ip expense payment options

[im sparticus]

Just wondering what expenses you can pay yourself via credit card/loc and what will the realestate make you deduct from the rent?

just got told by the re that their software wont allow expenses to be paid via my personal credit card and tradespeople wont accept a cc anyhow.

Ive asked for the rates/water/strata to be sent back to me and that i will deal with that just wondering about agent fees and the like, what do other agents allow?

 

[Sez]

I think this really depends from agency to agency. I have landlords who prefer for all of the invoices from their property to be sent through to them so they can pay trades directly. If they wish to do this I am happy to send it through, however, your r.e is correct, not all trades are equipped to accept credit card payments. I encourage my landlords to pay their rates / water / strata etc. as if the property is vacant and one of these falls due I can not ensure payment is made on time.

Ask your r.e what charges they apply for paying for invoices from the rent. I have worked for a few r.e (in Victoria) and I never have (and never will) charge the landlord to pay their bills from the rent!

At the end of the day I allow my landlords to have these things paid how they see fit. Most opt to have IP related bills paid from the rent as it is then listed on their end of financial year statement making it a little easier for the tax man!

If you have a r.e agency trying to dictate how you pay bills, perhaps you aren't with the right place!

 

[jaycee]

Just wondering what expenses you can pay yourself via credit card/loc and what will the realestate make you deduct from the rent?

just got told by the re that their software wont allow expenses to be paid via my personal credit card and tradespeople wont accept a cc anyhow.

Ive asked for the rates/water/strata to be sent back to me and that i will deal with that just wondering about agent fees and the like, what do other agents allow?

Hi spartacus,

You can choose to delgate bills for the PM to pay for you if you want to , or you can choose to receive the bills yourself & pay them.

I paid my own bills for everything except for what the PM charges to do their job.

 

[Goofy]

i dont think it is a case of your RE telling you how you can and cant pay your accounts in a negative fashion. No PM software will allow you to pay an invoice from personal credit card. There is one trust account (in most cases) and the software creates an account for each owner and then draws all funds from that trust account. This is required for auditing purposes, if the funds are coming from different owner accounts then it makes it very difficult for the the auditors to follow the paper trails.

Most tradies wont accept credit card payments, it really depends on the size of their business. You can always contact them directly and ascertain if this would be possible. Furthermore, most tradies that do work with REA do understand that payment terms are generally 30 days so that the cost can be taken out of the rent.

I prefer to pay for all of my owners invoices as it consolidates their accounts for them and saves the owner having to worry about paying at least some of their bills! REA shouldnt charge you for this service. But each owner is different and a lot do prefer to pay their accounts on their own.

 

[im sparticus]

Thanks for the replys guys, sound like the best way to go would be for me to cover the utilities and let the agent look after their charges and repairs etc from the rent, does this sound about right?

im just trying to maximise usage of my cc and offset account.

 

[THEGREAT888]

HI Im Sparticus

I let my RE to deduct the rental income they collected from the tenants if the service/repair was arranged by the RE.

Btw, could you tell me how your LOC and credit card withdrawal are structured to ensure that it is not contaminated for Tax purpose?

t

 

[im sparticus]

im just doing mine as cc and offset.

only mentioned LOC as I know some people have been using them for ip expenses. the purpose of the thread is to find out exactly which expenses everyone is paying for themselves (and i should be paying for myself) via both the above means.