Have you Accidentally Discriminated against your Tenants?

When rent out your property, you want the right tenants. You want great tenants, ones who will look after your property as if it were their own, and pay the rent on time. Figuring out who those perfect tenants are can be a bit tricky, as you cannot chose tenants based on personally characteristics, and can only look at an applicants history.

In Victoria it is against the law to discriminate on areas such as: (Taken from Consumer Affairs Victoria )

Some Pro Tips for Property Investing

You would've heard these time and time again, and the reason you hear them frequently is because they remain true, which means you can never hear them enough.

So get your team in order, your finances in order and your head in order and then lets have a look at this list.

Choose a property that tenants will like

It's not about you, it's about them. It's about what tenants find attractive. What's attractive? Close to amenities, good sized bedrooms, clean, light-filled, not too close to a main road, off-street parking, safe neighborhood. Get as many of these as possible in a property and you will be able to attract lots of good tenants.

Do You Know What Makes a Good Investment Property?

Investing in property is much different from home buying. It is all about the numbers and has nothing to do with emotions. Choosing a good property means you have to think logically and long-term, with perspectives of future developments in the area or location of choice.

Here are some hints to help you determine if you are choosing a property that makes for a good investment:

1. The property caters to an existing market. When there is no need to create demand for a property, because there is one place, this is a good sign. An academic community with a nearby university or colleges is good for acquiring investments such as units or apartments suitable for students or faculty staff. There is already a demographic profile of people that you can take advantage of when deciding on which properties to buy.

Steps to Take When Your Tenants have a Violent Situation.

This is definitely something you hope to avoid as landlord or property manager, but unfortunately it does happen. This is why it is wise to have a general idea on how to handle a situation like this. A situation, that is far too important to ignore.

If your tenant is involved with a family violence situation there is in fact a set of steps you can help your tenant to follow. 

If your tenant has confided in you that there is an issue, encourage them to work with your state's law. This information is for Victoria, so be sure you know what is required in your state. I would advise that in any situation like this, you get legal counsel so you can understand the ramifications of any decisions you make. Out of the goodness of your heart you may think that changing the lease without legal intervention is the right way to go, but it depends on the case, and you never know, by jumping the gun you may do more harm than good. So again, seek out legal counsel first and foremost.

For this discussion we are going to assume that if changing the lease quickly was the right thing to do, you would. But so you don't get yourself in hot water, here are the actual steps your tenant needs to follow.

This is what is required of the tenant:

• The tenant/victim needs to apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to have their tenancy arrangements changed.
• This can be done only after a family violence intervention order is finalized by a magistrate.
• The protected person(s) (i.e. your tenant) can apply to VCAT to end the lease early or arrange for a new tenancy agreement even if their names are not on the existing lease.
• VCAT will determine who is entitled to any bond or who is responsible for any damage.

The Landlord in this situation: 

• Has the right to have a new 'Condition Report' provided on the property and also be given entry to the property to view the condition of the property (after property notice has been given).

As you can see VCAT is where the power is in this situation, and without it your tenant may create more problems for themselves. 

For further information on this please see Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Have you ever had to deal with this before? What was your first step?

Is buying a home and buying an investment property the same?

No, buying a house for you and buying an investment property are two different purchases.

You may be buying property in both cases, but the motivation for doing so are quite different. One, you a buying with your heart and the other you are buying with the calculator.

When you are buying your own home, you have a personal wish list that you want to achieve - or as close as you can. Maybe you want to live in a certain area, with a minimum number of bedrooms and space with all of this coming within budget.

Yes, you need to keep on top of maintenance!

There's a reason it's called maintenance, it means you have to be constantly checking on things to make sure your rental property stays in tip top condition.

Tenants are legally entitled to a safe and habitable property, but it also makes good business sense - if it's not kept in good repair then your tenants will be few and far between and you will be losing money.

So lets have a look at maintenance.

The Tenant's View

Make sure you keep in mind that other people are going to be living here and you want them to be safe and happy. Happy usually means they will turn into long-term tenants and that's what you want. So look at it from their perspective. What would put someone off? Is the gate hanging on it's hinges? Is the paint peeling? Are there dripping taps? These things don't take too much money to fix, but they have a big impact on what the place looks like and how your tenants feel about the place.

DIY Property Manager Traps

You've decided to forgo the use of a Property Manager in favor of managing your property on your own. Now you need to brush up on your skills so that you don't fall into some of many potential traps out there.

Most DIY property managers assume the hardest part will be dealing with the day-today side of things: Tenants not paying rent. Phone calls in the middle of the night. Not abiding by the rules etc. Yes, they can be frustrating, but I would argue, however, that the toughest part for any DIY Property Manager is the legal side of things. If you are not 100% up to speed on tenancy legislation and the paperwork required, you may find yourself in some unwanted hot water.  

There are lots of areas to look out for, but here are a few common problems that may arise with new DIY Property Managers.

A Successful Rental Open Home vs a Failure

So you have your rental property ready to go and now you need to show it. You've advertised that it is open for viewing on a certain day and time and now you need tenants. What can you do to make sure it's a success and not a failure?

Preparation
Just like a good Boy Scout (or Girl Guide), you need to be prepared. Make sure you are confident with your property and the open home will go a lot smoother.

The DO NOT INSTALL List for your Investment property

You have a rental property and you want to make it as attractive to tenants as possible, but there are certain amenities that if you do install, will only create headaches for you. By headaches I mean, they will suck up money on maintenance and time to get them fixed. Anything that is likely to break, will break at some point, so you need to strike a balance between adding a feature that will attract tenants, and a feature that will cause you headaches.

So what are they?

A Pool

Why on earth would you want to install a pool, unless of course the tenant is responsible for all care and maintenance? You do not want to be responsible for cleaning filters and green pools and broken pumps. This is also does not take into consideration laws around fencing and pools. Pools also includes spa pools too. Lots of headaches here.

Waste disposal

How many times do you want to be called out because of the tenant shoving eggshells down the waste disposal and jamming it? Yes there are good quality waste disposals units around, but a  fork being munched in the unit will adversely affect it forever. So avoid it.

Bidet

Anything over and above the basic bath/shower/toilet and vanity is probably asking for extra work. You could consider installing a heated towel rail to add an extra touch, but again, anything that may break will break, so just be prepared.

Make Improvements to your Rental Property - on a Tight Budget

So you have a rental property but a very tight budget to make improvements on it.You know you need to add value to maximise returns on your rental, but what can you do?

The good news is you can keep your rental in good condition and add value without breaking the bank. By making upgrades and renovations wisely, you will not eat into your maintenance budget  and you can still come out on top. So where to start?