Australian Property News

Top three tips to maintain extra vigilance on your rental property

Posted on Wednesday, February 09 2011 at 5:07 PM

Maintaining a vigilant eye on your tenants and rental property can be tricky, regardless of whether you're a property manager or landlord.

Preventative measures to safeguard your property should be the first step, according to Michelle Galletti of Just Rent Sydney; this includes checking references and undertaking credit checks. However, as many property managers and landlords know, this is not always failproof.

Michelle Williams of Launceston-based @ Home Property Management Solutions said it's a good idea to implement some ongoing strategies, particularly when tenants from hell are reported to be occupying your rental property and causing public nuisance on what is normally a tranquil street.

There's no point in just sitting and waiting for the 'three-letter' breach notice and the quarterly inspection when problem tenants are concerned, instead, agents and landlords should become proactive immediately, she said.

The top three strategies are:

• Become friendly with the neighbours

Neighbours can become "great little spies" and vigilantly keep an extra eye on the tenants, said Galletti.

Williams agrees that neighbours can be the ultimate third eye on her rental properties. She said whenever adding a new property to her rental list, she'll personally introduce herself to the neighbours on both sides of the rental property with a business card. She tells them to email her if any issues arise with the tenants.

It's important to get everything in writing from the neighbours, particularly if the case ends up in the tribunal down the track, said Williams.

But the problem should be either prevented from the start or diffused immediately before it reaches the tribunal, she said.

Often the neighbours can be the first to signal if any damage is happening to the property, she said.

Upon the first report from a neighbour, Williams will immediately arrange an inspection of that property.

• Work closely with your contractors

Some privately managed properties might be closely watched by the landlord if he or she chooses to mow the yard every three or so weeks on top of their quarterly inspection, but if problems are happening, most landlords wouldn't know how to confront the tenants, said Williams.

This is where contractor plumbers, electricians, gardeners and handymen come in handy in reporting back to agents who often do know how to formally handle these situations, she said.

"We're very reliant on our contractors to give us feedback on the tenants; this is one of the reasons why it's important to establish a small, trustworthy team.

"Larger agencies using a bigger team of contractors can often miss out on this benefit."

"It's also another great reason for landlords to let a gardener take care of the garden; not just to keep the gardens looking great but to also keep a regular eye on the property," said Williams.

"We explain to our landlords that there are three major benefits to doing this: tax deduction, ability to get a premium rent and more eyes on their property. We wont manage a property in a student area if the landlord refuses to have the gardens maintained."

In doing this, Galletti said tenant privacy rights must be upheld at all times, Williams agrees.

• Bring in a third party if problems continue

If tenant problems continue and any discussion between the property manager/landlord and tenant doesn't change a thing, then in addition to handing out the necessary breach forms, involving a third party as a mediator is a good solution.

Williams said Centacare or Anglicare could help to step in and talk to tenants about any issues and explain why they're receiving breach letters and complaints.

This means a fair, non-biased result can more likely be reached because that third party acts as an objective bystander and a good witness should further action be required, said Williams.

"At the end of the day the goal is to mitigate the loss on behalf of the owner," she said.