Excuse this, but birthdays are great:
HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY...ALMOST BOB AND SKATER FOR YESTERDAY TOO!
HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY...ALMOST BOB AND SKATER FOR YESTERDAY TOO!
They're selling our house!
- Thread starter Bandita
- Start date
Except here on this side of the world, Rob gets an extra day before he gets older.
But you still made him smile our obsession.
Sometimes you just gotta shake your head and ask yourself "why am I so accommodating"
Geoff my understanding corroborates with your knowledge. Recording someone's voice without their knowledge is illegal.
But why visuals are okay and not audio I do not know.
From what I understand taking people(s) photo(s) is not an invasion of privacy..see: (it says only NSW but you can find other States and a discussion on Australia wide privacy etc)
http://4020.net/words/photorights.shtml
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/DV/Intro.html
Whereas recording coversation(s) is a breach of Privacy Law....(it gets complicated when Police seek special warrant...see links), but importantly, from my "crime busting" days..it cannot be used in court, just recorded willy nilly, as it is a breach of evidence rules..
...and this is interesting, I remember someone on this forum linked to this forum...
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/404238.html
Scroll down through the chat and then check out the www.austlii.edu.au links...gives the legislation/acts etc NOTE: I found it easier to go via forum members link than ratting around Australia Law Institute..
http://4020.net/words/photorights.shtml
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/DV/Intro.html
Whereas recording coversation(s) is a breach of Privacy Law....(it gets complicated when Police seek special warrant...see links), but importantly, from my "crime busting" days..it cannot be used in court, just recorded willy nilly, as it is a breach of evidence rules..
...and this is interesting, I remember someone on this forum linked to this forum...
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/404238.html
Scroll down through the chat and then check out the www.austlii.edu.au links...gives the legislation/acts etc NOTE: I found it easier to go via forum members link than ratting around Australia Law Institute..
We were told by the selling agents that they would do everything they could to
a) Find an owner who wanted to keep the tenants on. (I knew this was a lie to keep us on side and it's understandable.)
b) That if the place sold they would do everything to help us find a new rental. Oddly enough after the place sold they didn't give a toss.
Oh well. We have remembered the agency in question. Agents should remember that tenants become investors eventually.
Well we've had some good news.
The place has unknown to us been off the market for the past couple of months.
Better news, for the owner at least is that it's going on the market again.
Which means that I have a lot of work to get done before the open house.
At least I replaced the grungy $5 toilet seat with something that looks a lot more comfortable.
Anyone have any ideas on where to get cheap light fittings? (The one in the bathroom was busted before we moved in but it's a bad look and the landlord isn't going to replace it.)
The place has unknown to us been off the market for the past couple of months.
Better news, for the owner at least is that it's going on the market again.
Which means that I have a lot of work to get done before the open house.
At least I replaced the grungy $5 toilet seat with something that looks a lot more comfortable.
Anyone have any ideas on where to get cheap light fittings? (The one in the bathroom was busted before we moved in but it's a bad look and the landlord isn't going to replace it.)
What in the expletive deleted are you doing that for.
Landlord problem, landlord solution, they should be fixing it for YOU not you for them
Well, the agent has let us know that the owner is unwilling to make any repairs/additions pre sale.
A lot of people coming through are potential landlords and I'd hate to be evicted for being a scummy tenant due to a $10 plastic light fitting. (When we moved in we were told it would be fixed by the time we moved our stuff in. Oddly enough, hasn't happened.)
The toilet seat?
We got sick of sitting on a plastic razor blade and it looked like the last tenants had stubbed out their cigarettes on it.
Again, we don't smoke but the potential landlords coming through don't know that.
Why in the world should YOU (the tenant I still presume) be putting any money whatsover into this house? Yes, in our instance, we've been cleaning the house as if it were our own for sale and making it look as nice as we possible can - but the only money coming out of our pockets is for cleaning products which would be using anyways. You should not be replacing the toilet seat, or the light - if it was busted before you moved in. (Granted, we replaced the lounge light when we moved in because it wasn't working, but that was for our benefit, no one elses).
If the owner doesn't want to put money into the place for the sale - then the owner doesn't want extra value he'll get by putting the money into the place, it's that simple. By all means, make the place look as fantastic as you can with what you've been given, but don't put any money into it - all you'll be attracting is more and more owner occupiers who will kick you out as soon as they can.
I'm all about the karma of being a good tenant - but do not put your own money into a place that's going to be sold! It might not even be your home in a few months time.
Cheers,
Jen
I agree with your points above however I'm starting to get into the frame of mind where the place selling to an owner occupier is preferable to another year on the market.
When the place is on the market you lose your right to quiet enjoyment and become a caretaker/curator whose paying for the priviledge.
The only big issue we have is it will probably sell before we can buy our first property, and the rental market in NSW at the moment is not much fun.
As for presenting the owner with a bill, well the law is pretty clear on that. We've asked/suggested the owner do a couple of things to make the place more attractive. They've said (via the agent) no.
Anything we do to improve the property is our choice then.
In any case, it's just a couple of minor things. It's not like we're getting the team from renovation rescue in.
When the place is on the market you lose your right to quiet enjoyment and become a caretaker/curator whose paying for the priviledge.
The only big issue we have is it will probably sell before we can buy our first property, and the rental market in NSW at the moment is not much fun.
As for presenting the owner with a bill, well the law is pretty clear on that. We've asked/suggested the owner do a couple of things to make the place more attractive. They've said (via the agent) no.
Anything we do to improve the property is our choice then.
In any case, it's just a couple of minor things. It's not like we're getting the team from renovation rescue in.
We always do. (I have been known to rush from work if I'm given 2 hours notice, shorter than that forget it.)
As I've known people in the industry I know as a tenant you have to be flexible otherwise the agent will cut you out of the loop and just show people through whenever they want.
The advantage to telling the tenant to open up is that the place will be tidy clean and even better aired. (The place we live in has poor ventilation, but by the time the buyer is there it's been aired for at least half an hour.)
I tend to dress up as well, better for the visitor to think I'm an agent or buyer than the tenant. You wouldn't believe how rude prospective buyers can be.
Stop that! They have to give you 24 hours notice minimum - they are taking advantage of you (I FULLY understand your point earlier of wanting to get the property sold to avoid the hassle - so do we - but this is still YOUR home!)
This doesn't have to be the case. We have the ONLY keys - the RE agents do not have any keys. I always leave our spare key in the mailbox in an envelope or somewhere else we agree on when they want to show the place. They leave it on the kitchen bench when they leave. It's impossible for them to show the place without us knowing about it (as we're rarely there, so we must leave the key). Stop being so nice and insist on your privacy - once a week, maybe twice if you're nice (ALL with adequate notice) is ok, but anything else is ridiculous!
I'm serious - STOP IT! The RE agents are only taking advantage of you! We thought the RE must have had a key (thought the PM was lying to us when we signed the lease saying we were the only ones with the keys) - but they really don't. They once forgot to tell us about an inspection, couldn't get in, bad luck for them. We have put ourselves out many times for their weekly Saturday inspections (which change times every week) - but that's it, anything else has to organised well in advance- and the prospective buyers will accomodate - if they can't see it during the opens, they will wait on a time that works for you if they are that interested.
I admit, I check realestate.com.au all the time to find out when the opens will be so I can organise my weekend accordingly (as the agents barely give us that 24 hours) - but if they don't tell us the day before, it's bad luck for them.
I didn't realise it at the time, but I think I taught them their limits from the very beginning - (we were quite suprised the first time when they called to say the property was going to be for sale, wanted to have a look, and 5 minutes later they were at our front door!!) then about 2 days later they called me at work about 5pm to ask to take pictures of the property at 6pm that same day - I said "What? No, I presume you want it to look as nice as possible, we work all day we need a bit of time" -they scheduled for 24 hours later and we have never had an immediate request since.
Stand your ground, and make them respect your home!
Cheers,
Jen
Well I'm standing my ground on the things that count. Decent notice (at least 2-3 hours) and I must be there for the inspection.
This time around it looks like there won't be too many, there were bout 50 people through today, and none of them were rude. (Even when I went downstairs to tell them that they couldn't get in because the agent wasn't there yet.)
Of course the bad news is that not one asked about rent which means we will probably get evicted within the month
Worst time too just as we're gearing up to find somewhere to live.
This time around it looks like there won't be too many, there were bout 50 people through today, and none of them were rude. (Even when I went downstairs to tell them that they couldn't get in because the agent wasn't there yet.)
Of course the bad news is that not one asked about rent which means we will probably get evicted within the month
Worst time too just as we're gearing up to find somewhere to live.
If you ask for extension of your lease for whatever length of time that you need to find new place, chances are that new owner might be willing to accommodate, or current and new owner might agree on deferred settlement.
Not every new owner is desperate to move in ASAP.
You might not be lucky, but you never know.
Not every new owner is desperate to move in ASAP.
You might not be lucky, but you never know.
No one seems to have mentioned you can refuse access for inspections. You're not obliged to allow people to traipse through your home (yes it's your home while you legally occupy it), whether inspecting to buy, casing the joint or stealing on the spot. You are required only to allow the landlord to inspect, with sufficient notice - usually 24 hrs. You could also negotiate 1 person through at any one time (the time of your choosing), their personal details to be given to you (incl. license & rego numbers - the agent can pull a privacy act or FOI stunt otherwise) and some form of compensation for your inconvenience.
Well the agent did take their details but demand was pretty high so we had 10 at a time through. And at the end of the day the agent has to act for the owner and it's not like someone can steal the flat.
We have had small items go missing in the past but that's something you have to deal with as a tenant.
I'm also painfully aware from past experience that legal or not the agent will cut you out from the loop if you don't cooperate fully with open times.
(We had one agent who showed people through when we were out. No harm no foul right? Unfortunately one of the visitors left something behind by accident.)
Also, given the current rent market, I want to keep the agent onside as much as possible.
As for the lease, we were asked to resign, but they lied about the place not being on the market. (As far as I'm concerned, sign outside, ad in the paper, still on market.)
I didn't want to be locked into a lease considering that it would lock us in for more inspections and it could make life very unpleasant for us if a very eager owner occupier bought.
Seriously thinking about finding a new place now given the current market.
