desreb Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Hi folks, I was just wondering how deposits and 'reservations' work in rentals, in practice, when trying to get an application accepted? For example - the one form I've filled in so far has a pricing section where it asks for: Property Rental pw Rental Bond 2 weeks first payment Cost of tenancy agreement Reservation fee and period Questions: - If I want to offer above the asking rate (can I, legally?), do I communicate this by simply writing it in the Rental PW box? If not.. and assuming someone else has.. how is this done? - Also, if offering multiple months up front - again, is this a valid/legal sweetener, and how is this done? - Since I assume we should 'put our money where our mouth is', I assume placing a reservation/deposit seals the deal, pending references? Do we push for a provisional acceptance of our application, and then send a deposit by BPay/etc before anyone else can, if possible? Or should we wait before we're confirmed as the first choice before offering any deposit, reservation fee, etc? - How does the reservation fee work? Is it just something from calmer days, when a prospective tenant might ask the landlord to hold on for a few days while they make their decision? I assume it might be irrelevant these days, since with the market the way it is, any sign of hesitation would simply move the landlord on to the next acceptable candidate who unconditionally signs up? - If reservations can still be used, and we want to hold it for a few days, again, how do we do this? Simply write a figure and number of days in the form? Many thanks! D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desreb Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 Also - I was wondering: if we submit two Applications in the same day, and both are subsequently accepted, then what happens? I noticed the form says that we're forming a contract. Is there a penalty for withdrawing from one, or will they in practice be pushing for a deposit quickly, and move on to the second applicant if we decline to put one down? Thanks! D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Joker Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Not sure where you are looking but in Queensland it is illegal to get a tenant to pay any agent's fees for the cost of drawing up a tenancy agreement or charging reservation fees. The process here is that you make a written application to the agent, the agent does the usual credit and reference checks, agrees with the landlord which prospective tenant to make an offer to and then you formally sign a tenancy agreement. At that time - and only at that time - do you become liable for bond (which is the deposit - usually equivalent to 2 weeks but could be up to 4 weeks - no more as that is also legislated in Queensland). You are usually required to also make 2 weeks rental payment in advance and maintain that two weeks "credit". Offering more than the advertised rental is perfectly legal and, indeed, you need to do it in a market where there are more applicants than available properties (as is the case in Brisbane right now due to the floods having wiped out a couple of surburbs that had a large number of rental properties). As for offering to pay more rental in advance, again I believe this is legislated and you can't/shouldn't pay more than 2 months in advance. You shouldn't pay anything until you have been accepted for a property but there is nothing to stop you from (in fact it's quite sensible and recommended to) applying for several properties at the same time. It's not unusual for an advertised property to attract thirty applications in hot-property areas. I own several properties in Queensland and am a landlord, so speak from experience. You cannot enter a contract at the application stage unless you have a formal acceptance fro the landlord or letting agent. So more than happy for you to email me with what they have sent you to check over before you commit to anything. It is not unusual for letting and real estate agents to be economical with the truth and take advantage of migrants' lack of knowledge of the property game here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desreb Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks Joker, We ended up offering asking+$20, and 3 months in advance at one place, and 4 at another... expensive, but we have the funds to do that, and needed to be on top of the pile. We were accepted at one, and most likely will be at the other. So as far as QLD law works, the rent up front is retained as 'cash in the bank', rather than being consumed by the first few months of tenancy? I guess we can still live with that, although I assume there's a risk of losing it all if the landlord goes AWOL/Bankrupt and the house is possessed by someone else. We're currently holding off one agency for up to 24h while we wait for confirmation of acceptance on our other choice. Not an ideal situation, but I guess we can do that until there's a banker's cheque in the agent's hand and a signature on the tenancy agreement. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marcossupra Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Hi D,I live in Melbourne and here you can apply for more than one property at the same time, what you did was perfect, too often they have more than 5 applicants without problem, you cannot apply for one and wait, you are right. Hardly you will loose your money, ask them to put 3 months in advance on the contract and you are safe, need to be. Just don't wait too much or the first one can rent that place to the second tenant. Cheers Marcos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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