$350 pw for a wrecked rental

[bernie inn]

We rented a furnished house for 3 months from the Uk. It cost $400 per week and it was a dump, Cracks everywhere advertised as 3 bedrooms the 3rd bedroom didnt have a door, infested with mice (to be fair the landlord did get an exterminator in). We give the keys back to this property tomorrow. We have secured another rental for 12 months in Belmont (Geelong) for the same price, and I have to say in comparrison its stunning 4 bedrooms clean and modern, we actually moved in last week and have sat on garden furniture (our furniture is being delivered on wednesday) beacuse its prefereable to the dump we have just left.

[windswept]

It horrifies me when I hear stories of what some landlords are like. We self manage our properties, and I always prefer to give the full bond back to our tenants wherever possible. I also don't expect our tenants to do stuff like dust blinds, vacuum behind couches etc. As long as the place is neat and reasonably clean, with no major damage, we return the bond in full. Not all landlords are greedy and avaricious, I promise!!

[Glad I Moved]

Yes, I'm not convinced it's always the agents who are the problem. The last two houses we left, the agents told us we'd left them looking immaculate. We asked for that in writing, but they said the owners had to look. They were the ones who tried to get money out of us, not the agents, who were really apologetic.

 

Very true - There are certainly some very good agents out there but the key to happy renting is to get a good agent AND a good owner!

 

A few years ago, like yours, our agent complimented us on the condition of the property when we were leaving. However, the owners did the final inspection the following day and immediately put in a claim for $900 to rectify what they claimed were spots of black algae in the pool. (Even if this were true, a $50 bottle of algaecide and a good scrub would have sorted the problem)

 

They wouldn't let me revisit the house to verify their claim for which the agent had aplogised and agreed was not only extortionate but also spurious. She was so angry at the owners behaviour that she even wrote to us and told us that she would appear as our witness if we took it to the rental tribunal - at which point the owners sacked her.

 

They found a new agent a week or two later who they had obviously not fully briefed as he sent me the invoice for the completed pool cleaning job as "proof" of their claim. The only problem was that this had nothing to do with the swimming pool at all!

 

It was from a flooring company that they'd hired to rectify a bodged job they'd done themsleves before we'd even moved in and the cheeky buggers were going to use our bond money to pay for it!

 

As soon as they realised they'd been rumbled, they dropped the claim and the bond was refunded in full overnight.

 

To make matters worse for them, not only did they have to pay for the floor themselves but their new agent was useless and the house stayed empty for about 2 months costing them around $5,000 in lost rent.

 

Lesson learned? ALWAYS take photos and ALWAYS insist on being present at the final inspection.

 

Oh yes, and Karma works just fine in Australia!

[Guest slain]

One brill tip I will be doing when I go to rent property take lots of photos, renting a place in the UK now until my student visa is issued, it cleaner now than when I moved in so my bond will be returning to me.

Might even put in a charge for cleaning a scannky oven which after hrs of scrubbing and cleaning agents is looking dam fine for the owner.

Think one thing that will help is renting 1st before I get over to Oz now I know what to look for.

Shame I can't buy in Oz but lets see what the future brings