I am a bit surprised by the responses to the initial post, in that they make assumptions of what the PM may or may not have made. From my reading the OP was just asking for advice on whether he should insist on a new fixed term, or allow the current lease it to go periodic. I would appreciate seeing a copy of a landlord insurance policy, that "will not cover you" if there is no current fixed term. Remember, if they started with a lease, then there is always one in place, just the fixed term has passed. Does the "power" move to the tenant with no fixed term, well yes some may think so, however when it is explained to a tenant that should the landlords thinking change, they can issue a notice to leave, so there is more than sufficient benefit for a tenant to execute a fixed term. With the current level of redundancies happening in Qld, we are very conscious that some tenants are concerned about ongoing employment. Even non-government ones, where the business they work with has high level of government business, people are "thinking" about making long term commitments. One of our most reviewed reports is the tenancy expiry report. We have one I think, that expired 12 years ago, and the tenant was not happy about making another commitment, the landlord was “non plussed”, and they are still there. Now that will not be the thinking of every landlord. You need to be well aware of your risk profile, in terms of cashflow needs etc, and you PM needs to know that, so they can do everything they can to get expiries to coincide with peek letting periods, and the be forceful to insist on renewed fixed terms. You do however need to be informed however, that if your property is in an area that at different times experiences say a softness in letting, then these terms may be seen harsh by a prospective tenant and your vacancy between tenants blows out. At the end of the day, you choose this PM, unless you have evidence and/or are certain that your early decision was not the best you could have made, continue taking their advice, and take advice from forum members when you are asked to make a decision, and you would like more information on the options. Also, Lil S was correct, posters need to remember that the rules vary state to state, so giving you advice as applies to a different state, could actually send you down the wrong path. Stick with property investing, you may … no will …. have lumps and bumps but long term benefits will put a smile on your face.
