Tenant trying to call the shots regarding rent increase

[Deltaberry]

I must admit I was more interested in telling the story than drawing the comparison.

Also I was trying to see if anyone here would take up the offer to get a free meal at some of Sydney's prestigious institutions.

 

[Aaron_C]

I must admit I was more interested in telling the story than drawing the comparison.

Also I was trying to see if anyone here would take up the offer to get a free meal at some of Sydney's prestigious institutions.

Nope. But I do hear there is a Chinese restaurant in Little Bourke Street that seems to give out free seafood noodles at lunchtime. May I?

 

[Deltaberry]

Oh surely you'd want a free meal out of Bilson's or Sepia rather than overpriced seafood noodles.

 

[Aaron_C]

Oh surely you'd want a free meal out of Bilson's or Sepia rather than overpriced seafood noodles.

I like Chinese food so I think that's what I'll go for.

 

[jaycee]

That's an observation I've seen too. Fish out of water, don't konw how to behave(the rules), hear the rules, freak out and say "stuff that !", not so politely. But this once in a blue moon when someone doesn't know and jaywalks or whatever... or gets surprised at the menu price at a restaurant in the CBD, but it doesn't stop there. We live in houes all the time, no fish out of water surprises, but rent's a rip off, everything's a "rip off".. they all wanna rip you off.

 

[Ideo]

I'm now officially lost as to what you are all talking about.

 

[Deltaberry]

Yep and the legal institutions warrant it.

Which is why some people go with commercial. On Boxing Day at Aaron's holiday house, a friend was telling us he was trying to convince his mother to sell her residential portfolio and purchase commercial which included a Woolworths/Coles (I forgot which) in a certain suburb that's been around for 30+ years.

Made perfect sense to me. You only deal with one property, the tenant is AAA, the tenant bears more of the costs, you don't have to go fix that leaking roof and most importantly, you're back on an equal footing as far as the legal implications of the contract go.

 

[Dan_p]

It is called give and take. Yes you do have to do rent increases, but you do need to assess the situation. If you have a good tenant you need to take that into account. If you have a tenant that is very demanding, yes increase the rent to market rates and hopefully they will move out. It is all about if you want to keep the tenant. You also need to remember that the property is an investment, and do rent reviews taking all things into account. It is all about a happy balance, but not being too greedy. By self managing you do save a lot of money on agents fees. Every so often we get former tenants ringing us and asking us if we have any vacant properties, that they could possibly rent.

Now that I can advertise my properties through a marketing agency, Investor Mentor for a very reasonable price on www.realestate.com.au I have been able to secure some really good tenants.

I'm not in a position to manage properties as I work away and he wife runs a small bussiness while I am away, I usually take over when I get home. Also get a fair bit back from tax anyhow making the fees that bit smaller. Maybe when I get to 10 rentals it might be viable to do it myself

 

[Bootleboy]

Rents

Not sure if this is the right thread, but I'll give it a go.

I'm on the verge of moving to Australia on a Contributory Parents Visa, which means I pay $40k to get a permanent visa. I'm a long term property investor from the UK but intend to rent in Sydney for 2/3 yrs until my son finishes medical school and decides where he wants to live. So.. sorry for the long story.. I want to rent for that time until he and his wife decide where to live.

A question for you guys. I want to rent a unit along the Northern Beaches (Dee Why possibly) until I buy a place. Would it be easier to get a rental if I offered 3-6 months rent up front as some form of guarantee? If one of my properties in London became vacant, and a prospective tenant offered me that, they would get a positive response. Does it work like that over here? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[DaveM]

To be honest, people offering 3-6 months up front reeks of desperation.

As my PM said to me once, good tenants get any property they ask for. Bad tenants make desperate deals as nobody wants them.

A better "trick" is to put $10 a week more than the asking price onto your application, as well as mentioning you have X properties in the UK and are a long time owner. Agents tend to like this as landlords have less inclination to destroy other landlords property.

 

[jaycee]

Doesn't sound that desperate to me as Dave explained, especially where everything else about the applicant also adds up - why wouldn't you accept more than 2 weeks rent in advance ?! I've had that offfer but the y never actually appplied in the end.

 

[AlmostBob]

Doesn't sound that desperate to me as Dave explained, especially where everything else about the applicant also adds up - why wouldn't you accept more than 2 weeks rent in advance ?! I've had that offfer but the y never actually appplied in the end.

The NSW RTA has certain Prosciptions,

read &, (be horrified)

it behooves landlords in NSW to discard such applicants +1DaveM

 

[jaycee]

Just something i've heard of before, and the property investors invovled didn't sugget it assumed desperation, as I said when all else was already up to scratch.. I thought it had been done & accepted by property investors on this forum as not a tell tale sign on it's own of a bad risk that's all.

 

[Bootleboy]

Not surprised that you recommend offering more rent! That does always help. Its probably a better strategy, as the extra rent would be hardly any more than the opportunity cost of losing interest on the money paid up front rather than on deposit. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Bootleboy]

The NSW RTA has certain Prosciptions,

read &, (be horrified)

it behooves landlords in NSW to discard such applicants +1DaveM

The only NSW RTA I can find is this http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/

Nothing to do with landlords, or have I missed something?

 

[wylie]

It is the RTA in Queensland (Residential Tenancy Association - or similar name).

In NSW it is called something different. If you google "NSW residential tenancy act" you get a better idea, but I'm not sure which link to provide.

 

[Perp]

The NSW RTA has certain Prosciptions,

read &, (be horrified)

it behooves landlords in NSW to discard such applicants +1DaveM

You raise a good point, AlmostBob. A savvy tenant, having difficulty securing a rental, would offer 6 months' rent in advance, then upon their application being accepted, renege on the arrangement. Because rent in advance is a proscripted tenancy clause, the landlord could not legally withdraw approval if the tenant:

a) decides they won't pay 6 months' rent in advance after all, after they've been approved; or
b) if they've already paid 6 months' rent in advance, requests refund of 5 months' and 2 weeks' rent (the real estate agent would be legally obligated to comply with the refund request).

Basically, if a tenant offers you something that you can't make legally binding, it's of little to no value. Rent in advance falls into this category.

The only NSW RTA I can find is this http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/

Nothing to do with landlords, or have I missed something?

RTA is a common abbreviation for Residential Tenancies Act, which is what the act covering landlord-tenant law is called in most Australian states (including NSW). In many states, the organisation overseeing its implementation is also called the RTA, eg Residential Tenancies Authority/Agency etc. In NSW, Fair Trading oversees the Act, not a separate agency.

 

[Dazz]

A savvy tenant <snip> if a tenant offers you something that you can't make legally binding, it's of little to no value.

The key to this of course is being a savvy Landlord and knowing upfront what is legally binding or not. During your verbal discourse, you've got about 2 seconds to retort that their offer carries no weight....otherwise you're on the back foot to start with without even knowing it.

What you can't do is say "sounds fabbo, but I don't take my investing that seriously, so have absolutely no idea whether or not I am able to accept it or not....let me check the rules of the game we are playing and I'll get back to you."

Of course, most Landlords have such an appalling grasp of the rules of the game they wouldn't even question it, simply accept it, grant the Lease and then be shafted by the savvy Tenant as described above once they are in.

Oh well....that's what you get for playing a game without knowing the rules.

 

[AlmostBob]

Yes Bootle
In this forum, one dealing wiith rentals etc, RTA is generally as described above "Residential Tenancies Act", the one of nsw is click here

Oh well....that's what you get for playing a game without knowing the rules.

[rant] I try, Dazz,
I put the same links in so many threads, but even the proffessionals(gag,choke) on the forum many have no idea of the rules of the game, refuse to learn,
My business is in another country, I still learn the rules of the jurisdiction I live in (NT at the moment) so I can be the savvy **expletive deleted** tenant
Its a business people, not a hobby, the laws make no allowance for mumnpop "I didnt know"
[/rant]

 

[Dazz]

Its a business people, not a hobby, the laws make no allowance for mumnpop "I didnt know"

Indeed - you seem to 'get it'.

Of course, the entire PM industry almost survives and thrives on the fact that most Owners either (a) don't get it, or (b) have no interest whatsoever.

She's a pretty expensive and stressful game to play as it is.....imagine if you didn't know what you were doing, or what you were allowed to do ??

It'd be great to catch with you if you ever think of venturing further west than what you are now before heading back to sealbasher territory.