Hints and Tips for a new landlord

Any sage words of advice for a soon to be landlord welcome :)

The story so far is I am getting married next month to my beautiful Fiancee, as well as being beautiful, funny and very smart she is also thrifty and has already paid off 98% of her modest mortgage. Hence I will be moving to her lovely 2bed 1bath unit in Chelsea. This leaves my current PPOR vacant and awaiting the vast unwashed horde of potential tenants/squatters. (2bed 1bath townhouse in seaford)

Having picked up most of my knowledge of property investing from my parents, friends and close relations I have decided to test myself and self manage initially.

I plan to;

Re - read through "Renting a home a guide to tenants and landlords"

1) Get some agents and PM's through for a market appraisal.
2) Get a depreciation schedule organised. (It is a 1970's T/house, I did a minor reno when moving at the start of 2006 polished floorboards, painting, door handles/hinges, Venetian blinds, paved rear courtyard and retaining wall) I know someone lurking will want to PM me ;)
3) organise landlord insurance/prepare condition report
4) advertise on gumtree and the local paper.
5) hold a viewing or two and hand out standard tenant app forums to be filled out.
6) Go through apps and pick most eligible tenant and make an offer.
7) Get a tenant I am reasonably happy with and follow all standard CAV regulations.
8) sign off on condition report move tenant in hand them "little red book" (vic) and lodge bond
9) stay organised and get prepared for 6month rental review/inspection well ahead of time and make sure to lodge notice 60 days prior to any rental increase.
10) prepare for lease renewal when it comes up.

I am sure I have missed plenty do your worst :p

Link to Consumer affairs Victoria site on renting
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA256EB5000644CE/page/Renting?OpenDocument&1=910-Renting~&2=~&3=~
 
Last edited:
Probably a good checklist for me too - I had a prospective tenant through today (the first to actually come see it), and with the available pool of renters here she'll probably get the house. Seems nice enough, wants long term, likes gardening. Has a small dog and 3 medium sized kids. I already had my market appraisal from my REA and it seems to be accurate, and I don't have a depreciation schedule yet either - I probably should get one as the list of things recently done to the house is an arm long.

So in the next week I need to do that condition list (the bathroom currently sports a very impressive pattern of blood splatter from a small accident this afternoon), print off lots of forms for everyone to sign and add a few extra conditions.

The legalese wording of some of the conditions is going to be fun - tenant is totally responsible for the water and firewood but not responsible for the 1000sqm big empty paddock out the back.
 
where do I get the forms for tennants to fill in

HI , ,very very new to this,, have a home that is being rented in 16 days. what forms do I have to arrange and from where do I get them....... your list above is fantastic for me!!! hope others can add to it,, as I will be learning a great deal from it
thanks
 
I am a property manager and most of my clients rent by the room - boarding houses.
I also look after single tenancies too.

One thing I noticed missing from the list was regular inspections.

Most proeprty managers do property inspections every 3 months, I do them 1 month after letting the property. If all is right then I do 3 monthly but if anything looks amiss I start doing them more regularly.

3 months is too long to let a property go before the first inspection.
 
One thing I noticed missing from the list was regular inspections.

Most proeprty managers do property inspections every 3 months, I do them 1 month after letting the property. If all is right then I do 3 monthly but if anything looks amiss I start doing them more regularly.

3 months is too long to let a property go before the first inspection.
What do the tenants think of that,and how many times a year do you or someone you employ, have a look over the property?.wilair..
 
I am a property manager and most of my clients rent by the room - boarding houses.
I also look after single tenancies too.

One thing I noticed missing from the list was regular inspections.

Most proeprty managers do property inspections every 3 months, I do them 1 month after letting the property. If all is right then I do 3 monthly but if anything looks amiss I start doing them more regularly.

3 months is too long to let a property go before the first inspection.

Not sure about SA but in VIC according to the "renting a home guide" Landlords (to my understanding) must wait a minimum of 3months before doing inspection and only do inspections in 6 month periods.
 
HI , ,very very new to this,, have a home that is being rented in 16 days. what forms do I have to arrange and from where do I get them.......
I googled and found all the SA forms and a tonne of information in a "Landlord's kit" on a government website, all laid out very easy to understand and find stuff. And as Y-man said, there's one in there (simply tagged "information brochure" in SA) that you're obliged to give the tenant.

I'm waiting for my prospective to dig out the reference from her current rental, and she's waiting for us to install a vanity and some other trivial things, like cleaning some impressive blood splatter that Dexter would drool over off the bathroom walls.

We're throwing in a satellite set-top box with the lease - cost $80 but cheaper than a billion foot tall tower, stacked amplifiers, an enormous aerial, and the pain to install same.
 
Its better than my gumtree ad lol

The rental market is pretty low where I am - the woman who is likely to rent it when it is available next week (unless Suzlon get there first) found the house by a 2 inch square handwritten ad I stuck in the window of the general store because the owner told me someone locally was looking for a house to rent. It pretty much just says "house 4 rent. 3br. $110pw. Ph X".
 
Its better than my gumtree ad lol

The rental market is pretty low where I am - the woman who is likely to rent it when it is available next week (unless Suzlon get there first) found the house by a 2 inch square handwritten ad I stuck in the window of the general store because the owner told me someone locally was looking for a house to rent. It pretty much just says "house 4 rent. 3br. $110pw. Ph X".

Well it's good to hear that there is at least some interest everywhere. Good luck with your prospective tenant :)

At the moment the novelty of playing at PM is interesting enough for me (nothing ventured nothing gained) . I am sure that will wane with time :D
 
I think after my last fiasco , read thread above yours , forget Mr nice guy or trying to help drop kicks and do what the banks do.
Look at the numbers and be tough with your choices.

No more Mr nice guy for this puppy let me say.

Cheers
 
Hi Jonril,
Sorry, I don't know the area...
Also, is it close enough to self-manage? r u happy self-managing? if u r the easy-going type, then it should be a piece of cake. if you are type A, then pass.

I would probably add to the ad:
Suit Female, young professional.

U will get lots of other replies other than female professional, but they should come in fairly quickly if the Unit is schmick (painted, up-to-date, internet), got the right rent, and is in a nice area. U will find such tenants easier to manage (IMHO), rather than have a run-down shack renting to potential bogans. And if u self-manage, u will get a pretty good feel for the tenants as u meet them.
Cheers,
JB
 
Thanks for tips, and just as an update I thought I would mention after a lack luster response to the gumtree add I have decided to go with a local property manager instead. I will have to wait and see how well it will be managed by the agent, but with a wedding next week and a flustered fiance I have more important things to worry about than rental property management.
 
Don't think many people use Gumtree.

I've had a few responses from there, and a few from my ad in shop windows. Pretty much all the tear-off slips have gone but few phone and only two have inspected the place. Its a bit hard to say "yes, I know most houses in this town are total crap, but this one is so nice it'll blow you away" and be taken seriously. And everyone who inspects? It blows them away ... and then someone says don't buy/rent that house, X lives next door.

Its very, very hard to sell/rent a very nice house in a bad area, especially when a hoarder with a bright pink graffitied fence lives next door. People assume the worst, especially when the rent is extremely low just because that's just what any old house would rent for, regardless of its condition.
 
Don't think many people use Gumtree.

I've had a few responses from there, and a few from my ad in shop windows. Pretty much all the tear-off slips have gone but few phone and only two have inspected the place. Its a bit hard to say "yes, I know most houses in this town are total crap, but this one is so nice it'll blow you away" and be taken seriously. And everyone who inspects? It blows them away ... and then someone says don't buy/rent that house, X lives next door.

Its very, very hard to sell/rent a very nice house in a bad area, especially when a hoarder with a bright pink graffitied fence lives next door. People assume the worst, especially when the rent is extremely low just because that's just what any old house would rent for, regardless of its condition.

Sorry to hear about that, I guess street appeal also counts when renting as much as when selling. Knock on wood I have not experienced a neighbour from hell situation yet. I am lucky in that the body corporate managers in our block are very diligent and we have a competent committee.

Totally off subject however, the property I have advertised has a not so "common" common pool. The BCorp have discovered that the common area allocated for the pool isn't actually on common ground, the original subdivision is totally stuffed up and all the shared recreation common areas are actually titled to only one particular unit. At the moment the BCorp is in discussions with the owners, hopefully the legals won't dent the sinking fund to much. So I guess there is always hidden traps and pitfalls and we need to always roll with the punches.
 
I have a mentally unstable drug growing fella next door who is quite well behaved when his mother (who gets a carer's payment) is home with him. She's been gone for ages though and he's running riot ... I hope she hurries back because I've had this house for sale 6 months and that just happens to be about how long she's left him alone.
 
Back
Top