My dad went around again......
You're extremely lucky Steve to have a Dad who does that.
My father also is extremely good with sorting out petty issues (wobbly doors, gutters, taps, hinges) which literally saves thousands of dollars in tradesmen's callout fees. They are worth their weight in gold, especially when dealing with useless tenants who don't own a spanner or a screwdriver.
Counteracting that petty vindictive attitude that many tenants display (especially after a rent rise) with ongoing lists of demands chews through people's cashflow quicker than a nest of white ants through a pine bearer.
Unfortunately, the legislation is massively weighted toward the tenant's favour, and hence the onus falls upon the Owner, and the Owner has no option but to respond.
Of course, if you were interstate, that list would have involved calling out a plumber, a handyman and probably a tiler or something. None of those guys roll up the driveway without extracting at least $ 90 nowadays, that's before they walk in and go "Now what's the problem."
Of course, the tenant's are usually completely pathetic - and can afford to be - as it isn't their responsibility. Standing there with hands on hips, demanding something be done right now, especially when you don't have to pay a cent for any of it, parts of labour, is a most joyous position to be in. Stand there, have a whinge, write a whingey letter, and someone surely, especially if a PM is involved and it isn't their personal money being spent, despite their nonsense advertising gumpf.
The other aspect as you rightly oint out, they are extremely good at palming the "fault" back to the Landlord, and unfortunately they have the privacy and time to re-shuffle circumstances and get their story straight before they even call up about the problem. We had one tenant years ago continually calling up about blocked drains....and tree roots being the cause, hence "send out the plumber with that slinky thing". Didn't believe her for a minute, as she had three teenage daughters, all with long hair, who invariably spent half the day in the shower primping and preening themselves.
Plumber duly sent around and found it clogged to the gunnels with long black hairs and soapy gunk. Despite the evidence, she insisted it was tree roots and if the blocked drains happened again, she wouldn't be paying a cent. Then she accused me, after I wrote to her about the cause, that I was interfering with her private personal life and it was a gross invasion of her and her daughter's privacy.
For me, that is the very worst aspect of owning residential property for let. You MUST - by definition - to protect your asset and cashflow status, be embroiled with their domestic issues. God only knows, I've got enough to look after on my homefront with lawnmowing, blocked drains, HWS going, hinging needing repair etc etc etc.....the last thing I need is to wet nurse a bunch of families and pay to rectify their problems as well.....and at the end of the day, there's bugger all money in it anyway.
Considering she was paying me the princely sum of 2.5% gross yield, 1.8% nett yield, all the while screaming from the rooftops that she was paying me a fortune in rent....
I cut my losses and sold the property, vowing never to hitch my wealth wagon again to the domestic turmoil of single women with teenage daughters. The strategic change has worked well.
