Waterwise Certificate and Landlord Insurance

One important thing to do to maximise your rent is to get a waterwise certificate for the property. This will allow you to on-charge tenants for water usage and help with cost recoupment. Additionally, it’s important to have landlord insurance, which covers loss of rent, pet damage, and tenant damage. Although it may be an additional cost, we feel it’s worth it for the peace of mind it provides.

Professional Marketing for Your Rental

From a marketing perspective, it’s important to have professional photos and a Matterport 3D tour of the property. This will attract more potential tenants and allow them to see the property before they come to view it. Additionally, it’s important to price the property correctly. Do the necessary market research, understand the surrounding areas, and avoid pricing it too high as this might discourage potential tenants.

Choosing the Right Tenant

When it comes to choosing the right tenant, we recommend doing a tenancy history check, checking affordability (ideally 30% of combined income), and looking at the tenant’s rental history. The ideal tenant is someone with 30% or less of their income going towards rent, good rental references, and a strong rental history. This helps to ensure that the tenant will be able to afford the rent and is likely to take care of the property.

In conclusion, it’s important to maximise your rent while also minimising potential issues with tenants. By getting a waterwise certificate, having landlord insurance, professional photos, pricing the property correctly, and choosing the right tenant, landlords can increase the chances of having a successful rental experience.

Disclaimer: The information provided is intended to be accurate and helpful. It is the responsibility of the reader to verify any information before making any decisions or taking any action.

Looking for expert property management in Brisbane? Our Brisbane property management team helps landlords maximise returns and secure the right tenants.

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1. Screen tenants thoroughly: Before renting out your property, it’s important to screen tenants carefully. This includes checking their credit score, employment history, and rental history. This will help you identify any red flags that may indicate a potential problem tenant.

Communicate effectively

Good communication is key to any successful landlord-tenant relationship. Make sure to keep your tenants informed about any important updates or changes to the property, and respond promptly to any questions or concerns they may have.

2. Maintain the property: Keeping your property in good condition is essential for retaining good tenants. Regularly inspect the property and make any necessary repairs or upgrades. This will help to ensure that your tenants are comfortable and satisfied with their living situation.

Be flexible

Life can be unpredictable, and tenants may occasionally need to make changes to their rental agreements. Be open to discussing any requests they may have, such as allowing a pet or extending the lease. This can help to maintain a positive relationship and keep your tenants happy.

Offer incentives

Offering incentives can be a great way to keep good tenants paying market rent. Consider offering a discounted rent for paying on time or for signing a long-term lease.

3. Be fair and consistent: Treat all of your tenants fairly and consistently. This includes enforcing rules and regulations in the same manner for all tenants and not showing any favoritism.
4. Provide a clear lease agreement: A clear and detailed lease agreement is essential for a successful landlord-tenant relationship. Make sure that your lease agreement covers all the important details, such as rent amount, due date, security deposit, and late fees.
5. Keep accurate records: Maintaining accurate records of rent payments, property inspections, and any other important information is essential for any landlord. This will help you stay on top of any issues that may arise and make it easy to resolve them.
6. Build a positive relationship: Building a positive relationship with your tenants can go a long way in keeping them happy and paying market rent. This includes being approachable, friendly, and responsive to their needs.
7. Be prepared for the unexpected: Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a tenant may fall behind on rent or need to vacate the property unexpectedly. Be prepared for these scenarios by having a plan in place and knowing your rights as a landlord.

By following these tips, you can help ensure that your tenants are happy and satisfied, and that they continue to pay market rent on time. Good luck!

Want to keep your great tenants and maintain strong rent returns? Our Brisbane property management team proactively manages rent reviews and tenant relationships.

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From my experience as a property manager there are three main roadblocks that can prevent the returns on the properties you own now from turning into the nest egg you want to secure your future.

I call these the ‘3 Bs’:

• Bad tenant
• Bad property
• Bad property manager/agency

Generally, if one of these is present there is usually a relatively simple solution. If two are present, there may a wider problem which may be preventing you from getting the most from your investment.

The good news is, if you are aware of what these common roadblocks are before they arise, it is much easier to get back on course!

Bad Tenant

No-one wants a bad tenant, and the risk of issues increases substantially when you have a bad tenant in conjunction with one or more of the other ‘3 Bs’.

Again though there is some good news – protecting yourself against bad tenants is actually the easiest of the ‘3 Bs’ to avoid, and your best protection is with good landlord insurance, and a good property manager.

Another reason you may have a bad tenant is because your property is on its way to becoming a ‘bad property’, commonly because there isn’t an appropriate maintenance schedule. Therefore if you can stop something becoming a bad property, bad tenants can turn into good tenants!

Bad Property

This leads me to the ‘bad property’.

As investors, you don’t need to buy a fully renovated $1m property, but if you want to stop a good tenant from turning into a bad tenant (or turn a bad tenant back into a good tenant), you do need to maintain your purchase.

On average most people hold an investment property for 7 years. If you buy something that is in original condition from the 80s with a 35 year-old kitchen and bathroom, inevitably things will go wrong. You should have a maintenance plan in place to fix areas as required. Some of the musts include yearly pest inspections and having gutters cleaned, and ensuring air conditioners and hot water systems are checked and serviced regularly.

My advice here is: if it’s broke, fix it! – and in a reasonable timeframe. Taking six months to fix an air conditioner could end up at QCAT and a result in a rent reduction being granted.

Bad Property Manager

Too many times investors only realise they have a bad property manager when they have a bad tenant – and this can be too late!

If your property manager isn’t letting you know of issues relating to your investment, then you may have an issue with your property manager.

A lot of the time property managers are reluctant to raise issues because they don’t want to lose business. But being frank and advising the owner of emerging issues – and this is key, coming to them with recommendations – can protect investors from unnecessary heartache down the track.

Good property management includes conducting regular inspections, reporting maintenance, following up on arrears and arranging lease renewals – if you don’t think this is being done as a minimum, then you should be asking questions.

In property management there is a saying that 90% of your time is spent with 10% of your properties. The same can be said of owning investment properties – you don’t want to spend most of your time worrying about the 10% of issues.

I have found over the years that if you get a combination of the ‘3 Bs’ in one property there is a good chance it is going to affect the property’s returns.  The good news is that knowing what the three common roadblocks are, and how to identify them before they escalate into larger problems, can save investors time and money down the track!

Get more from your Brisbane investment property. Talk to Pure Real Estate’s property management experts about maximising returns and minimising risk.

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What’s Included in Our Promotion

Our standard property management agreement includes this special offer, which means that you will not have to pay any costs during the first three months of our services. And switching over to us is easy — we will handle all the details to ensure a smooth transition.

Our Property Management Services

We provide a comprehensive property management service, including:

• 3–4 routine inspections per year, complete with photos
• Weekly rent disbursement and statements
• An end-of-year financial statement and access to an owner portal through PropertyMe
• Dedicated, experienced property managers
• Trusted tradespeople who have been working with us for many years

Additional Fees When Securing a New Tenant

When it comes time to secure a new tenant, there are only a few additional fees to consider:

• $88 to $120 for online marketing, including listing on Realestate.com.au
• $200 for professional photography and drone images, plus a Matterport virtual 3D tour (if required)
• A letting fee of one week’s rent plus GST

Don’t miss out on this special promotion — contact us today to learn more. Please give us a call on 0406 743 965 or submit an online enquiry.

Find out how you can get started with Pure Real Estate’s Request Appraisal. Our Brisbane property managers handle everything so you don’t have to.

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Prepare your house for sale to maximise your returns

1. Declutter

If there is a cupboard in the house, there is a good chance the buyer will open it.  It’s now time to throw the box that your kettle came in 5 years ago that’s sitting on top of the fridge.  The more spacious you make the house, the bigger it will look and the better it will be!

2. Patch & paint

Remember when you knocked the wall or put a little hole in the wall while moving furniture, it’s now time to patch and paint it.

3. Neutral colours

The red feature wall you painted ten years ago that is now out of style – refresh the space and repaint with neutral colours.

4.  Carpets

Steam clean carpets or replace carpets to give the property a fresh new look.

5.  Unfortunately this is a big one and a bad one….Deep clean

Get into the oven, behind the TV, the cupboards, skirting boards – everything.  Make time and pick a room while you are at home and get to work.

6.  Maintenance & repairs

There is nothing worse than the little marks you made, you want to make it look like the house has been well-looked after. While these items may seem minor, it puts something in the back of buyer’s minds.

7.  Don’t forget the outside

If you have a deck, get it varnished with plenty of time for it to set in.   Trim the hedges, cutting the trees back away from the house, get any vines removed, tidying the bamboo, making the gardens look nice and neat, refresh the lawn, give it an aerate and water and re-turf if needed so it’s all looking perfect.

8. Door handles

It’s amazing what a visit to Bunnings and spending $30 on new door handles for your kitchen and bathroom will do for your place, now is the time to do it!

9.  Building & pest

There is nothing worse than attracting the dream price for your property only to find that you had termites or something that you could fix that may cost you $500 or $1000 and could be a quick easy fix but turns a buyer off because they think it’s major because of the terminology the Contractor used and it scares the buyer away.  You can also use this as part of your Sales campaign.

10.  Research the market and talk to an Agent – aka, US!

Come up with a plan, don’t just think “yes” we are going to sell and put it on the market.  Do some research, figure out when you are going to market, how you are going to market, how long you expect it to be on the market, what is the average days on the market – this is all something your Agent can help you with.  This is where we can help and it’s what we specialise in.  Use the Contact Us button or give us a call and we can start to point you in the right direction to maximise your sale price and reduce your stress.

Ready to prepare your Brisbane home for sale? Get expert advice with a free property appraisal from Pure Real Estate.

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