Do I need to pay for flyscreen to be installed at the property?
- Thread starter s050399b
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Don't worry Jaycee, I find a lot of your comments amazing.
Note to self: Must tell the vendor and purchasers of the house in our street that just sold for $1.54M that it is a dump because it doesn't have flyscreens
You don't have to tell anyone anythigm, jsut accpet that some ppeople have different opinions to you and that they don't need to be laughed at publicly for them
Jaycee,
I understand why you would want flyscreens.
I haven't had the privledge to visit WA yet, but hope to some day.
The place we are houseitting at now is a DHA house,( 5 minutes outside of Canberra) and they came a couple of weeks ago to assess whether it needs a/c. We have been here since the first of November. Coming from a country where retaining heat is extremely important, we understand the need for insulation.When we first arrived, I had the heat on in the morning to take the chill off. It cooled off very fast.When it is warm outside, the house is warm inside. Whatever the temperature is outside, it is basically the same inside very quickly.
The a/c technicians confirmed there is very little insulation in the roof of this house.Installing an a/c is going to be expensive for a tenant to use.
Instead of installing an a/c, I think that money could be better spent on house insulation and proper weather stripping around windows and doors.
We had 2 days where we used an electric fan while here. Opening windows and allowing cross breezes has been sufficient.
Our previous sit in Queensland was in a highset..with no screens. Didn't have any issues with mosquitos. (saw the odd cockroach)
Tenants just need to assess properly before signing the lease.
If screens, a/c, diswashers are important to them and this particular property doesn't have it...keep looking.
It seems now, they think all they need to do is ask...or suggest to the PM..
I understand why you would want flyscreens.
I haven't had the privledge to visit WA yet, but hope to some day.
The place we are houseitting at now is a DHA house,( 5 minutes outside of Canberra) and they came a couple of weeks ago to assess whether it needs a/c. We have been here since the first of November. Coming from a country where retaining heat is extremely important, we understand the need for insulation.When we first arrived, I had the heat on in the morning to take the chill off. It cooled off very fast.When it is warm outside, the house is warm inside. Whatever the temperature is outside, it is basically the same inside very quickly.
The a/c technicians confirmed there is very little insulation in the roof of this house.Installing an a/c is going to be expensive for a tenant to use.
Instead of installing an a/c, I think that money could be better spent on house insulation and proper weather stripping around windows and doors.
We had 2 days where we used an electric fan while here. Opening windows and allowing cross breezes has been sufficient.
Our previous sit in Queensland was in a highset..with no screens. Didn't have any issues with mosquitos. (saw the odd cockroach)
Tenants just need to assess properly before signing the lease.
If screens, a/c, diswashers are important to them and this particular property doesn't have it...keep looking.
It seems now, they think all they need to do is ask...or suggest to the PM..
that's because mozzies are very bad at flying. unless it's dead still they usually have trouble getting to the second floor.
if screens, a/c, dishwashers are important to most tenants then they should be important to the LL if they want to get maximum rent. of course it's a cost benefit trade off on these items.
let them ask and say yes, no or yes with more rent. seeing as most here use a PM the emotional difficulty of saying no shouldn't be an issue.
You don't have to tell anyone anythigm, jsut accpet that some ppeople have different opinions to you and that they don't need to be laughed at publicly for them
I fully accept that some people have different opinions. I am merely stating my observations after being a landlord for over 30 years. I respect you have a different view, but that doesn't mean I cannot state my view. I am not the one that said any house without flyscreens must be a dump. That came from you.
I didn't laugh publicly at you. Where on earth did you get that from. You made a smart statement about my post. I responded.
You are very touchy.
And we wonder why people complain about their landlord. Tight-fisted dictators who think they are God's gift to the Earth. I would hate to be your tenant.
What is your problem?
Where is it I am a dictator?
Tenants have free will to choose whether they rent a certain property.
Just because we do not care whether they rent our property or not,doesn't make us bad.
Wunderbar..how many properties do you have.Do you self manage or hide behind a PM.
If you were our tenant, you'd have no problem with us as long as your paid your rent on time and didn't do any damage.If you had a maintenance issue, it would be repaired asap. What more does a tenant need? Nothing.
I don't hide behind a property manager - I have no need to. Renting to people is a process of give-and-take, and I am not the type of person to quarrel over a bloody flyscreen. Small money for a lot of peace of mind and happier tenants. Maybe being a tyrant works in the Canadian property market but I'd hate to think that's how you would treat people here.
i was thinking the same thing. i kind of respect kath's dictatorship though.
i doubt s/.he would get away with some of the stuff here. it seems Canada is weighted in the LLs favour.
Being a LL is just like operating a Business. Any Business owner worth their salt tries to maximise their income while minimising their expenses. Every single time you spend $$ making improvements on your property, you are increasing your expenses. Unless those improvements make a difference to the income received or perhaps the CG, you are doing yourself a disservice.
As an experienced LL I maintain the properties I own and I charge market rents. I do not make improvements unless it is something that will give me a $$ return that I am happy with. If a home has flyscreens/dishwashers/decks/swimming pool, etc, they are maintained. If they do not have those, I will not be putting them in regardless of whether the tenant wants them or not.
I agree renting is give-and-take.
They give and I take
When you deal with the number of tenants we do,you may think otherwise.
Out of our 39 tenants we usually have problems with 4-5 at any given time. Nothing to do with us.. it's because they have lost their job/ broken relationship and then think they should have free rent.
No I agree that you have to be harsh/firm when it comes to paying rent. But when it comes to installing small things to improve quality of life - I would definitely not hesitate to do so if it's a small cost. I also rent houses with high-densities and I encounter problems all the time - but things have to be done and I just do it.
I find it amazing that anybody could think that a house without flyscreens must be a dump
We are in a suburb of mainly old queenslanders. I know very few people who have flyscreens. I have had tenants ask for things, which we consider, and very often say yes to because it improves the house for that tenant, moves with the times and makes the house more rentable (eg. dishwashers, air-con).
In all my years of renting queenslanders, I have not once been asked for flyscreens.
I agree
. Many older homes around me don't have fly screens. I only have 4 for some reason (previous owner's doing) and have not considered adding more. My next door neighbour doesn't have any. They can afford an 800K home and to install expensive internal timber shutters, but haven't bothered with fly screens.
Would I install for them for tenants? Probably if they were 'good' tenants and it wasn't going to be one of many requests.
If it was that important you'd think they'd notice no screens before agreeing to rent the place. If it's cheap rent that attracted them to the place, then it's obviously for a reason.
If I did that or other improvements I'd probably up the rent accordingly as well.
Unfortunately, it is still biased in favor of the tenant. The difference I have noticed from us and most here on SS, is our refusal to take no. My husband knows the ACT inside and out, much better than our Director, and even the judge at small claims court.Many times the Director has tried to claim something, and Rob will ask where it is written in the ACT..and she can't. It is our livlihood, so he has made it his job to know the rules.
Many times what has been taken for granted, is not in the ACT. We go to tribunal often and almost always win .
When we make a mistake, we try to learn from it.
We made a lot of mistakes at first, and have tried to be very careful in protecting ourself.
Many people here use a PM, who do not know the rules.They try to take the easiest route, of least resistance. LLs are losing $$$$ a year, because they think, well that is only a little bit of money. Believe me, if you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care themselves.
For the ones who say they can't be bothered, they can spend their money better elsewhere..good for them. We never were on a high income, so we take our job very seriously.
I agree renting is give-and-take.
They give and I take
When you deal with the number of tenants we do,you may think otherwise.
Out of our 39 tenants we usually have problems with 4-5 at any given time. Nothing to do with us.. it's because they have lost their job/ broken relationship and then think they should have free rent.
greater than 10% of tenants with a problem indicates you have a problem with your business.
Maybe...but our vacancy rate for 2010 was 1.53 %
That is very good !!!
We rent to many who would be consider "borderline" tenants.
I think when making blanket statements like that, that you should take into account that not all tenants are equal, the same as not all properties are equal.
It goes without saying if you have low end properties (dollar value, not quality), most of your tenants are likely to be low paid or on some kind of welfare. These people are more likely to have problems than tenants that are renting a much higher value property.
Not all LL's can afford (or want) to purchase high value properties.
Yeah I don't rent to those kind of people.
I agree with what you are saying. Small improvements do add to a better tenancy though imo
