This course is very thorough, but nothing beats experience on the ground. Am up to about session 48, re property managers. I had a manager in place who seemed really good at the beginning, so I trusted them , then when I finally came and inspected myself, I was horrified at how much the tenants had grubbied up a 2 year old property - it had more scratches and dings on the wall, and cooked on food on the oven than I had in the thirty year old house I lived in, and that was not all.
Even though I itemised my concerns, the manager, who had done a good job with fixing up after the first tenant, dropped the ball this time and let a lot of stuff go, even thought he agreed the "wear and tear" was beyond normal. They assured me it was all fixed, but amongst much other stuff, the oven was only cleaned in the most visible bits and ther rest is gross. Maybe they figured the whole thing was more trouble than it was worth?
The tenants were not willfully damaging, but just had really rough and careless ideas of what they thought was normal wear and tear. They were a poor match for the flat, and should have been occupying an older more bashed about dwelling. None of this came up in "checks" and the manager thought they were "good" because they paid the rent!
I havent been in touch with the property manager since I moved in here myself, there seemed no point in going in to anything further, he knew my concerns, let me down and now I just have to clean it all up the best I can myself.
Lessons learned: be more involved, ie go to more inspections even if it involves travelling, never assume a good manager is going to stay that way. Choose a better manager, get recommendations.
I am not really sure though, how to ensure a better tenant, I bought a "quality" flat in a lovely block, but maybe the general area is too downmarket? I thought the while north shore of Sydney was supposed to be "good", but suspect I am in one of the worst patches of it!
The other thing too, I expected 2 Bedroom flats to be leased by young professionals, but because of high prices in Sydney, families are living one or two bed flats, with three or four people per flat.
My property manager also didn't disclose families were moving in to my flat, I saw the kid's stuff in the photos sent from inspections, but it was the adults who caused by far the most damage!
I noticed the lease said " this many adults" could live there, and no mention of children. I think I should be told how many human beings in total are going to be living in my property. The PM said nothing about their presence. As a new landlord, it would have freaked me out, but now I have a bit of experience, I don't have a problem with kids.
Also, the lease made no provision for a rental raise 6 months in if prices moved up - next time, I will make sure that is in there.
Ah well, live and learn. It sounds like I have not been very professional or businesslike, but I thought I was being reasonably cautious and thorough and paying attention, but clearly not enough.
I wonder what other people's thoughts and experiences in this issue have been like?
Also, I had no one socially or family I could discuss my feelings or thoughts about it with, because they all just had looks on their faces that said"heard it all before, boring", end of discussion! (They hadn t heard it from me, obviously, but it is the general social consensus). I can laugh about that now, but going through it on my own was no fun!
This course is very thorough, but nothing beats experience on the ground. Am up to about session 48, re property managers. I had a manager in place who seemed really good at the beginning, so I trusted them , then when I finally came and inspected myself, I was horrified at how much the tenants had grubbied up a 2 year old property - it had more scratches and dings on the wall, and cooked on food on the oven than I had in the thirty year old house I lived in, and that was not all.
Even though I itemised my concerns, the manager, who had done a good job with fixing up after the first tenant, dropped the ball this time and let a lot of stuff go, even thought he agreed the "wear and tear" was beyond normal. They assured me it was all fixed, but amongst much other stuff, the oven was only cleaned in the most visible bits and ther rest is gross. Maybe they figured the whole thing was more trouble than it was worth?
The tenants were not willfully damaging, but just had really rough and careless ideas of what they thought was normal wear and tear. They were a poor match for the flat, and should have been occupying an older more bashed about dwelling. None of this came up in "checks" and the manager thought they were "good" because they paid the rent!
I havent been in touch with the property manager since I moved in here myself, there seemed no point in going in to anything further, he knew my concerns, let me down and now I just have to clean it all up the best I can myself.
Lessons learned: be more involved, ie go to more inspections even if it involves travelling, never assume a good manager is going to stay that way. Choose a better manager, get recommendations.
I am not really sure though, how to ensure a better tenant, I bought a "quality" flat in a lovely block, but maybe the general area is too downmarket? I thought the while north shore of Sydney was supposed to be "good", but suspect I am in one of the worst patches of it!
The other thing too, I expected 2 Bedroom flats to be leased by young professionals, but because of high prices in Sydney, families are living one or two bed flats, with three or four people per flat.
My property manager also didn't disclose families were moving in to my flat, I saw the kid's stuff in the photos sent from inspections, but it was the adults who caused by far the most damage!
I noticed the lease said " this many adults" could live there, and no mention of children. I think I should be told how many human beings in total are going to be living in my property. The PM said nothing about their presence. As a new landlord, it would have freaked me out, but now I have a bit of experience, I don't have a problem with kids.
Also, the lease made no provision for a rental raise 6 months in if prices moved up - next time, I will make sure that is in there.
Ah well, live and learn. It sounds like I have not been very professional or businesslike, but I thought I was being reasonably cautious and thorough and paying attention, but clearly not enough.
I wonder what other people's thoughts and experiences in this issue have been like?
Also, I had no one socially or family I could discuss my feelings or thoughts about it with, because they all just had looks on their faces that said"heard it all before, boring", end of discussion! (They hadn t heard it from me, obviously, but it is the general social consensus). I can laugh about that now, but going through it on my own was no fun!
This course is very thorough, but nothing beats experience on the ground. Am up to about session 48, re property managers. I had a manager in place who seemed really good at the beginning, so I trusted them , then when I finally came and inspected myself, I was horrified at how much the tenants had grubbied up a 2 year old property - it had more scratches and dings on the wall, and cooked on food on the oven than I had in the thirty year old house I lived in, and that was not all.
Even though I itemised my concerns, the manager, who had done a good job with fixing up after the first tenant, dropped the ball this time and let a lot of stuff go, even thought he agreed the "wear and tear" was beyond normal. They assured me it was all fixed, but amongst much other stuff, the oven was only cleaned in the most visible bits and ther rest is gross. Maybe they figured the whole thing was more trouble than it was worth?
The tenants were not willfully damaging, but just had really rough and careless ideas of what they thought was normal wear and tear. They were a poor match for the flat, and should have been occupying an older more bashed about dwelling. None of this came up in "checks" and the manager thought they were "good" because they paid the rent!
I havent been in touch with the property manager since I moved in here myself, there seemed no point in going in to anything further, he knew my concerns, let me down and now I just have to clean it all up the best I can myself.
Lessons learned: be more involved, ie go to more inspections even if it involves travelling, never assume a good manager is going to stay that way. Choose a better manager, get recommendations.
I am not really sure though, how to ensure a better tenant, I bought a "quality" flat in a lovely block, but maybe the general area is too downmarket? I thought the while north shore of Sydney was supposed to be "good", but suspect I am in one of the worst patches of it!
The other thing too, I expected 2 Bedroom flats to be leased by young professionals, but because of high prices in Sydney, families are living one or two bed flats, with three or four people per flat.
My property manager also didn't disclose families were moving in to my flat, I saw the kid's stuff in the photos sent from inspections, but it was the adults who caused by far the most damage!
I noticed the lease said " this many adults" could live there, and no mention of children. I think I should be told how many human beings in total are going to be living in my property. The PM said nothing about their presence. As a new landlord, it would have freaked me out, but now I have a bit of experience, I don't have a problem with kids.
Also, the lease made no provision for a rental raise 6 months in if prices moved up - next time, I will make sure that is in there.
Ah well, live and learn. It sounds like I have not been very professional or businesslike, but I thought I was being reasonably cautious and thorough and paying attention, but clearly not enough.
I wonder what other people's thoughts and experiences in this issue have been like?
Also, I had no one socially or family I could discuss my feelings or thoughts about it with, because they all just had looks on their faces that said"heard it all before, boring", end of discussion! (They hadn t heard it from me, obviously, but it is the general social consensus). I can laugh about that now, but going through it on my own was no fun!
Beth
This course is very thorough, but nothing beats experience on the ground. Am up to about session 48, re property managers. I had a manager in place who seemed really good at the beginning, so I trusted them , then when I finally came and inspected myself, I was horrified at how much the tenants had grubbied up a 2 year old property - it had more scratches and dings on the wall, and cooked on food on the oven than I had in the thirty year old house I lived in, and that was not all.
Even though I itemised my concerns, the manager, who had done a good job with fixing up after the first tenant, dropped the ball this time and let a lot of stuff go, even thought he agreed the "wear and tear" was beyond normal. They assured me it was all fixed, but amongst much other stuff, the oven was only cleaned in the most visible bits and ther rest is gross. Maybe they figured the whole thing was more trouble than it was worth?
The tenants were not willfully damaging, but just had really rough and careless ideas of what they thought was normal wear and tear. They were a poor match for the flat, and should have been occupying an older more bashed about dwelling. None of this came up in "checks" and the manager thought they were "good" because they paid the rent!
I havent been in touch with the property manager since I moved in here myself, there seemed no point in going in to anything further, he knew my concerns, let me down and now I just have to clean it all up the best I can myself.
Lessons learned: be more involved, ie go to more inspections even if it involves travelling, never assume a good manager is going to stay that way. Choose a better manager, get recommendations.
I am not really sure though, how to ensure a better tenant, I bought a "quality" flat in a lovely block, but maybe the general area is too downmarket? I thought the while north shore of Sydney was supposed to be "good", but suspect I am in one of the worst patches of it!
The other thing too, I expected 2 Bedroom flats to be leased by young professionals, but because of high prices in Sydney, families are living one or two bed flats, with three or four people per flat.
My property manager also didn't disclose families were moving in to my flat, I saw the kid's stuff in the photos sent from inspections, but it was the adults who caused by far the most damage!
I noticed the lease said " this many adults" could live there, and no mention of children. I think I should be told how many human beings in total are going to be living in my property. The PM said nothing about their presence. As a new landlord, it would have freaked me out, but now I have a bit of experience, I don't have a problem with kids.
Also, the lease made no provision for a rental raise 6 months in if prices moved up - next time, I will make sure that is in there.
Ah well, live and learn. It sounds like I have not been very professional or businesslike, but I thought I was being reasonably cautious and thorough and paying attention, but clearly not enough.
I wonder what other people's thoughts and experiences in this issue have been like?
Also, I had no one socially or family I could discuss my feelings or thoughts about it with, because they all just had looks on their faces that said"heard it all before, boring", end of discussion! (They hadn t heard it from me, obviously, but it is the general social consensus). I can laugh about that now, but going through it on my own was no fun!
Beth