Renting to Defence Housing Australia

Hi there,

I am wondering if anybody has had experience Renting their investment property to Defence Housing Australia?

I have an apartment in sydney, and was wondering about the pros and cons of renting to them.

Are they reliable tennants (ie. not trouble makers)? What about the long contract of 6+ years you have to sign up for?

The 13% in management fee seems a bit steep.

I am interested to hear people's thoughts.

Thanks.
 
There have been some previous posts on the forum about DHA housing.

Some are:
http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77568&highlight=defence+housing+australia

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42955&highlight=defence+housing+australia

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3489&highlight=defence+housing+australia

It seems that some of the cons are:
- leases are tough to get out of if circumstances change
- fees are high
- your options to sell the place are limited (to other investors) if your circumstances change
- possible troubles at end of lease with what is repairs/maintenance/fair wear and tear.
 
My sister is in an army family. The army is very hard core on those places being left in good condition when families move and there are huge army fines for not doing things (eg cat scratched flyscreen. Sister has to fix it or army charges $250 per screen).

But she has just lost an army house as the requirements by the army were too much for the owners who have chosen not to extend with DHA at option time - minimum size patio areas, all sorts of not negotiable standards. So you'd want to make sure you house is suitable. Owners of sister's house are going back to private rental.
 
On their website they have a bunch of requirements for the property, and they can change. A recent addition was all houses must have a coat cupboard near the front door, which I believe is passed on to the owners.

If you want a set and forget investment, and don't foresee any turbulence in your future, go ahead. Otherwise I wouldn't. I'd also avoid buying the houses they have built, and instead provide your own, as the quality of the building in the ones I've seen are pretty shoddy
 
It has to be in the right area eg Wollstonecraft, top of Ermington/Dundas, Wooloomooloo etc ie near a base. In these instances you often pick up a private tenant in the armed forces (govt pays % of the rent) but the tenants have to be model tenants as their job is on the line if they trash a place.
 
Plus if they leave with money owing you can approach the ADF and if you can prove it they deduct it straight from their pay... true story.
 
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