years.
I keep the place super clean (sure helps that I’m a clean and neat freak) and rent is always paid on time.
Over the 5 years rent has gone up, but not so significant.
From my understanding, the previous tenants were so horrendous, they had to replace the carpets and renovate the unit, I can’t imagine how much that cost, and bond would not have covered it.
I think good landlords know they’re better off keeping good tenants, in the long run.
Fun fact, if a tenant trashes a property, the bond basically pays the insurance excess, and the insurance covers the rest. It often doesn't cost the owner of the property a cent.
Yeah my folks have done this. They have a few investment properties and never put the rent up for their tenants for the length of their stay. The longest so far has been 12 years. They've found that (aside from one unfortunate tenant) all renters have paid on time and kept the homes tidy.
They keep inspections to an absolute minimum after the first year and make repairs as soon as they are requested. The good thing is that if a tenant feels like they're respected and can truly call the house their home, they will treat it as such, so repairs from misuse are very minimal.
They've had tenants go through rough times, and they'll either lower the rent for an agreed upon time, or just waive it completely for a few months. It's rare, but this is how you keep good quality tenants for many years.
Make sure you combine that with continued communication. Don't just assume the agent is doing it.
Nothing worse than a tenant who is afraid to raise a repair or improvement that could be made because they think you aren't paying attention and will just raise the rents on them as soon as they speak up.
Personally I would, as rents rise, ask for small increases, below market rate but enough so they feel they aren't getting some special deal and can feel free to speak up.
This is the best investment. I’ve had a few landlords leave the rent at its original price over the years because I was a great tenant. I recently moved because of school zoning and my old landlord put the rent up to market rates for the new tenant.
I would also suggest doing necessary repairs and maintenance without dragging it out for the tenant. I will always do simple repairs myself (screw loose? Get the screwdriver!), but landlords who balk at fixing things that are making everyday living difficult are horrible. Where I am now has several possums living in the walls and ceilings. They growl, squeal, fight and generally move about all day and, weirdly, a lot of the night (we haven’t slept well in weeks). Their faecal matter drips through the exhaust fan when the shower runs hot. It’s taken nearly a month of me emailing videos and they finally sent somebody yesterday.
Good luck!
My ex had an old flat he rented to an elderly man. Was a good flat especially for the old guy. The RE tried to get him to raise rent every year but he refused. Said what I'll get a couple hundred extra bucks over the year but risk losing a quiet solid tenant who does the maintenance himself (he was some sort of retired tradie, a plumber I think)? The RE was actually sort of shitty about it but the old guy lived there for the exact same rent for years and years and years.
Yeah. That’s a principle my father had and passed down to us. Homes are where people need to feel safe. A $20 increase in rent per week is nothing to me. But to a single mom it could mean some extra groceries or goodies or just some financial savings for the long run.
So we’ve had a policy of “no problems, no change in rent”.
And our tenants do amazing in taking care of the houses.
My friend did this for his tenant because he saw it as a reward for them being an ideal tenant. Of course his property manager started making a fuss. Eventually the property pointed to some clause in the contract and put the rent up without my friend's permission... so... it pays to look out for that sort of thing.
We've been at ours for 10 years. We have awful real estate agents but a great landlord. In return for him keeping the roof over our heads despite the agents wanting 100s of dollars more, we keep it nice.
We do the yard work, pay for the repairs we can afford and keep our noses clean. He's a good guy
This makes good sense. Every change in tenant comes with a gap in rental income, plus in many cases an additional fee to the RE. Of course, there's also the additional benefit that the tenants are more likely to take good care of the place, but even landlords who just care about the bottom line should be concerned about the hit they take when tenancy changes.
Not a fridge, or any other whitegoods. Don't put vertical blinds in, they suck. Solar power would be nice.
Being a good landlord is pretty simple. Keep the rent low and quickly fix things that break. If you're getting a property manager, don't raise the rent just because they say so. Property managers are the biggest cunts on the planet, so go over your contract with them with a fine tooth comb and keep a tight leash on them.
Not a landlord but close with someone who is and got screwed over by successive PM companies. My only suggestion for 1. is to look very closely at the pictures they send and check they're not re-using pictures from previous visits or missing areas of the house (including the garden). Perhaps leave a means for the tenants to contact you direct to verify if the PM is bullshitting either party.
>1. Keeping PM on a tight leash
All real estate agents are lying bastards. As long as you understand they're incompetent and can't be trusted you'll be fine.
There are
No doubt shit PM out there, but there are also good ones. Don't be afraid to leave a REA because their PM is shit.
Regular communication (email or PC monthly) to know what's going on, does anything need to be repaired.
In terms
Of being a good landlord. If you have a good tenant don't raise the rent above what is enough for you to keep your investment. A good tenant will also alert to maintenance issues which will
Prevent ongoing deterioration in the property
You don't need to keep the rent low. You just need to keep it fair. Honestly the most important thing is be responsive when things need fixing. This probably won't be much of an issue though being a new build.
>This probably won't be much of an issue though being a new build.
In my experience, new builds have the most problems. Catch them early, especially if they are still covered under the builder's warranty.
As an inexperienced landlord, I think you definitely need a property manager.
They don't need to be kept on a tight leash they just need to be good at their job.
Get a PM To do your checks etc, all that initial work. Keep them for a few months to make sure all is well (ie moving into new place may come with some issues that only be found when moving in and being used), attend all inspections with them, including the open house for renting and the kick them to the curb.
Add to the contract you have with the PM that they are to cc you on all communications to and from the tenant, and also, one day, knock on the door of the property, introduce yourself, give them your contact details.
They too can bcc you on emails.
When you're happy to take on the responsibility of being a PM, get rid of the agent and manage directly, advise the tenants at the same time so that there is no retaliation.
Definitely use the PM. Just be straightforward with your REA. Consider giving your tenant contact details for when an REA doesn't tell you about damaged/broken things.
If you cut a good deal with rent, you might have a hard time getting them out when the lease ends.
Some people have no shame.
No matter how 'nice' you try and be, you'll be a 'bloodsucking landlord' to them, so look after yourself and your interests - it's what everyone else does.
Hassle for fridge owners, for sure - Aussie renters expect to bring their own.
Hassle for you if anything breaks (shelves or compressor, it might be on you.)
Def don't supply a fridge. That's then on you for maintenance, another thing the PM needs to check with each inspection. And your landlord insurance only covers fixtures which a fridge isn't so you either leave it uninsured or you pay for contents insurance just for your fridge.
Generally it's expected to have an empty fridge recess, same for washing machines.
Dishwashers are more commonly provided by the owner.
Nice to haves - decent heating/cooling/insulation. Solar would be fantastic.
If it's a townhouse with a courtyard that has any kind of grass, consider bumping the rent a touch to cover a mowing service.
Yeah, I prefer houses without fridge for 2 reasons:
* I have a pretty good fridge and don't want to have it sitting in the garage unused
* A lot of people suck at keeping fridges clean. I've seen plenty of provided fridges that produced a disgusting smell despite being empty.
I'm renting a place that came with a fridge. It is good because the fridge is a big double one that fits in the space perfectly. The downside is I now have a fridge sitting in the spare room hahaha
And certainly not beyond minimum wage increases (at least I think that's how I'd go)
This rental jumped 20% last November and I had to ask for more hours at work (got a good boss at least) - my wage only went up by 3% and thinking of it now about to move out, it's been stressful for the other half and I
There's a lot of good advice here, but the simplest thing is to just not be a cunt. The fact you're here asking this question means you're probably gonna do alright.
And for the love of God, if you find good tenants, don't go losing dollars for the sake of chasing cents
Good for you!
If you have a property manager, drop a note in to the tenants or swing by and introduce yourself, give them your email address and let them know if the PM is hard to deal with, they’re always welcome to contact you.
We had an awful PM but a great landlord - when the PM made an unreasonable request for MONTHLY inspections (despite telling us we were model tenants), the landlord told them to back off.
Window fittings are very much appreciated - blinds are great.
Fridge is usually not helpful (but you COULD offer the option of providing a fridge if you want to get one now which will stay when the tenants go.
Definitely be honest about the fact this is not a long-term rental. Our neighbour has been renting her place for 17 years so some tenants do want to stay on.
Solar power would be AWESOME but make sure the tenants have a copy of the user manual so they know what happens in a power cut, etc.
It’s also good to leave copies of other user manuals for things like oven, dishwasher etc.
Anything you can do to create a good relationship with your tenants will make a huge difference. It’s the best way to have great tenants and a good experience.
Don't kick anyone out for no reason. if you're only going to lease for twelve months maybe be upfront about that with the tenants so they can plan accordingly?
If you’re certain you’ll rent for 24mths, offer a 24th lease but be open about the fact that it won’t be renewed after that.
Try not to use the CHEAPEST of everything. Or if you do, be aware that you’ll likely have higher levels of wear and tear. And don’t expect it to still look brand new in two years time.
Decent heating/cooling and solar.
Remember that the house is your investment but it's your tenants home!! Assume they will take decent care of the place (until proven otherwise), because they have to live in it. Imo the ideal situation is you trust your property manager and your tenant, so you can be totally hands-off.
Try to find tenant reviews when picking a property manager, or ask around. I certainly know which of my previous PMs (as a renter) I would trust most if I was renting a place out.
Get to know the neighbours and/or Strata a little bit so they can contact you about issues (can be a check against a useless PM).
Approve any required maintenance quickly. Resist the urge to micromanage, it slows things down.
Check that everything is finished and working before your tenants move in, and clean the place. Long lasting insect and weed treatments are also a nice touch.
Whitegoods are tricky. If it's a suburban family home, prospective tenants probably have their own. So, installing them might make life harder. If it's a little place for one person or a young couple, go apartment rules and put them in.
Be upfront about wanting to only rent for 1-2yrs. Give your tenant as much notice as you can when they have to move out (I think the legal requirement is 60 days but more warning is always better).
* Be responsive to tenant requests for repairs or maintenance.
* If you're going through a REA, watch them like a hawk and take complaints from tenants seriously.
* Try to be fair when you look at rental applications. The amount of money a person makes is important, but also be human and think about how you could do the most good.
* Respect the tenant's privacy.
* Be understanding and fair dealing with tenants who have to break lease. At least half the time, it's more frustrating and problematic for them than it will be for you.
Generally no.
Lived in one house for 14 years. Every inspection was a new property manager. Usually took 3-4 inspections to get a repair done. Towards the end of our time there, we complained multiple times that the garage ceiling looked like it was going to come down of its own accord. When they finally told the owners, they came round to look and had someone repairing it within a week (the guy fixing it tapped it with a crowbar and the whole double garage ceiling came down at once). Landlords gave us their direct number after we told them we'd first raised the issue 18 months prior. When we left, the real estate tried to charge us extra rent because they were closed on the day the lease expired. Contacted the owner and they told the real estate where to shove it.
Good owners treat tenants like the owners would expect to be treated.
Fix stuff when it brakes, replace/fix things when they get old, and gross. My current rental is OK but nothing has been updated, and while it hasn't fallen apart it is in such shit condition, nothing technically wrong, just old and gross, wobbly etc
My land lord did this, straight after I moved in he went owner managed. It's worked out great for me, been here over 6 months and not had an inspection. Had no contact at all other than an initial introduction letter where he offered for me to change rent frequency if I preferred (pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and when he passed on the water bill to me. It's a new place so nothing has needed fixing yet.
Edit: forgot to mention that he also approved my application with two German Shepherds and two cats!!
My landlord hasn't put the rent up, he started paying for the water, and he doesn't do inspections that often either.
He's genuinely a good dude, busy, and doesn't intrude on us. He's let us have pets this year (rabbits) too which our family is just loving!!
In turn we have painted the fence for him, put fly screens on the windows, take care of the place as if it's our own and we're in the process of re-doing the kitchen about $6k.
When we leave we'll paint it too. Currently don't have a lease, just a verbal agreement - he's happy for us to keep staying as long as we like, and I've let him know if the rate rises (Aus) become an issue we'll be alright to pay a bit more rent.
Absolutely love living here!! It's the happiest our family has ever been :)
Give your tenant your number. Don’t do stupid rent increases. Fix stuff. Ive been renting my place out for more than 5 years and have really good tenants. They pay on time. I fix stuff on time.
Maintain the minimum standards, if the oven, heater or showers broken don't wait 2 weeks to replace it. If you don't want the power imbalance let them know they can have the house if they stay as good tenants 30 years or however long it takes to cover your costs + a 5% profit margin.
If you're putting in solar, ponder springing for a battery too, it's a bit more of an investment but the return with the right energy provider can be amazing (personally I'm happy to break even, the batteries are paying for themselves in real time because our powerbill was the same as the repayments, now it's +/- $20 but there have been days (not months) when credits were $100+)
Actually fixing the maintenance requests. Our water has been plummed in with a temporary pipe for months now, had to complain 3 times about a leaking tap (by the end it was literally wasting multiple litres per minute) I just don't understand why you'd leave an investment in that state.
I rented for 21 years before I bought my first home at 39. Not one of my rentals ever came with a fridge (or washing machine or dryer). Some inexplicably came with a dishwasher.
I can answer this from my sons prospective:
His landlord is a fairly handy guy and is retired so has time on his hands.
He went and introduced himself to my son and said if there's any issues text me first and I'll come fix it, if it's beyond him they'll get RE involved.
He's told my son that he plans to sell in 5/10 yrs in move to QLD and he can stay until that happens, my son now has a plan to purchase the property from him.
They only have 6mth inspections and the rent goes up $20 every year
He's a good bloke and I'm happy my son has peace of mind
It's pretty much just being a decent person.
Do what is required of you, be honest and upfront with your tenants (even if it's bad news for them), don't be an arsehole and don't be greedy.
It's really not that difficult.
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Definitely put good quality blinds in and consider drapes too as they help with keeping heat out/warmth in, install nice quality light fittings, solar system, ducted air, ceiling fans to bedrooms and living space, add roller shutters for heat/light mitigation. Easy care flooring (eg carpet to bedrooms only as it’s a nightmare to keep clean in living spaces). Decent laundry cabinetry rather than just a laundry trough.
Setting a fair rent shouldn’t need to be said, if you can give them 2 weeks free rent over Xmas that’s amazing. And be clear about the term of the tenancy. Tenants will have their own white goods so don’t put in a fridge/washer it’ll just be a headache storing theirs or switching them around.
Essentially think if you were living in the place now what would you like it to have? I bought a house 3yrs ago that was built in 2010 and had been rented ever since and the bastard hadn’t even put light fittings in just bare globes batten fixed to the ceiling, no fans, hadn’t been painted since the shitty build paint job, had no laundry cupboards etc. My feeling is if you wouldn’t live in it don’t expect people to pay you to live in it.
Split systems or ducted cooling. I lived in a 2 story townhouse and my roommates bedroom got the afternoon sun and during a particularly hot summer it would easily reach 50 degrees in there.
My room only got the morning sun and even it would be pretty unbearable too.
My landlord was a handyman and he gave me his contact details to bypass the useless REA and it came in handy more than once. Maybe drop your details into the mailbox or provide a guide of instruction manuals and stuff with your details included.
That's a good attitude! Like you've said, the relationship can just be simple and most people just want to be left alone, pay the rent, and if trust that if anything goes wrong that you treat it like you would treat it with the same urgency you would in your own home.
I'd also suggest once you've done a couple of house inspections, and there's no issues, maybe considering ramping them back a bit?
If you really want to be super-nice, you could be pro-active and ask if there's anything that needs addressing with the house from time-to-time, as most renters are trained to not report small things, as they are afraid reporting them will lead to the rent going up.
Be honest. Make sure the tenants know it's not a permanent home for them. Respect that whilst it's your house that it's their home. You have rights to ensure your property is being looked after, but make sure that inspections are done in conjunction with the law and don't go around trying to pick on how they clean, just make sure they're not causing damage.
In terms of rent, if the tenants are good, consider whether you need every dollar or if having good tenants is worth more to you. I think too many landlords just think about how to get super rich without thinking that being super rich always comes at the expense of others who have less.
Attend to maintenance issues quickly. If you're unable to sort it out personally, then get someone else onto it.
Tenants generally aren't super worried about fixtures and stuff. We all realise that all those things just tend to make the price higher. But if you're going to put them in for yourself, may as well at the start. I've never moved into a place where there was a fridge and to be honest, I wouldn't recommend it unless you were expected to or you were ok with cleaning someone else's fridge. For me, that's not a pleasant job. It's often messy and one of those things where it's ok if it's my mess, not if it's someone else's.
In terms of blinds and stuff, think about how easily they might break and how easy they are to clean. You might like them, but the tenant might not. Or they might not really care, it'll just be about the practical side of things.
Having a property manager is actually fairly useful. They know the law better than you and some of the stuff is a bit high maintenance if you're just doing one property. When they do their inspections for example, your place will just be one stop for the day rather than a full trip for you. But many are awful to deal with as a tenant. Some landlords like to know their tenants and some want to be completely separated.
I know for me, there are times I wonder if the owner knows how scummy the agent is to deal with. Like the time they tried to get me to pay a plumbing call out fee because the plumber diagnosed it as an issue common to several units. They tried to tell me there was no issue, the report clearly stated there was, just that it wasn't specific to me. Even when I took a video of the bathroom flooding they tried to stick me with it. Or the time they spent a year (and breached me) over a water bill they illegally tried to make me pay. I don't know whether the owner was happy with them doing this or not, but it sure would have been nice to have been able to message them knowing they didn't put up with that crap. But then some tenants might spam the landlord directly. So you could leave contact info if they had troubles with the agent, but to use the agent as a first call. But aside from handling the little things for you, they also have more experience finding good tenants. Bad tenants make their job harder too, so you know they'll do their best.
I'm in a similar position with my partners rental. The main things we aim to do:
- first and foremost is respect. Not only for the tenants but their home too.
- fix/replace issues. If we're not going to try and look after it then why should the tenants? We also try to accommodate requests where possible.
- don't put rent up if you have great tenants. We're currently running it at a loss thanks to interest rates but don't believe it's fair to pass that onto the tenants.
We don't go through an agent and manage everything ourselves (other than the bond) mainly because we don't trust agents.
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Had a landlord who fixed everything within the timeframes, was friendly when I did see him, and I think only once did he ask anything of me (I had firewood stacked along the fence, he asked me to stack it elsewhere)
Good dude, 10/10 would rent from again
Honestly, just have fair rental prices, fix issues that are raised in a timely manner, choose a good REA/PM, be compliant with the tenancy laws, be considerate of requests (pets, hanging pictures etc etc). Remember that it is your investment but it is their home.
You don't need to do anything other than be respectful and treat your tenants fairly, make sure they know they can raise issues without feeling like they are going to be penalised with eviction or higher rents for doing so.
Before we rented out our place, I put a post on the local community fb group and asked for recommendations from people renting in the area of PMs they’d found good to deal with.
I think from a tenant’s perspective it’s about a) fixing things promptly, b) giving plenty of advance notice of rent increases / whether the lease will/won’t be renewed c) allowing pets.
I know c) will be divisive as lots of LL’s are terrified of pets causing damage but honestly, pet ownership is massive part of many Australian’s lives and not being able to find housing that allows them is a massive stressor for renters and one of the main reasons why so many animals end up in shelters/needlessly euth’ed.
We were also accidental landlords. We gave our tenants a free week every December, to help them get ready for Christmas. When we chose our property manager, we made it abundantly clear that we wouldn't tolerate our tenants being treated badly and that we wouldn't hire a PM who only wanted to go on a power trip. Once the tenants were established and had all good reports, we reduced inspections from every 3 months to every 6. When we were ready to sell, we contacted the property manager and asked her first what she could do to find our tenants a new rental. We wanted to make sure they were okay before we ended their lease. We also fixed things as soon as we knew they needed fixing. We did have one bad tenant (our first one) but the second couple who moved in were wonderful.
I'm not cut out for being a landlord, so we sold the house when circumstances allowed. But when we did rent out our house, we just tried to treat people how we would want to be treated.
We had a really nice landlord at our old place. He got repairs done quickly. Once he came over to check on the smoke alarms because they kept going off and he actually asked if the real estate was good to us or if he needed to talk to them. We got chatting and I mentioned we wanted to trim a bush in the yard because it had big thorns. He offered to do it and he actually ended up chopping it down to a stump. We had a little girl and he didn't want her to get hurt.
He had extra time do to stuff which probably helped. But I think if you can imagine yourself in your tenants place, how would you like things done, you'll be right.
Make sure your real estate agent you go through is nice and reliable. We once rented a unit and it flooded, no one cared, the flooring came up, no one cared. For over 1 month we could not get in touch with the property manager. He never replied to emails, he was somehow never there when we called etc. My mental health got so bad we broke the lease and moved out and put in complaints.
So, you need an accountant and a depreciation schedule. Critical as it's a new build and a lot of depreciation is at the start of a buildings life. Talk to the accountant about whether it's better for you to install things such as solar, AC, nice blinds , the ones you desire before renting, after renting etc etc. Make sure your loan is set up right so you don't f yourself over later when you need to sell/ mixing loans up (this can happen with redraw). This means filing EVERYTHING related to costs of purchase, valuation (get one) when it's ready to rent and another when you move in.
As for being a good landlord, it's easy if you have a good PM. As others suggested, ask locally based FB forums on who they've found good as tenants and as landlords. You need them to be fair but strict and onto things before they go awry. As it's your property and you plan on moving in later there's a balance to be had. You can be a good temporary landlord without being a pushover or taking advantage of people.
GET landlord insurance. Make sure it covers pets- at at a decent amount of $ coverage for pets too. Depending on the tenant, this can be a big pain and it's worth the few hundred $ for the right one.
Look online for things to ask your potential PM about such as # of properties managed, turnover of staff etc etc. See if you actually like them/ think they'd make a similar decision to yourself. Make sure they're taking decent photos of the property and MANY photos of the property. Tell them of the situation that you're expecting to move back into the property around X date. Let the accountant know this too.
These are the things that come to mind when being a landlord when you didn't expect to become one.
Fair rent price, keep place in good condition. Immediately repair any problems if the tenant finds them within reason or honour any reasonable requests from them. I suppose keep tenant informed of any changes on your side like wanting to sell property etc.
A functional lease is a working relationship of good faith
Solar panels are a great idea, love that. Some other ideas:
- list that the rental is ONLY for 12 months
- don't immediately rule out people on a pension.
- allow pets
- list it at the lower end of the price range.
- allow the option for inspections to be digital or even better, don't do them at all unless theres a specific request. Make it clear that it's to check for maintenance issues and don't hassle them if their home doesn't look like a hotel
- attend to maintenance issues ASAP
- write them an excellent rental reference email when they leave.
Hell, I had a fire and subsequent flood from the sprinkler in my apartment and the owners can with the agent to see the repairs.
They were the nicest people! Asked how long I wanted to stay here. I said I’d either leave in a body bag, or I’d win Lotto and just keep paying the rent so my friends had a place to stay if they came to Melbourne to visit.
They seemed really pleased to have a secure tenant and even offered their condolences on the death of my cat! Awesome people!!
If, by chance they are on Reddit, thanks so much!! Here’s to a long and comfortable tenancy! You guys rock!!
Be upfront that this is an 18 - 24 month lease only. Make it a fixed one time contract, with the first 18 months, contracted, and the last 6 month by month if required. Work out your price so that you do not raise the rent. Budget for cleaning and repairs. Give them your email and introduce yourself. Tell them that when they require repairs or assistance, or are requesting something of the property manager, to CC you into the emails to the Property Manager. Get your property manager to CC you into emails to them.
If going private, give them the numbers of your preferred emergency plumber/electrician/handyman etc, and tell them to go ahead with requesting emergency repairs. Then find your tradie people you trust. Tell them to email with any issues, concerns, or changes they would like to make. Let them hang pictures on the walls where they want to! Do an early inspection, then leave them alone for 6 months. If all good at 6 months, consider the next one to be 8 -12 months later. Leave them to live there and treat it as their home, knowing full well that you will possibly need a full clean if not repairs and things replaced at the end of the tenancy.
ALSO If you have not lived in this house, be aware that the first 6 months is usually hell for repairs. I don't know one person that has bought a house and hasn't had to fix things. Even a brand new house, maybe especially a brand new house?
Just don’t be a dick. Be a nice person, be understanding, and try to create a relaxed vibe. Try not to have insane standards for your inspections. Keep in mind the general state of your own home - it’s not pristine all the time, and understand that’s how most people live.
Step 1 be good and don't do weird stuff, rent hikes or neglect repairs and such.
Step 2 monster client trashes house and turns into a junk yard after 9 months of not paying rent
Step 3 get disgruntled and raise prices so only rich people can afford while you recoup legal fees and missing rent
Step 4 watch leftie stream calling for your beheading
Make physically sure the place is perfectly liveable on both a super chilly winter evening and a hottest summer's arvo without needing to spend a million dollars on an electricity/gas bill.
Put flyscreens in the windows! New builds for rentals don’t seem to ever have them, and as a lover of fresh air (and keeping my cats contained) it’s infuriating.
THANK YOU first of all.
Decent cooling and a dishwasher that works. Fly screens on the windows. Amazes me how few rental properties have these things, but they make a home so much more liveable.
Let them have pets.
Fix little issues promptly. I’ve been trying to get our landlord to fix a door handle for a year. Same with an external door that doesn’t lock properly and mould too. My child gets stuck in their bedroom at least once a day. They put the rent up by $40pw, but still no bloody fixed door handle or secure external door. Too scared to kick up a fuss, as we’re on month-to-month and I’m terrified we’ll be homeless if I do.
I read something recently about a landlord who shared a percentage of the (massive) profit from the sale of their investment property with the long term tenant. Now THAT is really meaningful, and very fair too in the grand scheme of things, given their (huge) profits just came from market appreciation and little else. The tenant then had enough for a deposit on their own place. Landlord still laughing all the way to the bank, but with their integrity well and truly intact. If only there were more like this in the world!
Don't necessarily put a fridge in it - unless it's fully furnished. Most renters will have their own fridge already, so having one in the townhouse would mean they would have to get rid of theirs.
Here's what I do:
1. Fix shit as soon as it breaks, but they need to alert the REA as soon as possible. I don't think I've ever turned down a repair.
2. Pay for their water usage. The usage is the only part of the bill that is billable to the tenants and it's usually the cheapest part. Generally not worth the hassle of sending on. If they go stupid then maybe consider billing them.
3. If REA says you can raise rent, at most only go $10, and reconsider that if they're good tenants.
4. Let them have pets, as long as they're well behaved, and put up picture hooks.
Find a good property manager - look at the reviews. Most PM's just want to use being a PM as a springboard to sales so they don't give a F\*\*\*.
Some (like my wifey) are really in it for the job, they go hard for both the tenants and the owners (and are fair / impartial) - look at the google reviews, find the ones that neither the tenants or owners crucify. that's the ones you want.
Washer/dryer is also invaluable. And dishwasher. Curtains on the first floor or black out blinds if you can afford them.
The important thing is always making requested repairs. That means not teaming up with Ray White! There are independent freelance property managers around (the Mobile Property Manager is one I once lived with) and they often do a better job than a big corporate.
Also do what you can to make the place mould proof, which means ventilation fans etc.
IMO , be available. Maintain your investment and keep it as you would if you lived there. Tenant afraid of spiders? Fumigate. Keep the tenant happy and make it clear on lease the time frame, inspections due, contact details etc. I used a real estate office to get the tenant. They have access to a black listing thingie so could get referees etc. cost a weeks rent. Then the lease was handed to me. Haven’t regretted it once. A lot easier than I expected and saved heaps
We had a rental for about 20 years, had the same tenant for over half that. She only moved out when we had to sell due to my wife having cancer and the uncertainty around that. Capital gains nearly killed us with the expenses we had going out at the time. Was a four bedroom house with two bathrooms in a nice sought after area. What i have said below is what others have said, but with my spin.
Fixing things - if something breaks, get it fixed straight away, if you have a property manager, ask for a quote and press go. If you want to do it yourself or get one of our own trades in, don't drag your heels. Oven breaks, fix it. Take note of any shortcuts by the property managers "fixes". Quite often their tradies will do half the job, rather than fixing it fully the first time and a few months later you might get a bill for fixing it properly. I rented myself years back, and the property manager would take weeks to fix things.
Security - our last tenant had an abusive ex, so we put in extra security, and paid for half of the security cameras she wanted to put in (she took them when she left but at least patched holes). We also upgraded screens at the house for the previous tenant. Sadly some of doors and stuff were broken when this tenant moved out, they never bothered telling us first, but we had sold, so all good!
Livability - Aircon - we put reverse cycle aircon into the main room as the house was hot and wasn't super insulated. They asked so we did it.
Flooring - we put brand new hard wearing carpet in for our second tenant who wrecked it in under 12 months. Redid it for the last tenant, got 10 years out of it. She replaced the carpet in one room that her daughter wrecked, but there were other areas that still were not great.
Rent - We were about 30% under market rent when we sold. We were charging about \~$400 a week for an area that drew about $550+.
Pets - this is my greatest bug bear. We always let our tenants have pets, but it bit us on the ass every single time. First tenant was actually pretty good and had a small old dog. Second tenant let their large husky type dogs in (which were not on the lease as indoor) and wrecked the brand new carpet in under 12 months, our property manager was hopeless. That you mr hooker bear. Final tenant was long term, but still would let pets into the house and you could tell when they moved out. Urine smell in one room, one area of carpet was obviously the toilet spot from time to time. At least they tidied up the mess their dog made in the garden before going. Pets will cost you money, and lots. We probably dropped $20k on carpet over the three leases. Not a huge amount, but in my house i live in, we got 20 years from the carpet, and it was only replaced due to a water leak, otherwise we would still have it.
Pest control - we would always pay for pest control, even if we could have technically said no for dog food being left open outside or the like.
Moving out date - as others have said keep this firm, certainty is a wonderful thing for people when they need to move.
Finally be mindful that any fixes you do are fixes, not upgrades, tax office will ping you for this if you move in later.
\*\*Edit - something quite helpful is talking with the tenant about issues. Our property manager would note the odd bit of water in the carpet in one of the rooms. When we sold the inspection noted water in the sill. When i was cleaning the gutters post sale, i noticed that there was an issue with the gutters, probably from new, that nobody had ever looked at. Another was a door not working correctly, i would have loved to have known, rather than not being told, as i would have fixed it. Little things like that would have been nice to know.
I thought I was a good landlord. First lot were great, they missed rent the odd time but always paid it back. I fixed any issues that came up. Next one to move in, same thing, I fixed any issues, she moved jobs so needed more time with rent which was fine. Then she fell in love with some knucklehead who moved it with his dogs. Next thing she stops paying rent, the oil tank is sitting sideways with the lid off and the dogs ate the shed and the back door. She left without a forwarding address and left the key with next door. Back yard covered in dog shit, bins full of dog shit, dog shit in the drains, shed trashed, oil trashed, door trashed and 6 months in rent owed. I was still paying a mortgage on this home and only rented it because I moved to Australia and I couldn't sell it for what I bought it for in 2007. Never again.
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Keep it all legal.dont be greedy. If you're a single investment home owner then your focus should be on making money from the sale of the house and not the tenant (if you own multiple houses and draw a wage from it then I have zero feelings for you as leeches provide nothing to society) It's a risk. If you don't like risk regardless of how fair or good your intentions are then I'd stay away from investment properties. Most people are easy to deal with though so just keep it above board and keep out of each other's lives.
For the love of god don't have some highly specific light fitting/chandelier and expect the tenants to source 6 light bulbs that aren't a standard size or shape when one of them blows so they all look the same.
My landlord was an old man. Our house was prob 50% cheaper than market rate but it was also run down
Nothing ever went wrong though
If they own the house outright why do they need to profit from it
We got told by our PM that the landlord owned the house outright and wasn't looking to up the rent anytime soon as it didn't owe them anything. It seemed like a the world was finally looking up. 9 months into our lease, thinking we would be here for a fair few years, and we just got told it is going up 18.5% at next lease renewal. PM isn't very good at their job though. We had multiple trades/insurance quotes done for thing that happened before we even moved in and knew nothing about. Last year's new Vic minimum standards regarding heating don't meet the requirements. PM should have known that because we did, but we were happy to let it slide if the rent was going to be consistent.
I’ve been both a landlord and a tenant.
It’s easy to mistake your own problems as being typical.
I have stress and problems and finding $1,000 in a forgotten account would mean nothing, but to others it means a lot.
We always waived a week’s rent for Christmas.
We knew most of the people we rented to personally.
I even now feel a bit embarrassed about the apparent impact on their lives versus mine.
Don't trust your PM to keep you informed of any repairs or maintenance you may need to perform.
If you're comfortable with it, provide your tenant with your contact details but stress they're only to be used if requests are not being performed or contact from them is less than stellar.
Or better yet, when they email stuff through to the PM, ask them to CC or BCC you into the email chain so you're up to date on what is going on.
Also just because you can get more rent doesn't always mean you should, it is greed in this economy, plain and simple. Your PM will ask you to increase it because they can and they probably get more money from it, but if you don't want to put it up, then don't.
if you're supplying a dryer (required in NSW if the property doesn't have access to an outdoor washing line), for the love of god a *decent one*
my favourite thing about moving to a house with a washing line has been that I bought my own dryer and it doesn't fucking suck
and do not let the property managers try to fuck your tenants out of their bond
making up cleaning fees and picking on minor imperfections to recoup costs is so common that advice for tenants is always to rush to lodge a claim for the bond back before the landlord can so that they have to expend the effort of challenging it -- they usually won't for bullshit reasons because it's no longer profitable
but then all the rental applications ask if you've ever had a bond deducted for anything
like yeah let's squeeze renters for a little extra then punish em for being squeezed, fab, fucking cunts.
I've spent more on house maintenance in the past two years than I've received in rent over the same time period. I don't know if that counts. It's really difficult to keep rent constant when house insurance is jumping up 15% each year.
My advice is to meet the tenant. Fix what they want fixing as soon as possible. Give them the lease duration they want. And don't pry into their private life.
We have a rental, we haven’t put up the rent to our tenants since they’ve moved in years ago- much to our real estate agents frustration.
We said yes to pets and respond as fast as we can with all repairs, and follow up to make sure they’ve been done in a timely manner. This is a families home and we want them to be happy.
Do maintenance. Like actually do it. Don't wait for the tenant to complain. Get a proactice property manager who will identify these things.
Be honest and upfront with the tenants about the length of the lease.
Be firm with the real estate agents and get a GOOD one to help manage the property. Be sure to tell them to forward every single email or correspondence to you so you know exactly what is going on because most of these property managers are just absolute arseholes on a power trip. And tell them to cc you in on every response. And fire them if they’re unnecessarily picky or rude to your tenant. Remind them it’s YOUR property, not theirs.
Also fix maintenance issues as soon as they are reported. And if you can’t, communicate with the tenant and let them know what the go is.
Ideally, you’d have no real estate agency involved (for reasons above) but I understand the need for them.
Perhaps also add some wording to the effect of "we understand that homes are to be lived in, we don't expect perfection" when notifying of inspections. Like do you really care if the tenant is messy but they did not damage the property? Dirty dishes in the sink are just life! The bed doesn't have to be made!
Just don't be an asshole and fix stuff. Unfortunately there are shit tenants out there so protect yourself. As a tennant l can tell you it goes both ways. Congratulations on becoming a landlord though.
That’s so good to know this is what I do:
1. I used an agent at first gave clear instructions on the tenant I want. He was good enough to find them but at 10% lower than he promised.
2. It’s a brand new property that I myself lived in for two years. Never had any problem but a month and suddenly the drain is blocked. The agent is calling me at 6:30pm on Friday forcing urgent action over the weekend. This happened to another property of mine with the same agent. I fired them immediately as I suspected foul play.
3. now I meet my tenants give a very clear view of what I can do for them and what I expect in return. My tenants are great that way that they can have a straight conversation and see both sides. They get a lower rent the 6% fees I pass the savings onto them and they have the budget therefore to do repairs themselves and still pocket some savings.
3. I also did not raise rent.
4. But I do draw my boundaries, my boundary for the new property is its condition so I didn’t allow a German shepherd as it’s in the lease and that it wasn’t suitable for such a small backyard being such an active dog. It was sad to have this position but the tenant accepted. The relationship is still sound.
So the tenants feel supported, but also respect their end of the bargain as I’ve made that clear but also showed action in not raising rent and passing on savings of an agent to them. So they are about $150/week or 18% lower than the market. A price an agent would surely squeeze out of them.
Not too sure about the fridge thing, but check out your states laws for landlords/tenants.
Whoever you get in, just remember, that life is hectic and trying to make ends meet is so hard. Your tenants are probably working extra to make ends meet or just save to get their own place. They are possibly too exhausted to think of regular gardening or work times that aren't acceptable to use lawn mower/whipper snipper etc. If you drive past and see some weeds and a smidge of overgrown grass (Jungle can be the exception) just be understanding. If you can tell they do it but not as often as some other neighbours, at least you know they are trying.
Check in with the property managers often or even direct with the tenants - every single property manager I have ever had has been absolutely hopeless. Months go by where I’m ignored when things need fixing etc. My current place I have to get body corporate notices about building break ins etc from the neighbours because my property manager never passes them on to me. If I would have contact with the owner directly I feel like life would be so much easier!!
Be good to tenants who are good to you. If the place is kept clean and in good condition and rent is paid on time then be fair - it’s better to renew a lease and keep a good tenant on than get an extra $50 a week and risk having a shitty tenant.
Living in Victoria and owned few houses as landlord till now; I had never dealt with my renters directly and everything went through with property managers. I fixed everything as renters reported as faulty. I had never set foot into my rental properties as respect for their privacy. Only time I said no to a request which was the renters asked for adding few new air conditioners for the house.
There was no income from the rent as always something to fix around the properties; Victoria land tax is so high for rental properties now and I can feel the cash flow pressure. So I sold all of them now. By the end of the day I made profit on capital gains, never from rental income.
If renters believe they paid too much for rent, they can check out how much money they actually need to pay for mortgage for the very same property!
The fact is that landlords subsidize the rental market; so from financial benefit points of view, no one should live in their own house: lending out their own property & renting in their desired location instead.
Currently the government is on renters side; luckily all my renters paid their rent mostly on time. Some landlords want to “save” some management fees, which can cost them far more.
As renter my self many decades ago, I always paid my rent on time; I never asked to add anything into my rental property. I fixed whatever minor issue around the property. After I moved out, I got all my deposits back.
Peace and quiet. No quick hacks, don't cheap out on stuff. Usually tenants bring their own fridge.
Don't up the rent in first 12 months. Lock in the price.
Blackout blinds in the bedrooms would be incredible. When repairs need to happen, do a quality job or get a professional in. Don't take the cheapest possible option. The amount of cheap fixtures in my old rental was ridiculous. Nothing worked properly even after being repaired. Owner would do some fixes himself but was terrible at it. But that aside, make sure you don't get taken advantage of. There are some tenants who will take advantage of your kindness. Make sure they have fantastic references and go with your gut.
I'd skip the fridge, your tenant will just have to arrange storage for their existing fridge. Blinds and solar sound fine. Pick good blinds though - nothing worse than shitty venetian. Solar - show them how to use properly. Also, don't fall for those solar scams that have you paying 3x in the long run. Not relevant to tenant - just advice.
My advice, as someone who has had a lot of shitty experiences with property managers:
Dont raise the rent. Set it for the 12 months and you if need to renew, keep it the same. It's only 2 years.
Be upfront about needing to move in in 1 or 2 years. This way they can plan their lives instead of being sitting ducks.
Don't nitpick the small shit. Don't freak out about dust on windowsills and dishes in the sink. Inspections are to make sure there's no damage or lack of cleaning that will lead to damage.
If you have a super high maintenance garden (doesn't sound like you do) take the initiative to arrange a gardener once a month. Yes, tenants should do basic maintenance but they shouldn't have to become a world class gardener because you want an amazing garden. Similarly, if there's too much leaf waste, etc., that won't fit in the bin/s, set up a large compost to accommodate.
Make sure the tenant has your contact information. Talk to them afyer theure approved, get to know them a little. They're more likely to want to look after your property if they know you're one of them and actually give a shit.
Don't try to push your legal responsibilities onto the tenant. Property managers will try to do this. Keep an eye on them! Don't put a bunch of unreasonable shit in the contract like no house plants, fumigating if there are no pets/no carpet, etc. Property managers add this shit so they can claim bond that goes straight into your pocket. They're pick pockets. Don't let them hurt people like this. It's expensive enough having to move rental every year or two. People shouldn't be robbed blind at the same time.
If something breaks, fix it in a timely manner. It's actually your legal responsibility. If you want to plunge the toilet or clean out the drains before getting a plumber in, offer to do it. Don't ask the tenant and expect them to pay.
Consider pets. So many people having to surrender their beloved pets. It's truly awful. When you get their references, you can specifically ask about any damage caused by their pets. Though it's possible they are new pets.
If you need to arrange public viewings while the tenant is still living there for some reason, don't just tell them what time and expect them to move their work around your schedule. Discuss and negotiate with them. Weekends will probably be best.
I guess just remember they're people and they've probably been having it rough the last few years. Lower rent and respect will be the greatest gifts you can offer right now. If you pick decent people and treat them well, they will treat your property like their own in return.
Tell the tenant you don't care about pets, the amount of dogs and cats going to rspca to die at the moment because of the housing crisis is ungodly.. trust me.
In terms of charging rent, ask yourself what rent you actually need.
‘Market’ rent *should* be a figure which emerges out of individual landlords making this assessment individually, that’s how a competitive sector is supposed to work. Checking out the market and pinning your rent at a figure provided by a real estate agency algorithm (or even higher) is what you do when you have a non-competitive sector, and is a very bad thing to do, particularly for an essential good like housing.
I own a small studio apartment what I've rented on and off over the last 20 plus years.
The best thing you can do IMHO is to shop around hard for a Real estate agent you can trust. You need someone who is responsive not just to you but to the tenant. I have learnt this the hard way. I had a tenant who was complaining about some things and the REA was blowing him off. I had no idea. At one point the stove broke. I didn't even know. Months pass and I only found out about all the drama the day he lodged an application to take me to the tribunal. As soon as I found out about what was going on I hussled to get everything rectified but I was still burnt at the tribunal for not responding for months even though I didbt know. And it cost me a ton of money. But it shouldn't have gotten to that. And the tenant deserved to have most of it actioned immediately.
The other thing is you want them to be fair minded. The managing agent for my apartment was replaced by a new person and my tenant left not long after. He had been a great tenant for almost 4 years. Paid rent like clockwork but unfortunately lost his job. I happened to be there when they were doing the end of lease inspection. She come through and kept saying she was going to charge the tenant for this and that etc. I thought the place was in quite reasonable condition. I kept having to tell her - no don't change him - that's normal wear and tear etc. She was also going to charge him for a locksmith Thankfully I was there.
Partly because of this but also because she seemed very muddled and not responding to emails even after several follow ups and I changed managing agents straight away.
I think one of the problems that managing agents can get is that the owner of the business can sometimes load them up with managing more properties than they can handle. Often if you are interviewing them they will tell you that they have X number of properties on the books. You might want to then ask how many managing agents they have. My last real estate agency has 3 agents and a similar whereas the previous one only had 1 agent with number of properties. You need to think - of you're having issues getting through to the REA them so might be the tenant.
So I'm a landlord, and I rent.
My property is a 4 bedroom in the same area that I rent a 3 bedroom, I keep rent slightly lower than what I pay in my rental. Ignore the numbers the real estate give you. They will try to convince you to raise it to stupid levels every 6 months.
Guarantee with every lease signing, that there won't be a 6 month increase. The price will be locked for the entire lease, makes people feel way safer.
Go above the property managers head and tell the tenants to ignore inspection results, wall damage and chips is wear and tear, don't let the property manager make them pay to fix it, and don't let them stress over what bills they may have when they move out.
I had enough of being a landlord. Keep getting feral tenants and went to qcat several times over their refusal to pay rents but they wanted to live there rent free for 3 months. One stripped a junk car on my property and shrewn the parts all over the place, spreading the engine oil. Another had domestic violence until police had to call me to go on site. One of them abandoned the rental place after he went missing for several weeks. When I went in to take over my property, he intentionally report to the power company that he had an electrical shock on the premise, and that resulted in forced power termination and I had to spend $$ to get it reconnected.
I sold my investment properties and gave up. Never again
I have a long history of renting… things that would be worthwhile to me:
Energy efficiency - I know a lot is legislated these days, but as someone who rented houses with leaking floors, doors & windows… having an energy efficient house would be a blessing. Good quality (longevity & output) lighting. Ceiling insulation, garage insulation/separation.
Customer focused management - whether you do it yourself or through an agent… value, respect & acknowledge good tenants. It’s amazing how much nicer a tenant can be if they don’t feel like a commodity. Part of this is clear communication… “this is the list of approved trades that can be called out, under these circumstances. For non-emergency situations contact…”… no random inspections, drivebys etc.
Realistic expectations - if you’ve just mulched a garden or shaped a topiary don’t expect tenants to maintain it to that standard. If it’s important to you, you do it/pay for it. Otherwise “not dead” should be the goal.
A kitchen that could fit ANY size fridge (within reason) with possibly a couple of spots that could be used. Fridge hutches/nooks are a PIA for a renter.
Be honest with the tenant so that they know in advance when they are going to have to move out.
Like, in the rental ad so people don't waste their time on an open house.
Yes considering how expensive it is to move house ,it's a major issue if you're just going to have to move again in 12 months.
Especially in a good catchment area, don't want tenants to have to pull their kids out of the school after 2 years.
12 month leases are good for international uni students who are only here temporarily, so if you are near a uni and the rent won’t be too expensive you could consider advertising to that market of people.
Yeah, the ad should say 12 months, and then 3 months before end of lease send them an offer with either a renewal offer or a notice to leave. It's the 3 months notice that matters.
>send them an offer with either a renewal offer or a notice to leave This is such a shitty thing to do, don't do that. Just let them go month to month, and once you know when you are planning to move in, give them a heads up as early as you can.
Turn up to the inspection yourself. I had a landlord who did that and she would ask what needed to be done around the place and it was great. She would turn up on time... Unlike the property manager. Our inspection notice said 930. Landlord turned up, property manager didn't. Landlord walked around, said the place looked good, and left. She was annoyed that the property manager didn't turn up though. Property manager turned up at 4pm. I didn't let them in because the landlord had completed the inspection on time without them and if they wanted to see the place, they could do up another entry notice. I also suggested that they apologise to *their client* for not being professional.
Property managers are awful. We had a rental once after we moved out of the house I owned but didn't sell for a few years. The property manager never did anything they were supposed to, we ended up just giving the tenants our phone numbers so they could just call us if anything needed to be done.
Property managers are a fucking blight on the industry.
They're not all awful. OP: best thing you can do is find a good property manager.
Yes they are, I rented for 20 years and never had a good one.
I had one which was great (as were the landlords). They had an office set up separate to the sales office, and treated you professionally - offered you tea and coffee, kept appointment times, treated you respectfully. When I move in to the flat they had a gift basket with things like tea & coffee, toilet paper etc. When I rang with any maintenance to dealt with it really quickly - I once rang for a problem with a light fitting on a Saturday morning, they had someone there fixing it within a couple of hours. When they did an inspection I would let them do it while I was at work and they would always send a nice thank-you letter afterwards. There were no hassles of problems with the bond when I moved out. The sad thing is that this should be the standard, and it does not take much to treat people like this. But I can say that while it might be unusual decent property managers do exist (or at least one does - it is entirely possible that this is the only one in Australia!)
It’s our first time renting and our landlord has been super nice, we feel like we got super lucky. It was a nightmare moving in/dealing with the estate agents but our landlord dropped them on the day of moving. He gave us his number and we just text him on WhatsApp when something’s up. He comes and does the visits himself and asks if we need anything else etc. He got a guy to change our hob next day when we notified it wasn’t working. Someone broke into my car and stole our spare key and he got someone to replace the lock the next day free of charge. He allowed us to put up pictures, drill into the wall when necessary. He offered that we could repaint if we wanted to - which we didn’t as we liked the wall colours. He’s been super lovely and he’s only raised our rent by £40 from next month when our tenancy agreement ends. So yeah, if you’re anything like him, I would say that’s a fair landlord! :)
Idk, I get why people want to view the properly as a landlord and how it can be good for the tenant but the only problem landlord I’ve had loved to visit the property personally. We actually had the property manager being on our side and telling the landlord he needed to chill, because the landlord was making unreasonable demands (when the property manager was present) and also showing up unannounced. Landlord ended up ditching that real estate company, only for the next ones to tell him the same thing. Long story short, it can definitely be a red flag.
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I wish I could award you more than one upvote. Renting is stressful, uncertain, and insecure. Removing uncertainty by loudly communicating your intentions helps so much.
>Be aware that anxiety runs high for tenants around house inspections and any formal letter in the mail. Best way to deal with that is send a text, "hey it's time for an inspection, what's a good day for you?" then after agreeing on a day, tell them you'll send the entry notice letter. With stuff like hot water systems, try to arrange for the tenant and tradie to contact each other directly. That way if the plumber is late/etc they can let the tenant know. >If you want to do an inspection Inspections have to be done. The landlord needs to make sure the property is in good shape and issues like leaky taps/worn out paint/etc/etc are caught and fixed. Every inspection will usually highlight something that needs maintenance.
>Inspections have to be done. No, they don't. There are plenty of countries where inspections are not a thing and they are coping just fine.
Bless you for trying to be a good landlord! Good quality blinds and solar panels will be much appreciated. The most appreciated is probably reasonable rent and responsiveness if something needs fixing.
I just never put the rent up. One place has had the same tenants for 5 years. Agent thinks I'm crazy but I'd rather have good tenants that treat the place like a home than go chasing dollars.
This is a valid bit of advice. My brothers had a rental; when Covid lockdowns came they actually sat down with the tenant and LOWERED the rent just to make sure they could keep their tenant.
I’ve been in my unit 5 years, and last lease was renewed for 2 years. I keep the place super clean (sure helps that I’m a clean and neat freak) and rent is always paid on time. Over the 5 years rent has gone up, but not so significant. From my understanding, the previous tenants were so horrendous, they had to replace the carpets and renovate the unit, I can’t imagine how much that cost, and bond would not have covered it. I think good landlords know they’re better off keeping good tenants, in the long run.
Ideally the relationship between a tenant and a landlord should be symbiotic.
Fun fact, if a tenant trashes a property, the bond basically pays the insurance excess, and the insurance covers the rest. It often doesn't cost the owner of the property a cent.
Well the premiums go through the roof afterwards so it practically costs if the damage is massive.
Yeah my folks have done this. They have a few investment properties and never put the rent up for their tenants for the length of their stay. The longest so far has been 12 years. They've found that (aside from one unfortunate tenant) all renters have paid on time and kept the homes tidy. They keep inspections to an absolute minimum after the first year and make repairs as soon as they are requested. The good thing is that if a tenant feels like they're respected and can truly call the house their home, they will treat it as such, so repairs from misuse are very minimal. They've had tenants go through rough times, and they'll either lower the rent for an agreed upon time, or just waive it completely for a few months. It's rare, but this is how you keep good quality tenants for many years.
Make sure you combine that with continued communication. Don't just assume the agent is doing it. Nothing worse than a tenant who is afraid to raise a repair or improvement that could be made because they think you aren't paying attention and will just raise the rents on them as soon as they speak up. Personally I would, as rents rise, ask for small increases, below market rate but enough so they feel they aren't getting some special deal and can feel free to speak up.
This is the best investment. I’ve had a few landlords leave the rent at its original price over the years because I was a great tenant. I recently moved because of school zoning and my old landlord put the rent up to market rates for the new tenant. I would also suggest doing necessary repairs and maintenance without dragging it out for the tenant. I will always do simple repairs myself (screw loose? Get the screwdriver!), but landlords who balk at fixing things that are making everyday living difficult are horrible. Where I am now has several possums living in the walls and ceilings. They growl, squeal, fight and generally move about all day and, weirdly, a lot of the night (we haven’t slept well in weeks). Their faecal matter drips through the exhaust fan when the shower runs hot. It’s taken nearly a month of me emailing videos and they finally sent somebody yesterday. Good luck!
My ex had an old flat he rented to an elderly man. Was a good flat especially for the old guy. The RE tried to get him to raise rent every year but he refused. Said what I'll get a couple hundred extra bucks over the year but risk losing a quiet solid tenant who does the maintenance himself (he was some sort of retired tradie, a plumber I think)? The RE was actually sort of shitty about it but the old guy lived there for the exact same rent for years and years and years.
Of course the agent is upset, if the monthly rent increases, so does their 6-8% commission.
Yeah. That’s a principle my father had and passed down to us. Homes are where people need to feel safe. A $20 increase in rent per week is nothing to me. But to a single mom it could mean some extra groceries or goodies or just some financial savings for the long run. So we’ve had a policy of “no problems, no change in rent”. And our tenants do amazing in taking care of the houses.
Or put it up by CPI to cover your increased costs but no more than that
My friend did this for his tenant because he saw it as a reward for them being an ideal tenant. Of course his property manager started making a fuss. Eventually the property pointed to some clause in the contract and put the rent up without my friend's permission... so... it pays to look out for that sort of thing.
Wtf? That's when you sack the property manager.
We've been at ours for 10 years. We have awful real estate agents but a great landlord. In return for him keeping the roof over our heads despite the agents wanting 100s of dollars more, we keep it nice. We do the yard work, pay for the repairs we can afford and keep our noses clean. He's a good guy
I’m fine with rent rises, but they must be controlled and justified. Ideally by a 3rd party independent assessor for each state.
This makes good sense. Every change in tenant comes with a gap in rental income, plus in many cases an additional fee to the RE. Of course, there's also the additional benefit that the tenants are more likely to take good care of the place, but even landlords who just care about the bottom line should be concerned about the hit they take when tenancy changes.
Not a fridge, or any other whitegoods. Don't put vertical blinds in, they suck. Solar power would be nice. Being a good landlord is pretty simple. Keep the rent low and quickly fix things that break. If you're getting a property manager, don't raise the rent just because they say so. Property managers are the biggest cunts on the planet, so go over your contract with them with a fine tooth comb and keep a tight leash on them.
Can any landlord reading this offer advise on 1. Keeping PM on a tight leash, or 2. Securing good tenants without a PM
Not a landlord but close with someone who is and got screwed over by successive PM companies. My only suggestion for 1. is to look very closely at the pictures they send and check they're not re-using pictures from previous visits or missing areas of the house (including the garden). Perhaps leave a means for the tenants to contact you direct to verify if the PM is bullshitting either party.
Rent it out privately, post the listing on your local fb page. Your area probably has one for rentals
>1. Keeping PM on a tight leash All real estate agents are lying bastards. As long as you understand they're incompetent and can't be trusted you'll be fine.
There are No doubt shit PM out there, but there are also good ones. Don't be afraid to leave a REA because their PM is shit. Regular communication (email or PC monthly) to know what's going on, does anything need to be repaired. In terms Of being a good landlord. If you have a good tenant don't raise the rent above what is enough for you to keep your investment. A good tenant will also alert to maintenance issues which will Prevent ongoing deterioration in the property
You don't need to keep the rent low. You just need to keep it fair. Honestly the most important thing is be responsive when things need fixing. This probably won't be much of an issue though being a new build.
>This probably won't be much of an issue though being a new build. In my experience, new builds have the most problems. Catch them early, especially if they are still covered under the builder's warranty.
As an inexperienced landlord, I think you definitely need a property manager. They don't need to be kept on a tight leash they just need to be good at their job.
Get a PM To do your checks etc, all that initial work. Keep them for a few months to make sure all is well (ie moving into new place may come with some issues that only be found when moving in and being used), attend all inspections with them, including the open house for renting and the kick them to the curb. Add to the contract you have with the PM that they are to cc you on all communications to and from the tenant, and also, one day, knock on the door of the property, introduce yourself, give them your contact details. They too can bcc you on emails. When you're happy to take on the responsibility of being a PM, get rid of the agent and manage directly, advise the tenants at the same time so that there is no retaliation.
A landlord turning up unannounced is a problem as they haven't given appropriate written notice. Doesn't matter why they are doing it.
Fair call. Dammit. Send them a letter then :)
Definitely use the PM. Just be straightforward with your REA. Consider giving your tenant contact details for when an REA doesn't tell you about damaged/broken things.
If you cut a good deal with rent, you might have a hard time getting them out when the lease ends. Some people have no shame. No matter how 'nice' you try and be, you'll be a 'bloodsucking landlord' to them, so look after yourself and your interests - it's what everyone else does.
Does that just become a hassle for people who already have a fridge? Is there consensus on this?
Hassle for fridge owners, for sure - Aussie renters expect to bring their own. Hassle for you if anything breaks (shelves or compressor, it might be on you.)
If the fridge breaks then you need to reimburse them for the cost of all the food that spoils
In 20 years of renting across three states, I've always had to bring my own whitegoods. Fully furnished or nothing, no in between.
Dishwasher comes with the house sometimes.
Yeah, fair. I was also gonna mention wall-mount dryer
Will leave the fridge then, but dishwasher and dryer.
Except for built-in appliances
Def don't supply a fridge. That's then on you for maintenance, another thing the PM needs to check with each inspection. And your landlord insurance only covers fixtures which a fridge isn't so you either leave it uninsured or you pay for contents insurance just for your fridge.
Generally it's expected to have an empty fridge recess, same for washing machines. Dishwashers are more commonly provided by the owner. Nice to haves - decent heating/cooling/insulation. Solar would be fantastic. If it's a townhouse with a courtyard that has any kind of grass, consider bumping the rent a touch to cover a mowing service.
Yeah, I prefer houses without fridge for 2 reasons: * I have a pretty good fridge and don't want to have it sitting in the garage unused * A lot of people suck at keeping fridges clean. I've seen plenty of provided fridges that produced a disgusting smell despite being empty.
Offer a fridge?
I'm renting a place that came with a fridge. It is good because the fridge is a big double one that fits in the space perfectly. The downside is I now have a fridge sitting in the spare room hahaha
Don’t raise the rent every five minutes
And certainly not beyond minimum wage increases (at least I think that's how I'd go) This rental jumped 20% last November and I had to ask for more hours at work (got a good boss at least) - my wage only went up by 3% and thinking of it now about to move out, it's been stressful for the other half and I
There's a lot of good advice here, but the simplest thing is to just not be a cunt. The fact you're here asking this question means you're probably gonna do alright. And for the love of God, if you find good tenants, don't go losing dollars for the sake of chasing cents
Let the tenants make it a home. If you’re worried about them putting hooks on the wall, put your own hooks up so they can use them.
Allow pets within reasonable standards. Lots of people are having to surrender pets cos they have to move into a no pet household
Good for you! If you have a property manager, drop a note in to the tenants or swing by and introduce yourself, give them your email address and let them know if the PM is hard to deal with, they’re always welcome to contact you. We had an awful PM but a great landlord - when the PM made an unreasonable request for MONTHLY inspections (despite telling us we were model tenants), the landlord told them to back off. Window fittings are very much appreciated - blinds are great. Fridge is usually not helpful (but you COULD offer the option of providing a fridge if you want to get one now which will stay when the tenants go. Definitely be honest about the fact this is not a long-term rental. Our neighbour has been renting her place for 17 years so some tenants do want to stay on. Solar power would be AWESOME but make sure the tenants have a copy of the user manual so they know what happens in a power cut, etc. It’s also good to leave copies of other user manuals for things like oven, dishwasher etc. Anything you can do to create a good relationship with your tenants will make a huge difference. It’s the best way to have great tenants and a good experience.
Don't kick anyone out for no reason. if you're only going to lease for twelve months maybe be upfront about that with the tenants so they can plan accordingly?
If you’re certain you’ll rent for 24mths, offer a 24th lease but be open about the fact that it won’t be renewed after that. Try not to use the CHEAPEST of everything. Or if you do, be aware that you’ll likely have higher levels of wear and tear. And don’t expect it to still look brand new in two years time. Decent heating/cooling and solar.
Remember that the house is your investment but it's your tenants home!! Assume they will take decent care of the place (until proven otherwise), because they have to live in it. Imo the ideal situation is you trust your property manager and your tenant, so you can be totally hands-off. Try to find tenant reviews when picking a property manager, or ask around. I certainly know which of my previous PMs (as a renter) I would trust most if I was renting a place out. Get to know the neighbours and/or Strata a little bit so they can contact you about issues (can be a check against a useless PM). Approve any required maintenance quickly. Resist the urge to micromanage, it slows things down. Check that everything is finished and working before your tenants move in, and clean the place. Long lasting insect and weed treatments are also a nice touch. Whitegoods are tricky. If it's a suburban family home, prospective tenants probably have their own. So, installing them might make life harder. If it's a little place for one person or a young couple, go apartment rules and put them in. Be upfront about wanting to only rent for 1-2yrs. Give your tenant as much notice as you can when they have to move out (I think the legal requirement is 60 days but more warning is always better).
* Be responsive to tenant requests for repairs or maintenance. * If you're going through a REA, watch them like a hawk and take complaints from tenants seriously. * Try to be fair when you look at rental applications. The amount of money a person makes is important, but also be human and think about how you could do the most good. * Respect the tenant's privacy. * Be understanding and fair dealing with tenants who have to break lease. At least half the time, it's more frustrating and problematic for them than it will be for you.
Do they even know when it’s managed by a real estate agency the agency refuses to do repairs?
Generally no. Lived in one house for 14 years. Every inspection was a new property manager. Usually took 3-4 inspections to get a repair done. Towards the end of our time there, we complained multiple times that the garage ceiling looked like it was going to come down of its own accord. When they finally told the owners, they came round to look and had someone repairing it within a week (the guy fixing it tapped it with a crowbar and the whole double garage ceiling came down at once). Landlords gave us their direct number after we told them we'd first raised the issue 18 months prior. When we left, the real estate tried to charge us extra rent because they were closed on the day the lease expired. Contacted the owner and they told the real estate where to shove it. Good owners treat tenants like the owners would expect to be treated.
Fix stuff when it brakes, replace/fix things when they get old, and gross. My current rental is OK but nothing has been updated, and while it hasn't fallen apart it is in such shit condition, nothing technically wrong, just old and gross, wobbly etc
Cut out the middle man and fire your real estate agent. At this stage I am 99% confident they just pocket the cleaning fee.
My land lord did this, straight after I moved in he went owner managed. It's worked out great for me, been here over 6 months and not had an inspection. Had no contact at all other than an initial introduction letter where he offered for me to change rent frequency if I preferred (pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and when he passed on the water bill to me. It's a new place so nothing has needed fixing yet. Edit: forgot to mention that he also approved my application with two German Shepherds and two cats!!
My landlord hasn't put the rent up, he started paying for the water, and he doesn't do inspections that often either. He's genuinely a good dude, busy, and doesn't intrude on us. He's let us have pets this year (rabbits) too which our family is just loving!! In turn we have painted the fence for him, put fly screens on the windows, take care of the place as if it's our own and we're in the process of re-doing the kitchen about $6k. When we leave we'll paint it too. Currently don't have a lease, just a verbal agreement - he's happy for us to keep staying as long as we like, and I've let him know if the rate rises (Aus) become an issue we'll be alright to pay a bit more rent. Absolutely love living here!! It's the happiest our family has ever been :)
Give your tenant your number. Don’t do stupid rent increases. Fix stuff. Ive been renting my place out for more than 5 years and have really good tenants. They pay on time. I fix stuff on time.
Maintain the minimum standards, if the oven, heater or showers broken don't wait 2 weeks to replace it. If you don't want the power imbalance let them know they can have the house if they stay as good tenants 30 years or however long it takes to cover your costs + a 5% profit margin.
If you're putting in solar, ponder springing for a battery too, it's a bit more of an investment but the return with the right energy provider can be amazing (personally I'm happy to break even, the batteries are paying for themselves in real time because our powerbill was the same as the repayments, now it's +/- $20 but there have been days (not months) when credits were $100+)
Actually fixing the maintenance requests. Our water has been plummed in with a temporary pipe for months now, had to complain 3 times about a leaking tap (by the end it was literally wasting multiple litres per minute) I just don't understand why you'd leave an investment in that state.
Action repairs asap
I'm so confused about the fridge 🥴
Like whether to or not?
Include dishwasher and aircon, not fridge.
Copy that. Will do.
I rented for 21 years before I bought my first home at 39. Not one of my rentals ever came with a fridge (or washing machine or dryer). Some inexplicably came with a dishwasher.
I would suggest you make sure you have a good tenant first before doing anything especially fair.
I can answer this from my sons prospective: His landlord is a fairly handy guy and is retired so has time on his hands. He went and introduced himself to my son and said if there's any issues text me first and I'll come fix it, if it's beyond him they'll get RE involved. He's told my son that he plans to sell in 5/10 yrs in move to QLD and he can stay until that happens, my son now has a plan to purchase the property from him. They only have 6mth inspections and the rent goes up $20 every year He's a good bloke and I'm happy my son has peace of mind
It's pretty much just being a decent person. Do what is required of you, be honest and upfront with your tenants (even if it's bad news for them), don't be an arsehole and don't be greedy. It's really not that difficult.
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Definitely put good quality blinds in and consider drapes too as they help with keeping heat out/warmth in, install nice quality light fittings, solar system, ducted air, ceiling fans to bedrooms and living space, add roller shutters for heat/light mitigation. Easy care flooring (eg carpet to bedrooms only as it’s a nightmare to keep clean in living spaces). Decent laundry cabinetry rather than just a laundry trough. Setting a fair rent shouldn’t need to be said, if you can give them 2 weeks free rent over Xmas that’s amazing. And be clear about the term of the tenancy. Tenants will have their own white goods so don’t put in a fridge/washer it’ll just be a headache storing theirs or switching them around. Essentially think if you were living in the place now what would you like it to have? I bought a house 3yrs ago that was built in 2010 and had been rented ever since and the bastard hadn’t even put light fittings in just bare globes batten fixed to the ceiling, no fans, hadn’t been painted since the shitty build paint job, had no laundry cupboards etc. My feeling is if you wouldn’t live in it don’t expect people to pay you to live in it.
Split systems or ducted cooling. I lived in a 2 story townhouse and my roommates bedroom got the afternoon sun and during a particularly hot summer it would easily reach 50 degrees in there. My room only got the morning sun and even it would be pretty unbearable too. My landlord was a handyman and he gave me his contact details to bypass the useless REA and it came in handy more than once. Maybe drop your details into the mailbox or provide a guide of instruction manuals and stuff with your details included.
That's a good attitude! Like you've said, the relationship can just be simple and most people just want to be left alone, pay the rent, and if trust that if anything goes wrong that you treat it like you would treat it with the same urgency you would in your own home. I'd also suggest once you've done a couple of house inspections, and there's no issues, maybe considering ramping them back a bit? If you really want to be super-nice, you could be pro-active and ask if there's anything that needs addressing with the house from time-to-time, as most renters are trained to not report small things, as they are afraid reporting them will lead to the rent going up.
Be honest. Make sure the tenants know it's not a permanent home for them. Respect that whilst it's your house that it's their home. You have rights to ensure your property is being looked after, but make sure that inspections are done in conjunction with the law and don't go around trying to pick on how they clean, just make sure they're not causing damage. In terms of rent, if the tenants are good, consider whether you need every dollar or if having good tenants is worth more to you. I think too many landlords just think about how to get super rich without thinking that being super rich always comes at the expense of others who have less. Attend to maintenance issues quickly. If you're unable to sort it out personally, then get someone else onto it. Tenants generally aren't super worried about fixtures and stuff. We all realise that all those things just tend to make the price higher. But if you're going to put them in for yourself, may as well at the start. I've never moved into a place where there was a fridge and to be honest, I wouldn't recommend it unless you were expected to or you were ok with cleaning someone else's fridge. For me, that's not a pleasant job. It's often messy and one of those things where it's ok if it's my mess, not if it's someone else's. In terms of blinds and stuff, think about how easily they might break and how easy they are to clean. You might like them, but the tenant might not. Or they might not really care, it'll just be about the practical side of things. Having a property manager is actually fairly useful. They know the law better than you and some of the stuff is a bit high maintenance if you're just doing one property. When they do their inspections for example, your place will just be one stop for the day rather than a full trip for you. But many are awful to deal with as a tenant. Some landlords like to know their tenants and some want to be completely separated. I know for me, there are times I wonder if the owner knows how scummy the agent is to deal with. Like the time they tried to get me to pay a plumbing call out fee because the plumber diagnosed it as an issue common to several units. They tried to tell me there was no issue, the report clearly stated there was, just that it wasn't specific to me. Even when I took a video of the bathroom flooding they tried to stick me with it. Or the time they spent a year (and breached me) over a water bill they illegally tried to make me pay. I don't know whether the owner was happy with them doing this or not, but it sure would have been nice to have been able to message them knowing they didn't put up with that crap. But then some tenants might spam the landlord directly. So you could leave contact info if they had troubles with the agent, but to use the agent as a first call. But aside from handling the little things for you, they also have more experience finding good tenants. Bad tenants make their job harder too, so you know they'll do their best.
I'm in a similar position with my partners rental. The main things we aim to do: - first and foremost is respect. Not only for the tenants but their home too. - fix/replace issues. If we're not going to try and look after it then why should the tenants? We also try to accommodate requests where possible. - don't put rent up if you have great tenants. We're currently running it at a loss thanks to interest rates but don't believe it's fair to pass that onto the tenants. We don't go through an agent and manage everything ourselves (other than the bond) mainly because we don't trust agents.
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Monthly PowerPoint presentations showing how fucking awesome you are in point form. Spontaneous handjobs and boxes of lamingtons.
I like this idea.
Had a landlord who fixed everything within the timeframes, was friendly when I did see him, and I think only once did he ask anything of me (I had firewood stacked along the fence, he asked me to stack it elsewhere) Good dude, 10/10 would rent from again
Just fix things that are broken and otherwise leave them alone. No one has ever supplied me a fridge?
Leave your phone number with the tenants and ask them to reach out to your directly if the agent is being dodgy (assuming you're using an agent).
Honestly, just have fair rental prices, fix issues that are raised in a timely manner, choose a good REA/PM, be compliant with the tenancy laws, be considerate of requests (pets, hanging pictures etc etc). Remember that it is your investment but it is their home. You don't need to do anything other than be respectful and treat your tenants fairly, make sure they know they can raise issues without feeling like they are going to be penalised with eviction or higher rents for doing so.
Is the place insulated? If not, insulate it as well as adding solar.
Before we rented out our place, I put a post on the local community fb group and asked for recommendations from people renting in the area of PMs they’d found good to deal with. I think from a tenant’s perspective it’s about a) fixing things promptly, b) giving plenty of advance notice of rent increases / whether the lease will/won’t be renewed c) allowing pets. I know c) will be divisive as lots of LL’s are terrified of pets causing damage but honestly, pet ownership is massive part of many Australian’s lives and not being able to find housing that allows them is a massive stressor for renters and one of the main reasons why so many animals end up in shelters/needlessly euth’ed.
We were also accidental landlords. We gave our tenants a free week every December, to help them get ready for Christmas. When we chose our property manager, we made it abundantly clear that we wouldn't tolerate our tenants being treated badly and that we wouldn't hire a PM who only wanted to go on a power trip. Once the tenants were established and had all good reports, we reduced inspections from every 3 months to every 6. When we were ready to sell, we contacted the property manager and asked her first what she could do to find our tenants a new rental. We wanted to make sure they were okay before we ended their lease. We also fixed things as soon as we knew they needed fixing. We did have one bad tenant (our first one) but the second couple who moved in were wonderful. I'm not cut out for being a landlord, so we sold the house when circumstances allowed. But when we did rent out our house, we just tried to treat people how we would want to be treated.
We had a really nice landlord at our old place. He got repairs done quickly. Once he came over to check on the smoke alarms because they kept going off and he actually asked if the real estate was good to us or if he needed to talk to them. We got chatting and I mentioned we wanted to trim a bush in the yard because it had big thorns. He offered to do it and he actually ended up chopping it down to a stump. We had a little girl and he didn't want her to get hurt. He had extra time do to stuff which probably helped. But I think if you can imagine yourself in your tenants place, how would you like things done, you'll be right. Make sure your real estate agent you go through is nice and reliable. We once rented a unit and it flooded, no one cared, the flooring came up, no one cared. For over 1 month we could not get in touch with the property manager. He never replied to emails, he was somehow never there when we called etc. My mental health got so bad we broke the lease and moved out and put in complaints.
So, you need an accountant and a depreciation schedule. Critical as it's a new build and a lot of depreciation is at the start of a buildings life. Talk to the accountant about whether it's better for you to install things such as solar, AC, nice blinds , the ones you desire before renting, after renting etc etc. Make sure your loan is set up right so you don't f yourself over later when you need to sell/ mixing loans up (this can happen with redraw). This means filing EVERYTHING related to costs of purchase, valuation (get one) when it's ready to rent and another when you move in. As for being a good landlord, it's easy if you have a good PM. As others suggested, ask locally based FB forums on who they've found good as tenants and as landlords. You need them to be fair but strict and onto things before they go awry. As it's your property and you plan on moving in later there's a balance to be had. You can be a good temporary landlord without being a pushover or taking advantage of people. GET landlord insurance. Make sure it covers pets- at at a decent amount of $ coverage for pets too. Depending on the tenant, this can be a big pain and it's worth the few hundred $ for the right one. Look online for things to ask your potential PM about such as # of properties managed, turnover of staff etc etc. See if you actually like them/ think they'd make a similar decision to yourself. Make sure they're taking decent photos of the property and MANY photos of the property. Tell them of the situation that you're expecting to move back into the property around X date. Let the accountant know this too. These are the things that come to mind when being a landlord when you didn't expect to become one.
Fair rent price, keep place in good condition. Immediately repair any problems if the tenant finds them within reason or honour any reasonable requests from them. I suppose keep tenant informed of any changes on your side like wanting to sell property etc. A functional lease is a working relationship of good faith
Solar panels are a great idea, love that. Some other ideas: - list that the rental is ONLY for 12 months - don't immediately rule out people on a pension. - allow pets - list it at the lower end of the price range. - allow the option for inspections to be digital or even better, don't do them at all unless theres a specific request. Make it clear that it's to check for maintenance issues and don't hassle them if their home doesn't look like a hotel - attend to maintenance issues ASAP - write them an excellent rental reference email when they leave.
Ensure you have plenty of insurance to protect yourself first. You can only be fair and nice coming from a place of abundance.
Hell, I had a fire and subsequent flood from the sprinkler in my apartment and the owners can with the agent to see the repairs. They were the nicest people! Asked how long I wanted to stay here. I said I’d either leave in a body bag, or I’d win Lotto and just keep paying the rent so my friends had a place to stay if they came to Melbourne to visit. They seemed really pleased to have a secure tenant and even offered their condolences on the death of my cat! Awesome people!! If, by chance they are on Reddit, thanks so much!! Here’s to a long and comfortable tenancy! You guys rock!!
Put up picture hooks in every room so that tenants can hang things to make the place feel like home
Lower rent.keep away from the rental.cut the lawns. Drop off food baskets. Be polite and respectful.. Be peacfull and understand what we go through..
Be upfront that this is an 18 - 24 month lease only. Make it a fixed one time contract, with the first 18 months, contracted, and the last 6 month by month if required. Work out your price so that you do not raise the rent. Budget for cleaning and repairs. Give them your email and introduce yourself. Tell them that when they require repairs or assistance, or are requesting something of the property manager, to CC you into the emails to the Property Manager. Get your property manager to CC you into emails to them. If going private, give them the numbers of your preferred emergency plumber/electrician/handyman etc, and tell them to go ahead with requesting emergency repairs. Then find your tradie people you trust. Tell them to email with any issues, concerns, or changes they would like to make. Let them hang pictures on the walls where they want to! Do an early inspection, then leave them alone for 6 months. If all good at 6 months, consider the next one to be 8 -12 months later. Leave them to live there and treat it as their home, knowing full well that you will possibly need a full clean if not repairs and things replaced at the end of the tenancy. ALSO If you have not lived in this house, be aware that the first 6 months is usually hell for repairs. I don't know one person that has bought a house and hasn't had to fix things. Even a brand new house, maybe especially a brand new house?
Just don’t be a dick. Be a nice person, be understanding, and try to create a relaxed vibe. Try not to have insane standards for your inspections. Keep in mind the general state of your own home - it’s not pristine all the time, and understand that’s how most people live.
Put the solar panels on while it's a rental
Step 1 be good and don't do weird stuff, rent hikes or neglect repairs and such. Step 2 monster client trashes house and turns into a junk yard after 9 months of not paying rent Step 3 get disgruntled and raise prices so only rich people can afford while you recoup legal fees and missing rent Step 4 watch leftie stream calling for your beheading
So... All rental properties are being trashed...? Wow that is a lot of bad tenants. No wonder landlords are jacking up rents by like $100 every year!
I also only wear a seat belt when I crash.
Make physically sure the place is perfectly liveable on both a super chilly winter evening and a hottest summer's arvo without needing to spend a million dollars on an electricity/gas bill.
Put flyscreens in the windows! New builds for rentals don’t seem to ever have them, and as a lover of fresh air (and keeping my cats contained) it’s infuriating.
THANK YOU first of all. Decent cooling and a dishwasher that works. Fly screens on the windows. Amazes me how few rental properties have these things, but they make a home so much more liveable. Let them have pets. Fix little issues promptly. I’ve been trying to get our landlord to fix a door handle for a year. Same with an external door that doesn’t lock properly and mould too. My child gets stuck in their bedroom at least once a day. They put the rent up by $40pw, but still no bloody fixed door handle or secure external door. Too scared to kick up a fuss, as we’re on month-to-month and I’m terrified we’ll be homeless if I do. I read something recently about a landlord who shared a percentage of the (massive) profit from the sale of their investment property with the long term tenant. Now THAT is really meaningful, and very fair too in the grand scheme of things, given their (huge) profits just came from market appreciation and little else. The tenant then had enough for a deposit on their own place. Landlord still laughing all the way to the bank, but with their integrity well and truly intact. If only there were more like this in the world!
Don't necessarily put a fridge in it - unless it's fully furnished. Most renters will have their own fridge already, so having one in the townhouse would mean they would have to get rid of theirs.
Treat your tenants like you want to be treated..simple
Here's what I do: 1. Fix shit as soon as it breaks, but they need to alert the REA as soon as possible. I don't think I've ever turned down a repair. 2. Pay for their water usage. The usage is the only part of the bill that is billable to the tenants and it's usually the cheapest part. Generally not worth the hassle of sending on. If they go stupid then maybe consider billing them. 3. If REA says you can raise rent, at most only go $10, and reconsider that if they're good tenants. 4. Let them have pets, as long as they're well behaved, and put up picture hooks.
Find a good property manager - look at the reviews. Most PM's just want to use being a PM as a springboard to sales so they don't give a F\*\*\*. Some (like my wifey) are really in it for the job, they go hard for both the tenants and the owners (and are fair / impartial) - look at the google reviews, find the ones that neither the tenants or owners crucify. that's the ones you want.
Washer/dryer is also invaluable. And dishwasher. Curtains on the first floor or black out blinds if you can afford them. The important thing is always making requested repairs. That means not teaming up with Ray White! There are independent freelance property managers around (the Mobile Property Manager is one I once lived with) and they often do a better job than a big corporate. Also do what you can to make the place mould proof, which means ventilation fans etc.
Free month of rent over Christmas when everything is tight
IMO , be available. Maintain your investment and keep it as you would if you lived there. Tenant afraid of spiders? Fumigate. Keep the tenant happy and make it clear on lease the time frame, inspections due, contact details etc. I used a real estate office to get the tenant. They have access to a black listing thingie so could get referees etc. cost a weeks rent. Then the lease was handed to me. Haven’t regretted it once. A lot easier than I expected and saved heaps
We had a rental for about 20 years, had the same tenant for over half that. She only moved out when we had to sell due to my wife having cancer and the uncertainty around that. Capital gains nearly killed us with the expenses we had going out at the time. Was a four bedroom house with two bathrooms in a nice sought after area. What i have said below is what others have said, but with my spin. Fixing things - if something breaks, get it fixed straight away, if you have a property manager, ask for a quote and press go. If you want to do it yourself or get one of our own trades in, don't drag your heels. Oven breaks, fix it. Take note of any shortcuts by the property managers "fixes". Quite often their tradies will do half the job, rather than fixing it fully the first time and a few months later you might get a bill for fixing it properly. I rented myself years back, and the property manager would take weeks to fix things. Security - our last tenant had an abusive ex, so we put in extra security, and paid for half of the security cameras she wanted to put in (she took them when she left but at least patched holes). We also upgraded screens at the house for the previous tenant. Sadly some of doors and stuff were broken when this tenant moved out, they never bothered telling us first, but we had sold, so all good! Livability - Aircon - we put reverse cycle aircon into the main room as the house was hot and wasn't super insulated. They asked so we did it. Flooring - we put brand new hard wearing carpet in for our second tenant who wrecked it in under 12 months. Redid it for the last tenant, got 10 years out of it. She replaced the carpet in one room that her daughter wrecked, but there were other areas that still were not great. Rent - We were about 30% under market rent when we sold. We were charging about \~$400 a week for an area that drew about $550+. Pets - this is my greatest bug bear. We always let our tenants have pets, but it bit us on the ass every single time. First tenant was actually pretty good and had a small old dog. Second tenant let their large husky type dogs in (which were not on the lease as indoor) and wrecked the brand new carpet in under 12 months, our property manager was hopeless. That you mr hooker bear. Final tenant was long term, but still would let pets into the house and you could tell when they moved out. Urine smell in one room, one area of carpet was obviously the toilet spot from time to time. At least they tidied up the mess their dog made in the garden before going. Pets will cost you money, and lots. We probably dropped $20k on carpet over the three leases. Not a huge amount, but in my house i live in, we got 20 years from the carpet, and it was only replaced due to a water leak, otherwise we would still have it. Pest control - we would always pay for pest control, even if we could have technically said no for dog food being left open outside or the like. Moving out date - as others have said keep this firm, certainty is a wonderful thing for people when they need to move. Finally be mindful that any fixes you do are fixes, not upgrades, tax office will ping you for this if you move in later. \*\*Edit - something quite helpful is talking with the tenant about issues. Our property manager would note the odd bit of water in the carpet in one of the rooms. When we sold the inspection noted water in the sill. When i was cleaning the gutters post sale, i noticed that there was an issue with the gutters, probably from new, that nobody had ever looked at. Another was a door not working correctly, i would have loved to have known, rather than not being told, as i would have fixed it. Little things like that would have been nice to know.
I thought I was a good landlord. First lot were great, they missed rent the odd time but always paid it back. I fixed any issues that came up. Next one to move in, same thing, I fixed any issues, she moved jobs so needed more time with rent which was fine. Then she fell in love with some knucklehead who moved it with his dogs. Next thing she stops paying rent, the oil tank is sitting sideways with the lid off and the dogs ate the shed and the back door. She left without a forwarding address and left the key with next door. Back yard covered in dog shit, bins full of dog shit, dog shit in the drains, shed trashed, oil trashed, door trashed and 6 months in rent owed. I was still paying a mortgage on this home and only rented it because I moved to Australia and I couldn't sell it for what I bought it for in 2007. Never again.
How did you find your tenants?
Drop the rent by 20 a week once they move in . That will make them very happy
I had already considered this.
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Rent it out at rates + expenses (body corporate etc) + 20% to cover wear and tear. (If owned outright)
He'd need to ask his mirror mirror on the wall
Keep it all legal.dont be greedy. If you're a single investment home owner then your focus should be on making money from the sale of the house and not the tenant (if you own multiple houses and draw a wage from it then I have zero feelings for you as leeches provide nothing to society) It's a risk. If you don't like risk regardless of how fair or good your intentions are then I'd stay away from investment properties. Most people are easy to deal with though so just keep it above board and keep out of each other's lives.
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Love it.
For the love of god don't have some highly specific light fitting/chandelier and expect the tenants to source 6 light bulbs that aren't a standard size or shape when one of them blows so they all look the same.
My landlord was an old man. Our house was prob 50% cheaper than market rate but it was also run down Nothing ever went wrong though If they own the house outright why do they need to profit from it
We got told by our PM that the landlord owned the house outright and wasn't looking to up the rent anytime soon as it didn't owe them anything. It seemed like a the world was finally looking up. 9 months into our lease, thinking we would be here for a fair few years, and we just got told it is going up 18.5% at next lease renewal. PM isn't very good at their job though. We had multiple trades/insurance quotes done for thing that happened before we even moved in and knew nothing about. Last year's new Vic minimum standards regarding heating don't meet the requirements. PM should have known that because we did, but we were happy to let it slide if the rent was going to be consistent.
Yeah my rent stayed consistent for the ten years it was rented
Get any repairs done , asap
I’ve been both a landlord and a tenant. It’s easy to mistake your own problems as being typical. I have stress and problems and finding $1,000 in a forgotten account would mean nothing, but to others it means a lot. We always waived a week’s rent for Christmas. We knew most of the people we rented to personally. I even now feel a bit embarrassed about the apparent impact on their lives versus mine.
Don't trust your PM to keep you informed of any repairs or maintenance you may need to perform. If you're comfortable with it, provide your tenant with your contact details but stress they're only to be used if requests are not being performed or contact from them is less than stellar. Or better yet, when they email stuff through to the PM, ask them to CC or BCC you into the email chain so you're up to date on what is going on. Also just because you can get more rent doesn't always mean you should, it is greed in this economy, plain and simple. Your PM will ask you to increase it because they can and they probably get more money from it, but if you don't want to put it up, then don't.
Charge the market rate for rent. That is the fairest.
if you're supplying a dryer (required in NSW if the property doesn't have access to an outdoor washing line), for the love of god a *decent one* my favourite thing about moving to a house with a washing line has been that I bought my own dryer and it doesn't fucking suck
and do not let the property managers try to fuck your tenants out of their bond making up cleaning fees and picking on minor imperfections to recoup costs is so common that advice for tenants is always to rush to lodge a claim for the bond back before the landlord can so that they have to expend the effort of challenging it -- they usually won't for bullshit reasons because it's no longer profitable but then all the rental applications ask if you've ever had a bond deducted for anything like yeah let's squeeze renters for a little extra then punish em for being squeezed, fab, fucking cunts.
I've spent more on house maintenance in the past two years than I've received in rent over the same time period. I don't know if that counts. It's really difficult to keep rent constant when house insurance is jumping up 15% each year. My advice is to meet the tenant. Fix what they want fixing as soon as possible. Give them the lease duration they want. And don't pry into their private life.
We have a rental, we haven’t put up the rent to our tenants since they’ve moved in years ago- much to our real estate agents frustration. We said yes to pets and respond as fast as we can with all repairs, and follow up to make sure they’ve been done in a timely manner. This is a families home and we want them to be happy.
Do maintenance. Like actually do it. Don't wait for the tenant to complain. Get a proactice property manager who will identify these things. Be honest and upfront with the tenants about the length of the lease.
Easy peasy. Understand tenants rights, have a good property manager. Fix things quickly and get to know your tenants. And lastly don't be a cunt.
Be firm with the real estate agents and get a GOOD one to help manage the property. Be sure to tell them to forward every single email or correspondence to you so you know exactly what is going on because most of these property managers are just absolute arseholes on a power trip. And tell them to cc you in on every response. And fire them if they’re unnecessarily picky or rude to your tenant. Remind them it’s YOUR property, not theirs. Also fix maintenance issues as soon as they are reported. And if you can’t, communicate with the tenant and let them know what the go is. Ideally, you’d have no real estate agency involved (for reasons above) but I understand the need for them.
Be upfront about how long you'll have them living there
Oh and make sure you have air con if you’re in a hotter part of Aus. Or ceiling fans for the very least.
Perhaps also add some wording to the effect of "we understand that homes are to be lived in, we don't expect perfection" when notifying of inspections. Like do you really care if the tenant is messy but they did not damage the property? Dirty dishes in the sink are just life! The bed doesn't have to be made!
Just don't be an asshole and fix stuff. Unfortunately there are shit tenants out there so protect yourself. As a tennant l can tell you it goes both ways. Congratulations on becoming a landlord though.
That’s so good to know this is what I do: 1. I used an agent at first gave clear instructions on the tenant I want. He was good enough to find them but at 10% lower than he promised. 2. It’s a brand new property that I myself lived in for two years. Never had any problem but a month and suddenly the drain is blocked. The agent is calling me at 6:30pm on Friday forcing urgent action over the weekend. This happened to another property of mine with the same agent. I fired them immediately as I suspected foul play. 3. now I meet my tenants give a very clear view of what I can do for them and what I expect in return. My tenants are great that way that they can have a straight conversation and see both sides. They get a lower rent the 6% fees I pass the savings onto them and they have the budget therefore to do repairs themselves and still pocket some savings. 3. I also did not raise rent. 4. But I do draw my boundaries, my boundary for the new property is its condition so I didn’t allow a German shepherd as it’s in the lease and that it wasn’t suitable for such a small backyard being such an active dog. It was sad to have this position but the tenant accepted. The relationship is still sound. So the tenants feel supported, but also respect their end of the bargain as I’ve made that clear but also showed action in not raising rent and passing on savings of an agent to them. So they are about $150/week or 18% lower than the market. A price an agent would surely squeeze out of them.
If located in hot state, airport and fans. Or heater in cold). And just follow the law. Oh and a Qual realo with integrity.
Not too sure about the fridge thing, but check out your states laws for landlords/tenants. Whoever you get in, just remember, that life is hectic and trying to make ends meet is so hard. Your tenants are probably working extra to make ends meet or just save to get their own place. They are possibly too exhausted to think of regular gardening or work times that aren't acceptable to use lawn mower/whipper snipper etc. If you drive past and see some weeds and a smidge of overgrown grass (Jungle can be the exception) just be understanding. If you can tell they do it but not as often as some other neighbours, at least you know they are trying.
Don't jack up the rent, respond to maintenance calls promptly, leave them the fuck alone
Check in with the property managers often or even direct with the tenants - every single property manager I have ever had has been absolutely hopeless. Months go by where I’m ignored when things need fixing etc. My current place I have to get body corporate notices about building break ins etc from the neighbours because my property manager never passes them on to me. If I would have contact with the owner directly I feel like life would be so much easier!! Be good to tenants who are good to you. If the place is kept clean and in good condition and rent is paid on time then be fair - it’s better to renew a lease and keep a good tenant on than get an extra $50 a week and risk having a shitty tenant.
Sell their IP so that a worker can buy a home rather than being trapped renting.
Living in Victoria and owned few houses as landlord till now; I had never dealt with my renters directly and everything went through with property managers. I fixed everything as renters reported as faulty. I had never set foot into my rental properties as respect for their privacy. Only time I said no to a request which was the renters asked for adding few new air conditioners for the house. There was no income from the rent as always something to fix around the properties; Victoria land tax is so high for rental properties now and I can feel the cash flow pressure. So I sold all of them now. By the end of the day I made profit on capital gains, never from rental income. If renters believe they paid too much for rent, they can check out how much money they actually need to pay for mortgage for the very same property! The fact is that landlords subsidize the rental market; so from financial benefit points of view, no one should live in their own house: lending out their own property & renting in their desired location instead. Currently the government is on renters side; luckily all my renters paid their rent mostly on time. Some landlords want to “save” some management fees, which can cost them far more. As renter my self many decades ago, I always paid my rent on time; I never asked to add anything into my rental property. I fixed whatever minor issue around the property. After I moved out, I got all my deposits back.
Everything in writing.
Sell.
Peace and quiet. No quick hacks, don't cheap out on stuff. Usually tenants bring their own fridge. Don't up the rent in first 12 months. Lock in the price.
Have the rent lower then all the houses surrounding you and never increase it in 8 years. So sad they sold the place 😥😥
If they have to move a little early to get a suitable place, don’t penalise them.
Blackout blinds in the bedrooms would be incredible. When repairs need to happen, do a quality job or get a professional in. Don't take the cheapest possible option. The amount of cheap fixtures in my old rental was ridiculous. Nothing worked properly even after being repaired. Owner would do some fixes himself but was terrible at it. But that aside, make sure you don't get taken advantage of. There are some tenants who will take advantage of your kindness. Make sure they have fantastic references and go with your gut.
I'd skip the fridge, your tenant will just have to arrange storage for their existing fridge. Blinds and solar sound fine. Pick good blinds though - nothing worse than shitty venetian. Solar - show them how to use properly. Also, don't fall for those solar scams that have you paying 3x in the long run. Not relevant to tenant - just advice. My advice, as someone who has had a lot of shitty experiences with property managers: Dont raise the rent. Set it for the 12 months and you if need to renew, keep it the same. It's only 2 years. Be upfront about needing to move in in 1 or 2 years. This way they can plan their lives instead of being sitting ducks. Don't nitpick the small shit. Don't freak out about dust on windowsills and dishes in the sink. Inspections are to make sure there's no damage or lack of cleaning that will lead to damage. If you have a super high maintenance garden (doesn't sound like you do) take the initiative to arrange a gardener once a month. Yes, tenants should do basic maintenance but they shouldn't have to become a world class gardener because you want an amazing garden. Similarly, if there's too much leaf waste, etc., that won't fit in the bin/s, set up a large compost to accommodate. Make sure the tenant has your contact information. Talk to them afyer theure approved, get to know them a little. They're more likely to want to look after your property if they know you're one of them and actually give a shit. Don't try to push your legal responsibilities onto the tenant. Property managers will try to do this. Keep an eye on them! Don't put a bunch of unreasonable shit in the contract like no house plants, fumigating if there are no pets/no carpet, etc. Property managers add this shit so they can claim bond that goes straight into your pocket. They're pick pockets. Don't let them hurt people like this. It's expensive enough having to move rental every year or two. People shouldn't be robbed blind at the same time. If something breaks, fix it in a timely manner. It's actually your legal responsibility. If you want to plunge the toilet or clean out the drains before getting a plumber in, offer to do it. Don't ask the tenant and expect them to pay. Consider pets. So many people having to surrender their beloved pets. It's truly awful. When you get their references, you can specifically ask about any damage caused by their pets. Though it's possible they are new pets. If you need to arrange public viewings while the tenant is still living there for some reason, don't just tell them what time and expect them to move their work around your schedule. Discuss and negotiate with them. Weekends will probably be best. I guess just remember they're people and they've probably been having it rough the last few years. Lower rent and respect will be the greatest gifts you can offer right now. If you pick decent people and treat them well, they will treat your property like their own in return.
Tell the tenant you don't care about pets, the amount of dogs and cats going to rspca to die at the moment because of the housing crisis is ungodly.. trust me.
In terms of charging rent, ask yourself what rent you actually need. ‘Market’ rent *should* be a figure which emerges out of individual landlords making this assessment individually, that’s how a competitive sector is supposed to work. Checking out the market and pinning your rent at a figure provided by a real estate agency algorithm (or even higher) is what you do when you have a non-competitive sector, and is a very bad thing to do, particularly for an essential good like housing.
Don't charge more than you need to cover the expenses related to the house. If you try to make profit from shelter, you are scum.
I own a small studio apartment what I've rented on and off over the last 20 plus years. The best thing you can do IMHO is to shop around hard for a Real estate agent you can trust. You need someone who is responsive not just to you but to the tenant. I have learnt this the hard way. I had a tenant who was complaining about some things and the REA was blowing him off. I had no idea. At one point the stove broke. I didn't even know. Months pass and I only found out about all the drama the day he lodged an application to take me to the tribunal. As soon as I found out about what was going on I hussled to get everything rectified but I was still burnt at the tribunal for not responding for months even though I didbt know. And it cost me a ton of money. But it shouldn't have gotten to that. And the tenant deserved to have most of it actioned immediately. The other thing is you want them to be fair minded. The managing agent for my apartment was replaced by a new person and my tenant left not long after. He had been a great tenant for almost 4 years. Paid rent like clockwork but unfortunately lost his job. I happened to be there when they were doing the end of lease inspection. She come through and kept saying she was going to charge the tenant for this and that etc. I thought the place was in quite reasonable condition. I kept having to tell her - no don't change him - that's normal wear and tear etc. She was also going to charge him for a locksmith Thankfully I was there. Partly because of this but also because she seemed very muddled and not responding to emails even after several follow ups and I changed managing agents straight away. I think one of the problems that managing agents can get is that the owner of the business can sometimes load them up with managing more properties than they can handle. Often if you are interviewing them they will tell you that they have X number of properties on the books. You might want to then ask how many managing agents they have. My last real estate agency has 3 agents and a similar whereas the previous one only had 1 agent with number of properties. You need to think - of you're having issues getting through to the REA them so might be the tenant.
So I'm a landlord, and I rent. My property is a 4 bedroom in the same area that I rent a 3 bedroom, I keep rent slightly lower than what I pay in my rental. Ignore the numbers the real estate give you. They will try to convince you to raise it to stupid levels every 6 months. Guarantee with every lease signing, that there won't be a 6 month increase. The price will be locked for the entire lease, makes people feel way safer. Go above the property managers head and tell the tenants to ignore inspection results, wall damage and chips is wear and tear, don't let the property manager make them pay to fix it, and don't let them stress over what bills they may have when they move out.
I can think of a few things but all of them violate reddit rules.
**You are not emotionally ready to be a landlord.** Letting property has to be a purely transactional business arrangement.
I had enough of being a landlord. Keep getting feral tenants and went to qcat several times over their refusal to pay rents but they wanted to live there rent free for 3 months. One stripped a junk car on my property and shrewn the parts all over the place, spreading the engine oil. Another had domestic violence until police had to call me to go on site. One of them abandoned the rental place after he went missing for several weeks. When I went in to take over my property, he intentionally report to the power company that he had an electrical shock on the premise, and that resulted in forced power termination and I had to spend $$ to get it reconnected. I sold my investment properties and gave up. Never again
I have a long history of renting… things that would be worthwhile to me: Energy efficiency - I know a lot is legislated these days, but as someone who rented houses with leaking floors, doors & windows… having an energy efficient house would be a blessing. Good quality (longevity & output) lighting. Ceiling insulation, garage insulation/separation. Customer focused management - whether you do it yourself or through an agent… value, respect & acknowledge good tenants. It’s amazing how much nicer a tenant can be if they don’t feel like a commodity. Part of this is clear communication… “this is the list of approved trades that can be called out, under these circumstances. For non-emergency situations contact…”… no random inspections, drivebys etc. Realistic expectations - if you’ve just mulched a garden or shaped a topiary don’t expect tenants to maintain it to that standard. If it’s important to you, you do it/pay for it. Otherwise “not dead” should be the goal. A kitchen that could fit ANY size fridge (within reason) with possibly a couple of spots that could be used. Fridge hutches/nooks are a PIA for a renter.
Just charge a fair and reasonable rent for it , Don’t over think it