Property Cleaning and Lawn Maintenance

We settled on a property in Qld a few weeks ago. The property was previously owner occupied. We now have new tenants signed up on a lease that started yesterday but they won't actually move in for another two weeks.

Our PM is insisting we have the house professionally cleaned and lawns mowed prior to the tenants moving in. She is stating the lessor is obligated by legislation to ensure the house is clean. I inspected the house myself post settlement and it was clean, no one has been living in it since so it may possibly be a little dusty but otherwise clean. The tenant has inspected the house and signed a lease last week in its current condition. The house is not old, it's only around five years old and in good condition. In my opinion it is clean (and I would consider myself to be reasonably fussy in that regard) and legislation doesn't require a professional clean or define this further.

I also don't think I should be responsible for lawns when the tenant has a valid lease from yesterday and effectively is responsible for upkeep from that date, regardless of when they intend to move in. I get the impression that it is the PM who is asking for these things to be done and the tenant hasn't mentioned a thing about it.

This PM seems to be asking us to spend money left right and centre unnecessarily. I don't mind spending where I have to but I'm getting very annoyed at the constant requests (there have been others as well) which just seem frivolous. We have other investment properties and these items haven't been an issue before with other PM's.

I understand the theory that having the property spic and span to begin with results in a better quality tenant and setting a standard for when they vacate but in this situation it seems like overkill. Your opinions please?
 
what other requests have there been??

Id say do it. Set the bar high so that when the tenants leave they will have to match the standard they arrived, no arguments with them doing it themselves etc. If its already clean it will only be a couple of hours work plus the lawns. not huge dollars and save headaches at the other end.

And the PM will have to do the work arranging cleaners and lawn mowing, you just say "do it"
 
Because we self-manage we know that it is either clean or dirty, mowed or not when the tenant moves in (always clean and mowed, and we expect to get it back that way).

Your PM's requests would annoy me, but I do agree with bob shovel that if you set the bar high, pay for one lawn mow and maybe one hour of cleaning to do the final "extra" that may be needed, dusting and a final mop might be done in an hour, then you can insist that these tenants leave the house in as good a state, and INSIST with the PM that this standard is to be met as they leave, and if not, INSIST that the tenants pay for a cleaner like you a are being asked to do.

The other option is to call the tenants yourself, ask are they happy with the cleanliness and see if is just an OCD PM. I think that could be the case from the sounds of it. Do you have anybody local to the house who could check for you or must you rely on this PM?

Our friends moved from their PPOR and rented it. They paid $85 to a cleaner as the PM insisted the light switches needed wiping down. The tenant didn't give a toss and didn't ask for this at all. In fact, when he left, he had done some major damage (doctor with private school kids) that the PM didn't push to have rectified.
 
We settled on a property in Qld a few weeks ago. The property was previously owner occupied. We now have new tenants signed up on a lease that started yesterday but they won't actually move in for another two weeks.

Our PM is insisting we have the house professionally cleaned and lawns mowed prior to the tenants moving in. She is stating the lessor is obligated by legislation to ensure the house is clean. I inspected the house myself post settlement and it was clean, no one has been living in it since so it may possibly be a little dusty but otherwise clean. The tenant has inspected the house and signed a lease last week in its current condition. The house is not old, it's only around five years old and in good condition. In my opinion it is clean (and I would consider myself to be reasonably fussy in that regard) and legislation doesn't require a professional clean or define this further.

I also don't think I should be responsible for lawns when the tenant has a valid lease from yesterday and effectively is responsible for upkeep from that date, regardless of when they intend to move in. I get the impression that it is the PM who is asking for these things to be done and the tenant hasn't mentioned a thing about it.

This PM seems to be asking us to spend money left right and centre unnecessarily. I don't mind spending where I have to but I'm getting very annoyed at the constant requests (there have been others as well) which just seem frivolous. We have other investment properties and these items haven't been an issue before with other PM's.

I understand the theory that having the property spic and span to begin with results in a better quality tenant and setting a standard for when they vacate but in this situation it seems like overkill. Your opinions please?

If the house is reasonably clean and the lawns are not too high (doubt it at this time of the year - grass doesn't grow that much) then tell the pm NO.
 
Because we self-manage we know that it is either clean or dirty, mowed or not when the tenant moves in (always clean and mowed, and we expect to get it back that way).

Your PM's requests would annoy me, but I do agree with bob shovel that if you set the bar high, pay for one lawn mow and maybe one hour of cleaning to do the final "extra" that may be needed, dusting and a final mop might be done in an hour, then you can insist that these tenants leave the house in as good a state, and INSIST with the PM that this standard is to be met as they leave, and if not, INSIST that the tenants pay for a cleaner like you a are being asked to do.

The other option is to call the tenants yourself, ask are they happy with the cleanliness and see if is just an OCD PM. I think that could be the case from the sounds of it. Do you have anybody local to the house who could check for you or must you rely on this PM?

Our friends moved from their PPOR and rented it. They paid $85 to a cleaner as the PM insisted the light switches needed wiping down. The tenant didn't give a toss and didn't ask for this at all. In fact, when he left, he had done some major damage (doctor with private school kids) that the PM didn't push to have rectified.

'clean' is really subjective. What I consider clean in my own house (admit low standards) my mother would be putting on an Ebola suit and disinfecting.
 
Hi sage26,

In my opinion, those are some fairly standard items to be done prior to a tenant moving in. If the house is already 'clean', a general cleaner will set you back maximum $100 and a mow maybe $50? Try advertising on gumtree.

Not significant amounts of money and will potentially save you a headache further down the track.

When the tenant vacates, even if the house is 'clean' and the lawn relatively maintained, you can still get it all redone professionally and take it straight out of the bond.
 
Have it cleaned and presented well - that way you can ask for it back in same condition. I ask my new landlords that too.

It's the graffiti effect. If you don't clean it up it leads to abuse!
 
If the tenants lease commenced the same day of signing then I would say no to the request.

However, if the lease does not commence until 2 weeks later, then have the gardens looked at and a quick wipe down. Then request in writing to the PM that you would like the property photographed with a date stamp and ask for copies to be forwarded onto you.

Congratulations on the purchase and best of luck.
 
I think it puts you in the right position to insist on the property being handed back in pristine condition at the other end of the lease.

Having said that, if you're already annoyed with the PM, then perhaps you don't agree on how IPs should be managed, and it'd be best to get one who shares your philosophy. Whilst the rights and obligations are written down, there's a wide amount of variance between a PM/landlord who takes the attitude "if it's not written in legislation that I have to then I'm not doing it" - which seems to be closer to your position - and a PM/landlord who prioritises the maintenance of the property's condition.

Neither is right or wrong, but a large mismatch is likely to be a constant source of friction for both parties. Perhaps you should try and find a PM who takes a more relaxed approach. But be aware that they're also likely to be as laidback re property condition at the other end of the lease. :)
 
Yes, the lease commenced on the day of signing.

Look don't get me wrong, we are not the type of landlords to only pay for something if it's in the legislation. That being said, I think this PM/agent is asking for these items to be done to make their job easier rather than evaluating whether or not it's actually necessary.

If it's professionally cleaned prior to new tenants, they can then insist on it being professionally cleaned upon vacating. To me, it's a tick and flick approach rather than being pro-active with inspections and communication with the tenant and landlord. I think Perp got it right - it's a mismatch of expectations and styles.

The property is not local to us, otherwise we would be happy to go and do it ourselves.

I've also seen many a professional clean that was not up to scratch which adds to my hesitation. We find we spend so much of our time 'managing' the property manager that we wonder what we are paying for. Thank you all for your advice. I think we will change agents and take it from there.
 
Legally, no you can't insist on that.

http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/T...ord/Ending_a_tenancy/Making_a_bond_claim.html

Personally I think you would be wasting your time having it cleaned prior to the tenants moving in, as they only need to return it to you 'reasonably' clean and tidy subject to fair wear and tear.

QLD may be different, BUT I think that would be the case because it's unreasonable to force someone to pay to get the property cleaned if they can clean it themselves.
 
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