After much consideration I decided to rent our home for 12 months "Fully Furnished".
The short story.
Have the renters sign a lease, pay a bond, take out Landlords Insurance, and take heaps of photos.
"I Did Not".
We rented our home to a lovely couple. We thought.
I do not wish to go into details, but we are hurting financially. Thankfully we were insured for some of the major repairs.
FYI.
Regards.
Hetho.
Whenarewethere said
09:17 PM May 4, 2019
Also speak to your accountant as you may need to pay quarterly tax installments.
Whenarewethere said
10:02 PM May 4, 2019
Fair Trading (NSW) have all the forms to fill out, plus what you are required to give to the tenants. FT will post you a few bond forms, they are individual numbered. They have inspection/condition form on their website. Carbon paper is handy to fill the condition form in triplicate so you can give a copy to the tenants.
I managed my own rental property for 6 years, with different tenants without any proplems, but have now changed to an agent. It was getting a bit irritating, but now I pay for this service! I still do maintenance myself where I can.
Make sure smoke detectors have a new battery & the detector itself is not out of date, they only have a life of about 8 years. Use by date is stamped on the back.
Whenarewethere said
10:07 PM May 4, 2019
One tenant broke the cooktop so I bought a new one & had the electrician install it. It has to be done properly. Claimed on the landlord's insurance & the tenant paid the excess.
Dhutime said
09:52 PM May 5, 2019
Hetho that sucks . Leant our lesson also, same thing you think that it will be ok but reality hits and it costs plenty to rectify . We are over renting out properties last one on the market at a reduced price. Cant be bothered any more with the stress even with a property agent .
Just hoping that the deposit interest rate increases soon but I heard today that they may drop even further.
Whenarewethere said
09:05 AM May 6, 2019
We don't let our own place while we are away for up to 4 months. Not worth it, I would rather economise than look for a few extra dollars.
Some people who rent in our building when they go on holiday then let their rented unit on airbnb or similar.
One renter came back to their rented unit in a not so good condition.
Back to letting your own property. State Governments have all the info for letting property. I found Fair Trading in NSW very helpful. Get landlords insurance, it's not expensive. If your property becomes unlivable for whatever reason & the tenants have to move out you are covered.
We had to cut out a floor in a unit in our building due to concrete cancer. The owner of the unit had to have the tenant move out. Get landlords insurance!!!
Mamil said
10:57 AM May 6, 2019
I've been both a landlord and a tenant. At the moment I'm a tenant. I feel for those of you who've had bad experiences, especially when it's your own home, but I'd just like to say we're not all bad. I will do all the small maintenance & repair items myself, saving the landlord money, and I pride myself in leaving each property I've rented in a better state than when I moved in. However, we did recently have a fire in the kitchen which damaged a lot of things. Was our fault, left the cooker on, but accidents happen and that's why you need insurance. Lucky I'd fitted a fire extinguisher in the kitchen or the whole house would have burnt down! Anyway, just saying there's good and bad tenants, just like all walks of life....
-- Edited by Mamil on Monday 6th of May 2019 11:00:06 AM
Whenarewethere said
12:14 PM May 6, 2019
I've been happy to give all my tenants a good reference. I have also installed a fire extinguisher & fire blanket in the unit.
rayaroundoz said
01:58 PM May 6, 2019
Sorry to hear of your bad experience Hetho. I have rented my house out on a 2 year lease. Single mum with 2 kids, daughter of friends. Rent is about 25% below market rate. No agents. They have made it their home and all working well 3 months down the track. Took a calculated risk with no landlord insurance. They even asked to paint inside house before they moved in. I supplied paint. I feel fortunate to have such good tenants and enjoy stress free travel.
Whenarewethere said
02:10 PM May 6, 2019
Get landlord's insurance, it's cheap, you don't know what might happen, ie roof gets blown off in a storm, or truck runs into the building, then new premises have to be found at your expense.
Aus-Kiwi said
12:04 AM May 9, 2019
26k a year pays out running costs plus council , water rates . I dont get too annoyed if maintenance issues pop up ! After all these things need doing if we lived there . Lucky I either do maintenance or my family does . If not landlord insurance . Get malicious damage .,
After much consideration I decided to rent our home for 12 months "Fully Furnished".
The short story.
Have the renters sign a lease, pay a bond, take out Landlords Insurance, and take heaps of photos.
"I Did Not".
We rented our home to a lovely couple. We thought.
I do not wish to go into details, but we are hurting financially. Thankfully we were insured for some of the major repairs.
FYI.
Regards.
Hetho.
Also speak to your accountant as you may need to pay quarterly tax installments.
Fair Trading (NSW) have all the forms to fill out, plus what you are required to give to the tenants. FT will post you a few bond forms, they are individual numbered. They have inspection/condition form on their website. Carbon paper is handy to fill the condition form in triplicate so you can give a copy to the tenants.
I managed my own rental property for 6 years, with different tenants without any proplems, but have now changed to an agent. It was getting a bit irritating, but now I pay for this service! I still do maintenance myself where I can.
Make sure smoke detectors have a new battery & the detector itself is not out of date, they only have a life of about 8 years. Use by date is stamped on the back.
One tenant broke the cooktop so I bought a new one & had the electrician install it. It has to be done properly. Claimed on the landlord's insurance & the tenant paid the excess.
We don't let our own place while we are away for up to 4 months. Not worth it, I would rather economise than look for a few extra dollars.
Some people who rent in our building when they go on holiday then let their rented unit on airbnb or similar.
One renter came back to their rented unit in a not so good condition.
Back to letting your own property. State Governments have all the info for letting property. I found Fair Trading in NSW very helpful. Get landlords insurance, it's not expensive. If your property becomes unlivable for whatever reason & the tenants have to move out you are covered.
We had to cut out a floor in a unit in our building due to concrete cancer. The owner of the unit had to have the tenant move out. Get landlords insurance!!!
I've been both a landlord and a tenant. At the moment I'm a tenant. I feel for those of you who've had bad experiences, especially when it's your own home, but I'd just like to say we're not all bad. I will do all the small maintenance & repair items myself, saving the landlord money, and I pride myself in leaving each property I've rented in a better state than when I moved in. However, we did recently have a fire in the kitchen which damaged a lot of things. Was our fault, left the cooker on, but accidents happen and that's why you need insurance. Lucky I'd fitted a fire extinguisher in the kitchen or the whole house would have burnt down! Anyway, just saying there's good and bad tenants, just like all walks of life....
-- Edited by Mamil on Monday 6th of May 2019 11:00:06 AM
I've been happy to give all my tenants a good reference. I have also installed a fire extinguisher & fire blanket in the unit.
Get landlord's insurance, it's cheap, you don't know what might happen, ie roof gets blown off in a storm, or truck runs into the building, then new premises have to be found at your expense.