Recent content by jclegg

Wow, a weeks rent for signing a new lease :eek: The standard fee is $30 give or take. Your management % is low but by the time you add on all the extras it works out better to pay a slightly higher % and negotiate all the others. Make sure you shop around and ask more questions than just the...

Most Conveyancers/solicitors will look over a contract free of charge BEFORE you make an offer. We did this for peace of mind so that we knew what our offer was based upon.

Wow, unbelievable. And quite a common occurrence I should think. I would fight back with the strata..they might claim that the reason the tenants left was because the carpet was damaged but it was only as a consequence of the sewage leak for goodness sake!! :eek: Maybe you could get a stat dec...

Hi, Herston looks to be an industrial area just to the north east of the city. Do not assume because it is close to the city that it will have good public transport :) However, I do have friends in Albion who love the area and the train line is quite good. I would avoid the motorways if you want...

Hi, congratulations, it sounds like a good strategy. Maybe some more info might help with advice? Where in Bris will you be working? City? Will you drive to work or catch public transport? Bris is very spread out and some areas have little to no public transport. Likewise, some areas are a pain...

Hi, I know it's a bit further out than you want but did you consider Ringwood area? Easy access to motorways, express train to Box Hill makes the trip to Heathmont/Ringwood quite fast (yes it's Zone 2) and the Eastland re-development will enhance the area further. Not sure what council is like...

We have a unit which had one timber pannelled wall. We just painted it the same colour as the walls, using a special undercoat, and it looks really good. Cheapest option. You have to brush it so it did take a while.

Your dropbox doesn't work :)

For family 2 you forgot to factor in childcare costs depending on the ages of the kids, so Mum can go to work :eek: Money isn't everything ;) For us it was a lifestyle decision. Certainly we earned more when I worked but life was so much busier and stressful. You do what you have to do for...

As a LL I would be open to an offer whereby I could have someone in the house (on the lease) who was happy to be responsible for the total rent and bills and also responsible for securing additional tenants as the need arose to pay the rent. Of course I would ask for higher rent and a long...

I looked into this a great deal under the Logan council in Bris. It can only be "legitimately" done on a 900sqm block with 6m side access and 20m frontage. You can apply for a dual occ dwelling i.e. two houses on the one block. Of course you pay thru the nose to council for this type of...

Have you seen these guys: http://granitetransformations.com.au/ We have looked at them, great for re-covering an existing kitchen bench without removing. Not sure how they get around sinks and cooktops.

I would not assume anything where liability is concerned. you supplied the gas and if the tenant is not around :eek: then guaranteed the insurer will come after you!

I know it's not Govt housing but if all the units in a block are NRAS then the block will take on the "feel" of a council estate because it's for low income earners specifically. Originally I thought they only approved a few in each development so as to avoid this?

I was overseas for a few years and the first year back in Oz we bought our house and spent every cent we had :D. Come tax time we knew we would have a bill so we kind of forgot to lodge the return :eek:. the following year we went to our accountant and explained and he lodged both years...