How much does it really cost a Landlord when a Tenant moves out?

Reducing tenant turnover is paramount to being a profitable landlord. Not only does it chew into your time when you have to get the rental property ready, market it and then show up for viewings,you are losing income! So what are the actual costs  when a tenant moves out?

This is what you want to avoid!

So what does it actually cost? 

These are by no means exact numbers for your rental property.  Only you know how much:

• You are renting out your properties for 
• What your mortgage payments are
• How much work that need to be be done on the property before turning it over

But if you are new in the landlord game (or you have been there a while but you really haven't thought about actual costs) this will give you a general idea of what the outlay is.

NSW Property Investing Hotspots

With rate cuts dropping and with interest in purchasing properties on the increase, people are asking 'where'? Where are the hotspots?

John McGrath from McGrath.com.au sits in with Switzer.com.au and discusses where he thinks the next investment hotspots are, along with his opinions on what's happening in the property market.

Is this 'The Grass is Greener' Behaviour?

I found this article compelling in that it states that a third of Australian households would move for financial reasons, yet at the same time it states that financial confidence is also rising, being at a 2-year high. Do you think that is contradictory, or is just normal 'the grass is greener' behaviour?

You can find the original article at www.propertyobserver.com.au but below I have reposted the article. 

Queensland the top destination for those prepared to “pull up stumps”: ING Direct

By Larry Schlesinger
Friday, 19 October 2012

Nearly a third (31%) of Australian households would consider re-locating to another state for financial benefit with Queensland the preferred destination, according to the latest ING Direct Financial Wellbeing Index.

Divorce and Renting

It's an ugly reality, sometimes relationships breakdown and there is no repairing it. If you are heading towards divorce court and are renting a property, you need to be aware of a few things.

Someone has to pay the rent! 

It's unlikely that both parties will want to be living in the same place, so someone will be moving out. It is also likely the person moving out, feels that the person still in the rental, needs to make sure the rent is paid on time and in full. However, if both parties have signed the lease, then BOTH parties are legally responsible for the rent and the care of the property until the lease ends.

Finding a GOOD Tradie

So you need to find a tradie, and this is someone you can have in your back pocket for future changes and upgrades to your rental property.  We've all heard the horror stories of tradies not showing up on time, not following directions, blowing deadlines and having poor workmanship. All these things can turn a profitable job into a nightmare and not to mention blow the budget and wreck your profits, so what do you do?

1. Ask Around

Do you know people who have used trades before and have had a good experience with them? Do you have a friend who's a builder who can vouch for his/her mates? Once you get a few names, then talk to the people they have done jobs for, ask questions about, the timeliness, quality of work and how easy they are to work with. 

If getting recommendations is turning into a problem, go on-line and find out who people are recommending.

Won't They Ever Learn?!

Published on behalf of Tony Warren, Director

The property management industry appears to be regressing….. going back to some practices of the past without a thought for the problems they could be facing.

The frequency with which we are being asked by prospective tenants if they could ‘swing past and pick up the keys’ to inspect a property is being marketed as available for lease is growing rapidly.  When told that this not our business practice and would they like to make a time that suits them to inspect the property, they are very appreciative.

In the ‘Dark Old Days’ of property management, tenants would call at the office, leave a minimal deposit and then inspect the property unaccompanied by the property manager.  As the incidence of theft from vacant properties; or damage to the property; or the keys failing to be returned (when the deposit taken would not cover the cost of replacing the locks), the industry reacted by initially increasing the amount of the deposit taken.  From my memory, which is a bit vague after all these years, it increased from $10 to $30.

8 Creative ways to Sell your House

There are endless ways to sell your house, some are more successful than others. The end result is that you want it sold as fast as possible, for the maximum price. I wrote an article recently on how to maximize the house price, now it's time to find out how to sell your house as fast as possible. 

By now you would've heard about the tech savvy guy who sold his house (way above reserve) by utilizing his social media skills.

And then there is the house with it's own Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google Plus accounts 

But what other ways can you drum up interest and hopefully sell your property quick smart? Well here's a few ideas, some more realistic than others:

Help! I'm an Accidental Landlord!

So you found yourself being an 'Accidental Landlord' - you didn't start out intending to become one, but that's what's happened. Did you inherited a house from your parents? Or maybe you have found yourself in a situation where you need to sell your house - you've already moved, or the mortgage payment is too much and you need to sell, but the house is not selling and you don't want to lower the price anymore. So what do you do? What can you do?

One of the options is Renting it out. Congratulations, you're now an "Accidental Landlord"!

This will bring some money in while you either decide what to do with the house, or the market improves. By renting it out, you will be bringing in income to cover the mortgage at the very least, or hopefully, earning some income that you could reinvest in more property later.

Maximise The Sale Price of your House

It's house selling season and everyone wants to increase the value of their house, but what are some of the best tips on maximizing the sale price?

A touch of paint

Paint, paint paint. Paint interior and exterior surfaces. If you are unsure what colour to paint, look at what colours are being used in new developments and choose similar shades. The colours of the developments have been chosen for a reason, so use their research to your advantage. 

A race around with the mower

Spruce up the gardens. Make sure that the lawn is mowed, the garden is weeded, maybe put down some new bark, plants and trees. Make it look fresh and inviting, so buyers will walk through the front door. 

Say Bye Bye

Get rid of the junk! No broken down cars and bikes in the yard, and no clutter on the inside. You want your property to look as big as possible, and nothing makes a place look smaller than too much stuff and especially junk.

10 Dumb Things Landlords Do.

We've all heard of landlords doing dumb things, here are 10 of them. I know there are more.

1 - Not screening  the tenant

Did you get your tenant to fill in an application form, did you call references, do you know if they are really working? Do you know anything about the person who is going to be living in your property? Make sure if you get the information to follow through with it and check. Just because it's written down doesn't make it true.

2 - Disorganised chaos

Are you a landlord who doesn't call back tenants because you can't find their name or number which you wrote down somewhere but can't remember where you put it? Use your Smartphone to organize yourself, or Evernote or some other system.