Yeah, I realised after I'd posted, but thought rather than delete the post, I'd just appologise and let everyone else see how silly I am.
your post was quite subdued considering you thought it was real. i would have been much harsher
Today I became a criminal
- Thread starter BuildingBlocks
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your post was quite subdued considering you thought it was real. i would have been much harsher
LOL! I think I was just in shock at the audacity! Never mind, I've got my cuppa now. All good!
You were recently featured on the Aussie version of Hoarders.
take my picture Hollywood, i wanna be a star!
That's one of my personal favourites.
Don't forget; light bulbs, weeds, window screens and let's be honest - would a fresh coat of paint kill you? I'm a reasonable man - I'm willing to take a rent reduction until these are all sorted.
LOL! I think I was just in shock at the audacity! Never mind, I've got my cuppa now. All good!
maybe we should start a most unusual, outrageous, weird requests by tenants thread?
i've had some over the years. let me think...
- request to remove oil stains in the garage caused by current tenants car - no. but thanks for bringing it to my attention so i can deduct it from your bond on exit.
- request to have a pet, one goldfish - i don't know about that.
anyone can change a washer. right? wrong.
i get called over to my folks place for dinner when one requires changing. mum sends my dad to the shops and get's me to do it while he's away so it doesn't hurt his 'manhood'. the last plumber asked my mum to bury dad's tools in the garden. he can change a light globe though.
I'd rahter not get involed in anyting to do with plumbing personally.
pulling out & reinstalling a new secutity light today and a putting a coplue of blobs on polyfills on soe cracks whch are now letting in ants. But if it were washers, I'd ask around and try find oeone to do it for me - I've had enough of simple things going worng that I cnat get and leaving jobs half done
So make that "anyone can change a washer" except your dad & me
pulling out & reinstalling a new secutity light today and a putting a coplue of blobs on polyfills on soe cracks whch are now letting in ants. But if it were washers, I'd ask around and try find oeone to do it for me - I've had enough of simple things going worng that I cnat get and leaving jobs half done
So make that "anyone can change a washer" except your dad & me
Was without the internet for a couple of weeks while we moved, so no time to check up on this thread.
We have met the owner a couple of times now as he is organising a repaint of the front of the house. I suggested to the agent when we signed the lease that if the owner pays for paint I am happy to put in the labour for free (it wasn't a condition of us signing the lease though), I guess he misunderstood me and we are having it all painted.
Also lost in translation was the owner telling me that the big tree in the front yard (which is 2-3 storeys tall) would be pruned. I arrived home one day last week and the tree had been chopped down! Lots more sunlight now, however no sign of the tree removal application on the councils website when I searched haha
Things are going great guns though. The previous tenants didn't seem to give the place any love and we transformed the front yard in about a 1/2 day, just with a whipper snipper and removing all the foot high weeds, which should have really been done before we moved in.
There was a big silver metal box in the corner of the yard which was covered in long grass, which I thought housed the water meter. Turns out it was the old oven from the kitchen that they didn't dispose of! Luckily it is council clean-up this week so we put it out the front and it was gone almost straight away.
The owner was shocked when he saw the yard clean for the first time in a long time, we even overheard comments from the neighbours. Either way, we locked in 12 months, so he can't up the rent on us until after then.
We have met the owner a couple of times now as he is organising a repaint of the front of the house. I suggested to the agent when we signed the lease that if the owner pays for paint I am happy to put in the labour for free (it wasn't a condition of us signing the lease though), I guess he misunderstood me and we are having it all painted.
Also lost in translation was the owner telling me that the big tree in the front yard (which is 2-3 storeys tall) would be pruned. I arrived home one day last week and the tree had been chopped down! Lots more sunlight now, however no sign of the tree removal application on the councils website when I searched haha
Things are going great guns though. The previous tenants didn't seem to give the place any love and we transformed the front yard in about a 1/2 day, just with a whipper snipper and removing all the foot high weeds, which should have really been done before we moved in.
There was a big silver metal box in the corner of the yard which was covered in long grass, which I thought housed the water meter. Turns out it was the old oven from the kitchen that they didn't dispose of! Luckily it is council clean-up this week so we put it out the front and it was gone almost straight away.
The owner was shocked when he saw the yard clean for the first time in a long time, we even overheard comments from the neighbours. Either way, we locked in 12 months, so he can't up the rent on us until after then.
Online Tenancy Application
Have a look at 1form.com.au - it is an online application form which lets you save your details and therefore apply for multiple properties without filling in heaps of forms.
Have a look at 1form.com.au - it is an online application form which lets you save your details and therefore apply for multiple properties without filling in heaps of forms.
Always good to hear a bit of real life reality to temper the theoretical spreadsheet investors who assume Tenants will just roll over and pay whatever.
Pray tell, seeing as though this aspect is the main goal / driver for us investors owning property in the first place, what level of increase would you be willing to pay in 12 months time before you cracked a wobbly and left ??
One of mine just came back from a 2 months overseas holiday (parents and three kids), got a new car last week and a whole trailer of new furniture. Cried poor last month when the rent went up $10pw. They also cried poor the year before that when it went up $5. I think it's just an automatic reaction with some people - if they want to move out due to an increase it's up to them, I don't care either way. In this particular case they're obviously bluffing.
One of mine just came back from a 2 months overseas holiday (parents and three kids), got a new car last week and a whole trailer of new furniture. Cried poor last month when the rent went up $10pw. They also cried poor the year before that when it went up $5. I think it's just an automatic reaction with some people - if they want to move out due to an increase it's up to them, I don't care either way. In this particular case they're obviously bluffing.
Trip was probably on a credit card and furniture was probably "pay in 3 years time" deal
Trip was probably on a credit card and furniture was probably "pay in 3 years time" deal
Yep.
I think we have to accept that many, and I am still not out of this trap yet as much as I'd like to say that I am , honestly go through life not knowing how to manage money, manage it the best they know how, which finds them struggling and / or dissatisfied with the results.
As they do not know / believe in another way of managing their finances, they blame the problem they are faced with - Steve put the rent up $10 for example.... "GREAT ! How are we meant to fund $520 extra a year when we're spending pretty much everything on normal life already Thanks a bloody lot !
The feeling seems to be "Why should I HAVE TO suffer & deprive myself of stuff, just to pay the bloody rent / electricity bill etc ?
I feel it comes down to priorties, spending habits and money coming in...
The first 2 reasons are dismissed though - I just want to live a normal life, so "things" are part of it....
The last one "not enough money" is accepted by them - it's the bloody bosses fault usually for not paying them enough
A friend of a friend is saying how he & his partner are trying to save, but how it's so hard when they have to buy a new Holden Cruze and , a trip to SE Asia & 2 trips to Melbourne this year alone ! How are you meant to save money whilst doing this ... sigh...
I think the hard thing is for peopel to acutally begin seeign things differently.
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The 12 months was locked in to firstly fix the rent, but also importantly to lock in some stability, as I don't want to be moving again in 6 months time.
Rent is currently $500wk, which is maybe slightly above market. I would be surprised if things didn't go to $515-525 in 12 months time, which I consider reasonable. If things were considerably higher (up around 550) then I may start looking to see what else is available in the area. I still need to live somewhere, so if the increase is inline with the market then I will have to suck it up, or look for a new area.
I would prefer to pay a bit extra to give myself another 12 months stability and save myself the expense and hassle of relocating. If the owner won't re-sign for a further 12 months then that changes things, as I have no desire to be on a month to month.
I consider myself "the perfect tenant" (maybe everyone does haha) and believe he would be happy to work with us for as long as possible. Being a landlord changes things, as I have a pretty realistic understanding of how things work and wouldn't have made the choice to rent if I hadn't factored in rent increases.
I feel the need to try and help friends to open their eyes to this, but delayed gratification is often a pretty hard sell.
However I guess the way we have to look at it is that if everyone saw the same then there would not be the same opportunities.
It's not their choice I am "worried about", it's the seemingly endless repetition that things aren't fair and how they'll never be able to to do what they think they others can do - have new cars and new clothes and o/s holidays and a house (with corian benchtops and procelain tiles)
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I've got to empathise with BuildingBlocks for his experience of trying to rent in Sydney. I've been a landlord for ten years and have recently had to become a tenant again in Melbourne after relocating back from London where I lived in my own place.
The experience was less than fun and very similar to BuldingBlock's own. I have come away wondering why so little respect is shown to tenants when they are a core requirement of any property investment strategy.
I take the view with my portfolio that tenants are my clients. If they're happy, so mostly, am I. If they mess me about (a rare experience thankfully) they get shown the door fairly promptly. I also limit rental increases to no more than $10.00 per week in a 12 month period. New tenants get the going rate. This strategy has worked for the better part of a decade of successful property investing.
And just quietly, what's wrong with putting screens on all windows and doors? This is Australia land of the blow-fly. It's a reasonable request from tenants. All my properties have them as standard, it's not been an expensive outlay.
The experience was less than fun and very similar to BuldingBlock's own. I have come away wondering why so little respect is shown to tenants when they are a core requirement of any property investment strategy.
I take the view with my portfolio that tenants are my clients. If they're happy, so mostly, am I. If they mess me about (a rare experience thankfully) they get shown the door fairly promptly. I also limit rental increases to no more than $10.00 per week in a 12 month period. New tenants get the going rate. This strategy has worked for the better part of a decade of successful property investing.
And just quietly, what's wrong with putting screens on all windows and doors? This is Australia land of the blow-fly. It's a reasonable request from tenants. All my properties have them as standard, it's not been an expensive outlay.
I'm renting at the moment, it sucks ***. If you work full time it's very very difficult to find a place. They all have 15 minute viewings on a week day. They all operate business hours when picking up / dropping off forms. A few places also want application fees these days - these become the first week's rent if accepted, or refunded if rejected. This makes it difficult to apply for multiple since you forfeit your application fee if you choose a different property.
Asked a few of the PM's who were 'manning' the viewings to could tell me when similar properties came onto the market and was told no - they had no shortage of applicants.
I guess that's why it's so easy to do rent raises, it's much easier for a tenant to pay another $10 a week than find another place.
Asked a few of the PM's who were 'manning' the viewings to could tell me when similar properties came onto the market and was told no - they had no shortage of applicants.
I guess that's why it's so easy to do rent raises, it's much easier for a tenant to pay another $10 a week than find another place.
Your lease was up Bargain Hunter
So, the Owner changed their mind and your lease was up.
To suggest .."we advised the PM that we would not be able to vacate until we settled on another property".. and expect that to be acceptable is ridiculous.
Sure, the time taken for the process to wind it's way through the tribunal may have worked for you, but assumption that the Owner had to agree is plain wrong
So, the Owner changed their mind and your lease was up.
To suggest .."we advised the PM that we would not be able to vacate until we settled on another property".. and expect that to be acceptable is ridiculous.
Sure, the time taken for the process to wind it's way through the tribunal may have worked for you, but assumption that the Owner had to agree is plain wrong
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