Phoenix16 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Hi! I would really appreciate it if anyone out there who has rented in Australia could share their experiences of the rental inspection! I am due my first rental inspection tomorrow, we have lived in the house for 4 months and the letter I received gave 'tips' on how to 'successfully pass' the inspection. It suggests that walls are washed down, windows cleaned, floors mopped, work surfaces wiped, sinks polished...the list goes on.... Now don't get me wrong I keep the house as immaculate as I can and give it a good bottoming every week but we do have to actually live in it and I have a 3 year old who as soon as I polish the windows puts her sticky little paws on them etc. Im just getting really nervous now that the littlest spec of dust or 1 smudge on the window etc will give us a black mark and we will be threatened with eviction etc. Im possibly over-reacting here but I rent a couple of houses out back in the Uk and they are inspected every 6 months by the agent but not to the degree they seem to be here, I know my tenants don't get issued with a list suggesting they polish the windows and wipe the work tops etc!! At the end of the day, we keep the house as immaculate as we can, we havn't hung any pictures up (we daren't!!) its virtually exactly as we moved in, we pay the rent bang on time (and its not cheap either!!) In fact Id love tenants like us as mine are always paying late and messing me about!! Sorry to harp on!! What Im really hoping for is some re-assurance or some forewarning!! Thank you in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdb Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 They won't expect a show home, All they are looking for is to see that you havent caused any damage and are keeeping the property in a reasonable "lived in" condition which is fit for human habitation. Nothing to worry about at all. As long as its clean with no mahor damage there will be no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark X Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 THey understand your house is to be lived in and they just want to check its being looked after and you are caring for it - sounds like you'll get through with no problems at all. Most of the people who do the inspections are the younger property management staff, most of the ones I've seen look like they still live at home anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I do not think you will have any problems, they need to know you are looking after the house and not destroying it. They expect a house to be lived in . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddysMum Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I have never washed the walls for the inspection. I do give it a good clean though and tidy clutter away and make sure it all smells nice. That's all though. We live here, it's our home and they have our bond if we damage anything! I get really annoyed by the inspections. Ours are every 3 months, but at least it means the house gets a good spring clean four times a year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 Thank you for the replies, they are very reassuring, although I am still going through the house (again!) like a mad woman today when I should be splashing in the pool with my little rugrat on this gloriously hot Monday!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 The tips you mention seem more suited to the inspection you will have when you vacate. For a standard check as long as the house is relatively clean and tidy and shows no signs of damage you shouldnt have a problem. When you do come to vacate the inspection they carry out then is in my opinion the one to worry about, 99% of agents are very OTT and they always try to deduct something from your bond,,, this is the one i normally bleach walls and doors, hoover the door runners, clean the blades of ceiling fans etc etc. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 The tips you mention seem more suited to the inspection you will have when you vacate. For a standard check as long as the house is relatively clean and tidy and shows no signs of damage you shouldnt have a problem. When you do come to vacate the inspection they carry out then is in my opinion the one to worry about, 99% of agents are very OTT and they always try to deduct something from your bond,,, this is the one i normally bleach walls and doors, hoover the door runners, clean the blades of ceiling fans etc etc. Cal x Many many thanks for taking the time to reply, its very much appreciated. I did have an inspection a couple of weeks after moving in and whilst they claimed to have sent a letter to inform me of this I didn't get one, just a big shock when she knocked on the door at 9am monday morning!! The house was a tip but I had the hoover out and was clearly having a 'cleaning day', she said everything was fine and I heard nothing further so hopefully tomorrow will be equally as painless only this time you could actually eat your dinner off my floors its so clean!! I have actually been warned to 'beware' at the end of the tenancy by a couple of new aussie friends I've met, they also say that is likely the agent will 'try it on' and that the sad thing is its people who desperately need their bond back straight away that lose out, their advice is to tell them you are more than happy to wait and let the 'rent tribunal' decide and this usually does the trick! I have to say though that so far my agent does seem to be pretty fair and reasonable and I realise the letter I got was the standard they send to all tenants so Im optomistic at the moment!! Once again thanks, your advice has ensured that I will actually get some sleep tonight!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byrned Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Thank you for the replies, they are very reassuring, although I am still going through the house (again!) like a mad woman today when I should be splashing in the pool with my little rugrat on this gloriously hot Monday!!!! Dont worry I never clean my windows and stuff for an inspection, the only time I do stuff like you listed is when I have vacated a property, as long as you have no holes in the walls or stains on the carpets and you keep the lawn mowed stuff like that you will be fine, its your home and we all live differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 I have actually been warned to 'beware' at the end of the tenancy by a couple of new aussie friends I've met, they also say that is likely the agent will 'try it on' and that the sad thing is its people who desperately need their bond back straight away that lose out, their advice is to tell them you are more than happy to wait and let the 'rent tribunal' decide and this usually does the trick! I have to say though that so far my agent does seem to be pretty fair and reasonable and I realise the letter I got was the standard they send to all tenants so Im optomistic at the moment!! Once again thanks, your advice has ensured that I will actually get some sleep tonight!! Your friends are so spot on. The agents seem to enjoy deducting funds from your bond and sadly it is sometimes hard to argue back. I have known the most ridiculous things from a threat of a $50 deduction for dust around the bath, to charges for a single cobweb outside and soap suds in the dishwasher !!!! I would love my job but for the dealing with agents,lol, its funny how they dont seem as observent when doing entry inspections as they do when doing final inspections,lol Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Prickles83 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 we had an inspection today- she didn't really look properly!! She checked every room but didn't check the built in oven was clean and didn't open the pantry door- didn't go in the garage and only "popped" her head in the ensuite! I have also been warned about what happens at the end of a tennancy - we were issued with photo's of every piece of damage and a twenty odd page list- we then went and checked every room by the list and added a lot of additional items- hopefully when we leave this property we will be okay!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 I know the OP was looking for reassurance but we had a very different experience with our first agent and our inspections were extremely thorough, we got pulled up for dust on the toilet window sill - we had spring cleaned beforehand and it was a tiny window that we simply missed. Other stuff was picked up too which had been like that when we'd moved in. Each inspection was a major trauma! Funnily enough in the end we got the full bond back without a murmur though. Our second agent has been completely different though, to be honest we didn't even spring clean before the first, we thought we might as well get a baseline on what was expected and they simply left a note saying 'house looks great'. It's the luck of the draw I think. TBH the whole inspection trauma in the first rental is what pushed us to building, and we move in tomorrow - yay!!! But even if you do miss a cobweb you won't get evicted so don't worry! Let us know how it goes Jules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Just want to say a big thank you to everyone who replied to my post, all of them were really helpful. I had the inspection and after all the worrying it was a big anti climax! The letting agent introduced herself by saying that she had not come was to inspect how clean and tidy I was, she was there simply to ensure we had not banged big holes in the walls and that we were basically looking after the property! If thats the case I still don't understand why they put all the cleaning 'suggestions' in the letter! Anyway, she left saying the house was lovely and that we had most definitely 'passed' the inspection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.