Never, Ever Become a Landlord. Grrr!!!

[rodentrancher]

If anyone with extra money out there. Never buy an investment house to rent out. It sucks. We've had ours since 1993, and are going backwards all the time. Our last tenant has just left(done a bunk) and left us with heaps and heaps of probs. Broken windows, torn (new) lino, hole punched through linen press, etc etc. Grrrr!!! We are selling the darn thing. I'm sick of cleaning up and painting etc etc after rental tenants. Can't even get the bond back, cos his Mum has gone back to Canada, and the bond return form needs the original signature. Dave and I are so p...ed off!! Last time we are doing anything to the place except for sprucing it up for a SELL!. I've been working my butt off for the last two days, cleaning and painting;. THAT'S IT! NO MORE!! Sob, sob!!!. Cheers Cheryl Hopefully we'll get something back to stick into a good interest bearing term deposit, till we buy Mum's house next door hey?

 

[dobermanmick]

yeah it seems to be that way My friends just about to sell his unit cause they wrecked it
And another friends house was left for 8 weeks and the agent did not know they had moved out even though they had not been in to pay rent !

 

[Guest]

man my mum is trying to get into the land lord buisness. she thinks it will be a good extra bit of cash. i tried telling her about all the probs but she doesn't seem to think people are like that.

 

[zoe]

thats so dodgy :?

but on the other side of the coin...the first house we rented when we moved out of home was a bit of a dump when we moved in (including windows painted shut when SHE painted the house), but essentially clean...anyway, the basic story is that the landlord lived next door and would NEVER get anything fixed (and stuff broke all the time cos it was a very old house). when we moved out we cleaned the place from top to toe including getting the carpets steam cleaned, and heard nuthin from the landlord for about a week or so...until i got a registered mail letter delivered to my work saying that we were being taken to VCAT for $4000 worth of apparent damage (we did NO damage to the house). by the time we actually got to the tribunal it had been upped to $14,000 worth of damage! and we left the house in almost better condition than it was when we moved in! anyway, the limit for a VCAT hearing is $10,000 and she basically got laughed out of the place - she got $900 (of which she only deserved about $300). and we have received constant threats of being taken to court up until only recently (this was a year ago).

so there you go guys, there IS something you can do to terrorise tenants lol :wink:

what i thought was unfair tho was that of the $900 she was awarded (apart from the $300 she had a right to), she had not a SHRED of evidence to prove that she deserved it...i think its a bit scary that a landlord can completely fabricate "damage" we caused and not even have any fake evidence and she gets awarded money, even if it is only $900.

anyway thats my pointless story for the day lol

 

[Greg]

Yeah I've gotta speak up for tennants like Miss Zoe did. We've been renting here for nearly 14 years and to get the landlord to open his wallet and make repairs is like extracting teeth. However let me be a few days late with the rent and he jumps up and down like a good sort. There's good tennants and bad ones just like there's good landlords and baastards like my one.

 

[zoe]

and greggles and i are GOOOOOOOOD tenants hey greg lol :wink:

 

[Greg]

The bestest Miss Zoe. The bestest.

 

[zoe]

oh and did i mention that our landlord was a FAMILY FRIEND! "was" being the key word there :evil:

 

[soulweaver]

my parents have been landlords for many years now, and the worse they have ever had is a broken toilet. they got a realestate agent to run regular inspections and collect the rent in person.

 

[Switch]

Rodent Rancher....dont be disheartened.
Nothing beats Real Estate.
I sold my 3 Rental Properties last year while the market was booming......stick it out.....MONEY WILL COME
If you have problems, then manage the problem, dont just get frustrated.
There is insurance for the sought of material problems you are having, its not expensive in the big picture, especially when you use it and it saves you thousands of dollars and hours of precious time.
Im not sure on the state of the property, but as others mentioned, as a landlord i found that you get what you give.
I had good quality property, and kept it well maintained reguraly, and i had good long term happy tenents.
Regular maintenance beats 12montly massive clean ups
Just my Opinion, I may be way off.
Cheers
Michael

 

[Slateman]

All is OK till you get profesional renters for free. Mine was apologysing and paying late till things get so bad that they left at night with 4 months not paid and property in 10 thousand damage. Nobody find them again.
I had realestate to handle this property, so all complains regarding maintanance was fixed by real estate and billed to me monthly.
I felt sorry for them and they lied to me that money they are behind will be paid becaose the
lady is getting setelmant from husband.
Well I was sucker and I will not invest to rental property again. Insurance is not that cheep as Switch is saying. To be properly insured against this things, you are looking for 37% income loss.
It is many cheaper insurances arownd, but they do not cover all that well.
I feel sory for you rodentrancher. People like your tenant are the reason why landlords charging higher rent to cover the risk factor.

 

[Puppy]

Geez, I'm so glad this post is here! I've been renting this unit from Feb this year, and around the middle of last month the owner decided to sell her unit so in comes the real estate agent. He comes in and all is well. Made a few appointments and although it's hard to wake up at those ungodly times during examination period, still managed to get up and smile and welcomed them in. Then he called one day and asked for inspection on Thursday, which I politely said they couldn't due to an examination. He said he doesn't care, and as they have the keys, he will come in whether or not I'm here (repeated a few times)...so I missed an exam. Then the next inspection...got a call on a Saturday morning and said they will be in that afternoon (24hr notice? Nope!). I refused as I had to go out that day, and that's when he hung up and called to say they will be in on Sunday, and I HAVE to let them in because I would not let them in on Saturday. So, Sunday it was. On Monday I got a call to say they will be here on Wednesday, which I kindly asked if they could make it on Thursday please...which he said sternly that I can't do anything about it because they have already made the appointment with the potential buyers. After I asked him to please check if the times are suitable with me first next time before agreeing to an inspection on my behalf, he called again to say how difficult I was to deal with, how dark and messy my apartment is, how I have trust issues, how I shouldn't be in the unit when they are having inspections. I said I will be happy if I get my bond back and I'll move out straight away...to which he said if I'm on a one year contract, the ONLY thing I could do was to pay rent until next Feb. This guy's an idiot. I know my rights, but no point explaining to him because he doesn't get it! Sorry for the long post, but I've been really stressed by his comments. GRRRR

 

[Puppy]

Zoe

Apart from wanting to say what a gorgeous avatar that is...

I agree fully with you!! Same thing happened to so many close friends. They'd get huge bills before moving out of the unit for no real reasons.

what i thought was unfair tho was that of the $900 she was awarded (apart from the $300 she had a right to), she had not a SHRED of evidence to prove that she deserved it...i think its a bit scary that a landlord can completely fabricate "damage" we caused and not even have any fake evidence and she gets awarded money, even if it is only $900.

Why did they still get the $900 without evidence??

 

[zoe]

cos the arbitrator was an old wanker with nuthing better to do than to listen to the whole story over 3 sessions or sumthin. he made a decision on who he THOUGHT was telling the truth rather than who had EVIDENCE! which is SO WRONG! in a proper court she wouldnt have gotten anywhere without evidence.

pup you should stick up for your rights as a tenant. our last house was sold on us and we were pretty lenient with letting them in when they asked, but if they tried to come in with less than 48 hours notice and it wasnt convenient then we said no and wouldnt let them in! oh and by the way, there's nuthing stopping you from having the house DISGUSTINGLY messy when they come around for inspections! :twisted: we never needed to do that but it might give them the hint!

 

[Puppy]

the arbitrator was an old wanker with nuthing better to do than to listen to the whole story over 3 sessions or sumthin.

Now that is just so wrong. I would have appealed to the tribunal if possible, or gotten meself a lawyer...but then again, good lawyers are hard to come by... so is money $$. :shock:

there's nuthing stopping you from having the house DISGUSTINGLY messy when they come around for inspections!

*LOL* Hint taken! I won't say you said anything!!

 

[rodentrancher]

Yeah, as landlords, you have to give 14days notice for inspections etc. The real estate agents should have organised for all the inspections to happen over a week period, and given you the notice hey?? Whatever, we are selling our rental house. I'd rather put all the money into our own house hey? I've calmed down a bit since last night. Wasn't a very happy puppy was I? Had a good sleep now, and things always seem a bit better when you aren't totally exhausted. I'm going back to work behind the bar at the Tavern today for a rest(easy job). LOL! :lol:

 

[earthmother]

We bought an Investment property and had heard the nightmare stories.

We've been Landlording for about 3 years and never had a problem. We chose a girl with 4 kids who wanted a new life away from an abusive lifestyle. It's our eldest daughter.

We told her to make the place her own as we were not ever selling. We knew she had great taste and just paid for the paint and floor coverings.

It's in a place called Coomba and has views of the lakes ocean and rural hills. The school is small and perfect and the village has a population of 800.

She's been a model tenant and even though prices are skyrocketting out there we won't sell.

Really really skyrocketing. Demmit! lol.

 

[soulweaver]

puppy, if you are on a lease you can say no to all appointments and they have to either wait until lease is up or take you to the tribunal, which they won't cos it costs them money. your well with-in your rights to refuse entry, they have to ask for permission to enter the property.

the 24 hr notice thing only applys to the landlord or the realestate agent, you have no choice on that but you can refuse entry to potential buyers, that is well with-in your rights too.

i've been through these laws a lot over the past few years, want to no more pm me

 

[Puppy]

Aww... thanks guys for the comfort and advice.... I'm a new member so it's very intimidating for me to post something (since I've been witnessing the huge drama that goes on here, laughing at the funny posts and crying with the sad ones <--I officially live here and have no other life! ).

rodentrancher:

Wasn't a very happy puppy was I?

*sniff* no I wasn't no happy puppy... can I have a hug??

earthmother:
the real estate prices are really falling fast here in Brisbane as it went up too high in the past couple of years. Managed to sell our last house at the peak time (*grins* it was an evil price). Is it still flying up where you're at?

soulweaver:
I do want to know more!! I've PM-ed you

 

[rodentrancher]

Yeah, here's a hug Puppy. I'm back to washing walls n painting again 2morrow. Hope my sore bits wear off hey? Getting too old for this now. Hey, we've decided to replace all the old sash windows, to put a bit more value on the house before we sell. And also repaint the walls in the shi..y bedrooms too. Agents input 2day. Gave us a few good ideas. But we are definately not touching the darn bathroom. No way!! Big bikkies there. We No Touch this!! LOL!!! Cheers