Rentinvestor means you are interested in tenancy and landlord issues.
As more and more new owners of investment property continue to rent, being a Rentinvestor means you are interested in tenancy and landlord issues, you don’t want to be the “tenant from hell”, we often read about but you certainly want to avoid the” nightmare landlord”.
It would seem that we have a disproportionate number of tenants whose landlords are deciding to manage the properties themselves and this is very often a sign to keep well clear of becoming a tenant!
As a Landlord, do not try to manage your own property investment
Landlords who do not wish to pay a qualified and experienced agent always have a reason for not using an agent. The first of these might just simply be that the Landlord does not want to spend the tiny percentage of his rental, a cost that is fully tax deductible, on agent fees. I’d say this sign of financial ‘tightness’ would suggest you may be contracting yourself with someone who may not be keen on spending any money on necessary and urgent repairs as they come along. In some cases, landlords will decide to manage their own investment property in order that they can just flaunt the Residential Tenancies Act and they cannot find an agent to work for them.
Even if you find Landlord/manager who seems to do a reasonable and fair job, many have problems in obtaining a refund of their rental bond. Often the bond has not been lodged with the correct authority and/or the owner has very different ideas of ‘fair wear and tear’ to an experienced agent who works with hundreds of tenants each year.
There are some things a new tenant can do for protection like being thorough on an initial inspection and taking many photographs at the beginning of a new lease.
The Greens want Canberra to take over responsibility for rental standards from the states by introducing a national tenancy act as the rules currently vary from state to state. This would seem to be a good idea which will help all tenants. As far as the property investor owner being your first point of contact as a tenant however, we would recommend you keep looking until you find a place with good professional management.
Read more: http://goo.gl/gssv0s
