i prefer rent paid monthly, not weekly

[capitalist]

Does anyone know if PM's in QLD can issue their statements for rent collected in a calendar month? At the moment my rent statements show the payments being made weekly and they're all over the place for different rental periods

Is it possible for the PM to alter her software, get the tenants paid up pro rata and then issue monthly statements? I find it easier for my tax return and i'm also used to the Melbourne system which has rent paid monthly.

ta

PS: i've emailed the PM requesting it be done and she's called me and asked me to come in and have a chat about it with her and the principal. I've got a feeling they cannot do it for some reason... maybe the software?

 

[JustAMum]

I think you will probably find that paying weekly is how your tenant wants, or needs to pay. You will need to contact your PM.

I also HATE people paying weekly. But in reality often the best you can usually do with weekly payers is to encourage them to pay at least fortnightly, or at the end of their lease change them over. You can't 'kick them out' for paying weekly - so you end the tenancy on a no specific reason clause at the end of the tenancy. But then you have the cost of getting a new tenant in.

People who pay weekly can be on a low income, so be careful. You may end up with someone who owes rent. Note - it may be the only way they can manage to scrap together the money, and make sure it goes to rent and NOT spent on something else.

Are they a month in advance? That is a good sign, and should be of course encoraged, and may be an indication that its a fair risk to have to put up with their dribs and drabs payment (After all the PM is having to ultimately keep track and handle the administration of the little payments). You will also need to look at the terms of your agreement with them. In Victoria if the agreement allows them to pay weekly, you can only ask them to pay a week in advance! (risky business).

At the least you need to talk with your PM and ask if they can get them to pay monthly. But also ask them about this tenant, and do they know why they wanted to pay weekly, and how was it that they came to pay weekly.

Also if it is that your wanting to reduce your accounting, don't you get your payments in just once a month? And then get a statement from your PM as to what the payments were for? So cant you just do one entry based on the actual money you received at the time you received, noting the actual income that came in, less the costs associated, giving you the money you received. I believe the tax office would be happy with this, and you have the supporting documentation of the statement from the PM should they want to go to more specifics.

Have fun with it.

JAM

 

[geoffw]

I think you will probably find that paying weekly is how your tenant wants, or needs to pay. You will need to contact your PM.

I also HATE people paying weekly. But in reality often the best you can usually do with weekly payers is to encourage them to pay at least fortnightly, or at the end of their lease change them over.

I like to let tenants pay the way that suits them best.

I had one who paid monthly- he was getting behind. He was paid fortnightly. I changed the payment date fo fortnightly- he kept up then.

He's now in a different job, and gets paid weekly- and pays me weekly. (otherwise he would be paying weakly).

But the original question was more about how the statements are issued. That's not something I know about. My PMs all have given me a statement monthly.

 

[handyandy]

Hi capitalist

I insist on the statement showing only one line for rental payment. This line shows the rent paid for the number of weeks with a start date and end date.

So really it is a summary line irrespective of how the rent was actaully received.

The PM should have some options available in the property software that is used to change the landlords statement from showing detail (each ledger entry) to showing summary detail (where all ledger entries are consolidated).

I have just been through this whole process in changing a PM. I used to get a statement which I had come to know over many years as a standard statement. Moved agents and low and behold every payment suddenly shows up. An absolute nightmare as on the one statement there are 15 rental properties. Gave him the option make it look as I want or I will move again.

It seems that there are a number of 'new' programs around that don't quite measure up and for some reason are being purchased by PM's.

We will change the world to what we want

I can fax you a copy of a statement to illustrate just pm me your details.

Cheers

 

[capitalist]

Thanks guys. I've attached a pic (hope it works) of a recent statement and you can see what i mean about tenants paying for different periods.

You can also see they pay for weekly/fortnightly periods and some are in "credit" and others are "balance paid". I don't know what the hell this means either I assume it's if the ledger is up to balance?

I don't mind if tenants pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly but isn't it possible to issue a statement for the calender month?

Thanks handyandy, it sounds like you know what i'm on about.
You said:

I insist on the statement showing only one line for rental payment. This line shows the rent paid for the number of weeks with a start date and end date.

Does this mean your statement has the same start and end dates for the rental period of 4 weeks? For example, on my statement i have start dates ranging from 16/04/04 - 1/05/04, and end dates ranging from 5/05/04 - 27/05/04. But your statement would have the same range of dates regardless of the tenant being paid up to date or not.
Thanks for the offer handyandy, please check your PM's.

 

[crest133]

Hi Capitalist
The process of PM's accounting to the PO should be monthly, and should show rent payments, charges for anything, and copies of invoices etc. Re rent, it should show the dates paid, date paid to, amount paid. The dates and amounts really do matter, as you know. Otherwise, lots of PO's will wonder if their tenant is punctual or in arrears, or if there's more money forthcoming to assist with mortgage payments, and this doubt will generate a phone call to the PM and increase his workload.
Typical PM software has options for payments to the PO fortnightly or monthly.
good luck
cheers

 

[abcdiamond]

Thanks guys. I've attached a pic (hope it works) of a recent statement and you can see what i mean about tenants paying for different periods.

You can also see they pay for weekly/fortnightly periods and some are in "credit" and others are "balance paid". I don't know what the hell this means either I assume it's if the ledger is up to balance?

I don't mind if tenants pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly but isn't it possible to issue a statement for the calender month?

Your statement does look confusing !
Looking at Unit 4, it would appear that the tenant is in credit by $200, having increased from a $150 credit when they paid an extra $50 in the $260 payment.
HOWEVER, as at the 1/6 they had only paid up to 13/5, so even though they are in credit, they are also behind by two weeks.

I hate statements that appear confusing.

Have you asked the PM what it all means ?

 

[Kevin Hockey]

I would suggest it will be to do with the software programme they are using. Do you know what programme it is.

We use Console Gateway and I'm sure we wouldn't be able to change how it prints out if requested. I agree with Geoff, best to allow a tenant to pay as often as possible. The longer it gets left the higher the amount they have to find, not condusive to regular rental payments. I prefer weekly debits from their account personally.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au

 

[capitalist]

I've met with the PM and she is going to try and fiddle with the software (Console v.3) to get a statement with only one rental period per unit.

Thanks to handyandy, i have a copy of a statement i'd like them to replicate which looks like it was done with the same software but shows 1 rental period.

Hi crest133, thanks for replying - i was hoping you'd drop by!

Thanks for your review of the statement abcdiamond. I think you've summed it up pretty well and yes it does look like unit 4 is behind - i'll have to get onto that

Kevin i also agree that it's best to allow a tenant to pay as often as possible, but i was wondering if the statement could be altered to reflect the rent paid in a calender month. I'd also prefer direct debits, but it seems the PM doesn't like them because a lot of tenants are reluctant to direct debit. Maybe it's because of the extra bank fees for direct debit.

 

[Kevin Hockey]

Kevin i also agree that it's best to allow a tenant to pay as often as possible, but i was wondering if the statement could be altered to reflect the rent paid in a calender month. I'd also prefer direct debits, but it seems the PM doesn't like them because a lot of tenants are reluctant to direct debit. Maybe it's because of the extra bank fees for direct debit.

It's all in the way you sell it to the tenants. We just told the tenants we were getting a lot of complaints for not having it and it was the pressure from them that forced us into it. We told them of how much easier it would be to do from the comfort of home 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

We won a trip to Hamilton Island from Rent Pay for getting more tenants onto direct debit than any other office in Australia. As for the fees you can pass the cost on or consider it a balance act for the time and costs saved by not having tenants coming to the office.

Anyway, glad it's being sorted out for you but Console can be interesting to get to do anything.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au

 

[geoffw]

Kevin i also agree that it's best to allow a tenant to pay as often as possible

Actually, I prefer the tenant to pay the way that suits them best- n ormally to coincide with their pay frequencey works best

Maybe it's because of the extra bank fees for direct debit.

There is a fee involved for the tenant- and a tenant who is watching every cent will find this a problem. It may be better to absorb that $1 or $2 yourself in return for the extra security of getting your payment.

 

[handyandy]

I absolutely agree that the tenant should be allowed to pay in a manner that is best for him. As long as it is on time

But as a landlord you want to get the easiest to understand statement that is possible. You don't want to have to go through mental gymnastics every month and for every differrent style of statement that you receive.

In relation to the credit shown I will try and discribe how I understand the figure shown.

This credit is a running balance that shows that the tenant has paid an amount in advance of the rental period indicated but that the amount is not sufficient to cover a full rental week.

So in the case of 'Unit 4' at the initial entry there was already a payment of $80 credit on the previous statement, his payment of $280 added to the credit as it was $70 more than the weekly rent. This then gives a new credit of $150. But as the rent is $210 this is credit is insufficient to ledger a full week, so its again carried forward.

The next period show the tenant paid $210 thus the credit stays at $150.

The next period the tenant paid $260, $50 over the rent and this $50 is added to the credit, now $200 still $10 short of a whole week.

Final period show tenant pays exaclty $210 thus credit stays at the $200.

Ones the credit reaches or exceed the weekly rental amount then it will be reduced by a multiple of the whole weekly rent and you would see the date move to cover not only the rent currently piad but also the credit period applied.

Throughout all of this the actual money that generated the 'credit' is actually remited to the landlord as per the figures in the credit column. So as a landlord you get the money immediately but the tenants ledger is short.

So at the end of the whole period 'Unit 4' status is actually paid up to 13/5 + 7 days * 200/210.

For us the problem occurs on this adjustment entry as there is a time when your statement will show two weeks piad but the money remitted is only for 1 week. This occurs because we have already been paid the money in a previous statement.

This has never been a problem until recent years with the entry of new software into the market place.

Prior to this change I had a simple check per property

1/ end date from previous statement for property =+1 start date on current statement for property.

2/ rent for property in credit column = the number of weeks between the start and end date for the property on the current statement.

Went on a bit, sorry but this has been a bone of contention of late trying to get new PM to my piint of view.

Cheers

 

[Derekuhb]

Handy Andy,
Do you realise in your example that by the tenant only paying monthly, you follow the banks 'Secret Golden Rule #1' paying the minimum of monthly payments into your mortgage - MONTHLY!

Now consider this, software is easily available and can do ALL the hard work for you. Even with your example, if you changed your tenants to a fortnightly payment arrangement, that will give you the equivalent of paying an extra months interest repayments over a year! Do your own sums and see what happens to your books. I don't know any of your numbers, but I have tested this area over and over again with my clients. How else can you generate this money (an extra months' income) if your tenants stay on a monthly payment cycle??? What does this cost mean to you?

I will always show my clients that their real estate agents make a profit out them, the mortgage holders, as the smart agencies collect rent fortnightly and let 'COMPOUND INTEREST' do the rest. Then they will pay YOU the owner, MONTHLY! Its really a good deal of money you are cheating yourself out of to give back to your 'wonderful' tenants???

Derekuhb

 

[abcdiamond]

Handy Andy,
Do you realise in your example that by the tenant only paying monthly, you follow the banks 'Secret Golden Rule #1' paying the minimum of monthly payments into your mortgage - MONTHLY!

Now consider this, software is easily available and can do ALL the hard work for you. Even with your example, if you changed your tenants to a fortnightly payment arrangement, that will give you the equivalent of paying an extra months interest repayments over a year! Do your own sums and see what happens to your books. I don't know any of your numbers, but I have tested this area over and over again with my clients. How else can you generate this money (an extra months' income) if your tenants stay on a monthly payment cycle??? What does this cost mean to you?

I will always show my clients that their real estate agents make a profit out them, the mortgage holders, as the smart agencies collect rent fortnightly and let 'COMPOUND INTEREST' do the rest. Then they will pay YOU the owner, MONTHLY! Its really a good deal of money you are cheating yourself out of to give back to your 'wonderful' tenants???

Derekuhb

Derek
I did a calculation on this but get a much smaller difference. eg: On a weekly rental of $240, the difference in interest paid works out at only $42 per year, when compared against the equivalent monthly rent of $1,040.

When done fortnightly the difference is only $33.40.

 

[crest133]

Hi Capitalist
Thanks for the welcome.
You can email the software manufacturer / distributor asking about the features you require and then request it from the PM.
Re : Rent payments : the NSW lease states exactly what the rate of rent is, whether $200 per week or $866.66 per calendar month or $400 per fortnight etc .
It also says the tenant must pay rent on time and in advance.
However, provided the tenant is in advance at all times, whether prorata or in some lump sum, or by an extra $50 which might work out to be 2 days rent plus $14.75 change, no matter, they are complying with the lease.
Better to find out which way is best for the tenant's pay cycle or their personal preference, and do it that way, and let them know that if their pay cycle or any other factor changes, then they may change their rent schedule as long as they're always in advance.
Hope it runs smooth for you.
cheers
crest133

 

[handyandy]

Hi Derekuhb

I was only trying to explain how to interpret the 'credit' scenario. I am not comment on whether to get the rent weekly or monthly.

The second point I am making is that in the end its all about processing your paper work in the most efficient way and if in your case its getting weekly remittances from your agent or self managing or what ever than thats fine .

Personally I am happy getting monthly statements and cheques/dc less work for me no doubt somewhat more economical for my agent, which I insist he reflects in the fees charged to me.

Cheers

 

[stargazer]

Hi

Assuming $240 a week rent.

Calculations:

240 * 52 = 12480pa
480 * 26 = 12480pa

12480/12=1040pm

240/7=34.28*365=12514pa
12514/12=1042pm

regards
BC

 

[Jacque]

Thought I'd bring this thread up again as I've just now been going through my end of financial yr statements from PM's, and finding a few of them very difficult to decipher!

In particular, two of the Qld ones don't add up! My total rent for the year 03-04 is short by some $400 on one and $1180 on another! One in particular is very confusing and I am constantly at a loss as to how to read it. There's credits all over the place and I usually ignore it, hoping that the PM is doing the right thing, knowing that it should all add up in the financial yr statement!


I have contacted them both, but it just means more time and effort. *sigh*
Think I might be suggesting DD from now on for both parties....

 

[capitalist]

Thought I'd bring this thread up again as I've just now been going through my end of financial yr statements from PM's, and finding a few of them very difficult to decipher!

In particular, two of the Qld ones don't add up! My total rent for the year 03-04 is short by some $400 on one and $1180 on another! One in particular is very confusing and I am constantly at a loss as to how to read it.

There's credits all over the place and I usually ignore it, hoping that the PM is doing the right thing, knowing that it should all add up in the financial yr statement!

I have contacted them both, but it just means more time and effort. *sigh*
Think I might be suggesting DD from now on for both parties....

Jacque, how do your statements not "add up"? Compared to what?

Are you comparing your end of FY statement with the other statements, or with the amount that's paid into your account?

Or is the annual rent received on the end of FY statement not the same as what it should be if you multiply your weekly rent by 52?

I've found it never works out the same either, not sure why

I'm still going through the motions to have my statements sorted out too, but at least it i have a better understanding of what's going on. Have a good read of handyandy's earlier post and how he describes my statement - it may help you make some sense of the credits.

 

[Merovingian]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but I have a question regarding rent calculations.

If you have a tenanted property at $240 per week, then I come up with the following results:

Rent paid monthly:
rent = 4(240) = 960
=> yearly rental income = 12(960) = 11520.

Rent paid fortnightly:
rent = 2(240) = 480
=> yearly rental income = 26(480) = 12480.

Hence, it would be better to get the rent paid fortnightly as you, the landlord, would receive an extra $960 per year, (12480 - 11520).

So my question is this. Is the monthly rent calculated differently?

Thanks in advance.