A fixed-term agreement has a definitive start and end date, while a periodic tenancy is known typically as a month-to-month arrangement and does not have an end date.

There are pros and cons for both, and you should consider them carefully as they might affect you as the landlord.

Fixed-term tenancy

• Provides security and peace of mind knowing you have a fixed income for the period of the agreement.
• Enables you to forecast and budget accordingly for any expenses or refurbishment required.
• Rent increases can be written into tenancy agreements (check your state legislation).
• The term of the agreement can end at a time when the market is at its premium, therefore giving you greater control.
• To end a fixed-term agreement, the required notice is to be provided to the tenant as per state legislation. A tenant cannot leave prior to the end of the fixed term but does need to give the required notice if they are ending the agreement.

Periodic tenancy

• The tenant is in control and can dictate when they wish to end the tenancy.
• The tenant is not committed to a period of tenancy other than the period required for the notice.
• The option of increasing the rent is often missed as the tenancy continues unless the agency is particular about following through with monitoring all periodic
• Tenant may terminate the tenancy at a slow time, ie. Christmas, therefore the property may be vacant longer. This equates to loss of income to the lessor and to the agent as commission income.
• The lessor/agent has to provide the required notice under state legislation if vacant possession is required.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Finding the right tenant is crucial to the success of your property investment.

The right tenant is one who pays their rent on time and takes care of your property as you would.

It’s important to remember property features that appeal to a tenant are not necessarily the same as features you would look for yourself. Therefore, you must consider the type of tenant that is suitable for your property and market it accordingly.

Factors that may affect the type of prospective tenant who applies for your property may be the time of year, presentation of the property, advertised price and the systems and processes in place to handle enquiry and qualify each enquiry.

Once you have secured a suitable application, a thorough tenant screening process should always be conducted, including full rental history, tenancy database checks, references, rent payment history and condition of their previous rental properties during routine inspections.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

It’s a question every investor asks.

While starting with a search of comparable properties on websites such as realestate.com.au or

domain.com.au is great to see how much similar properties are being advertised for, it should not be the deciding factor of how your property is priced when going to market.

The agency you appoint to manage your property should have access to property data software that allows them to produce a Comparative Rental Analysis (CRA) prior to your property being advertised for rent. A CRA will show exactly how much similar properties rented for and how long they took to rent.

More importantly, this report will show any difference between the original advertised price and the price it eventually rented for, which can sometimes be quite a gap.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

The length of time a rental property is on the market will reflect how it is priced with comparable properties, how it is presented to prospective tenants and the demand from the market for properties such as yours.

If your property is vacant it may require a different strategy to that of a property with a tenant already in place in order to minimise vacancy periods.

Your property manager should advise you of the current “days on market” figures for their clients and for similar properties to yours. You can then discuss with them the best approach to pricing your property in order to secure a suitable tenant in a time that matches your needs.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Open inspections used to be considered a mandatory part of renting a property, but are now not quite as common as they used to be.

In an open inspection, a specific time and date is set for prospective tenants to drop by and walk through the property for a viewing. This event is advertised publicly so interested potential tenants can plan ahead and arrive with questions.

Inspections by appointment are whereby a tenant may book an inspection based on their own schedule and the property manager’s availability. The property manager is then provided with the prospective tenant’s name, phone number, email address and booking time.

While inspections by appointment are based on a single party registering for an inspection, your property manager may allow other interested parties to register for the same inspection time or choose to cap theamount of people they show through the property for security reasons. If you have a tenant in place already, it is important to respect their privacy as well and ensure that the transition of tenants is as smooth as possible.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

So your property manager has just received an application from a prospective tenant who wants to rent your property and they have provided everything from previous rental ledgers to bank statements and a list of references. It all looks great, so you should let them move in right? Wrong.

Providing they have supplied all of the required documentation with their application form, the prospective tenant is about to undergo a thorough check of previous rental history, tenancy database and reference checks.

If the applicant’s current property manager or landlord is wanting to remove the tenant, their reference could be tainted so at minimum, two previous rental referencesshould be provided to check on the applicant’s history as a tenant prior to where they are living now. Tenancy databases such as TICA may hold records of tenant breaches for up to seven years and there are now strict regulations for how a property manager or landlord can list a tenant on one of these databases.

When presenting an application to you, your property manager should inform you of the results from their database search along with any details surrounding a database listing.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Aside from the obvious importance of presentation, functionality and cleanliness, there may be inconveniences to a tenant that can turn into disputes throughout a tenancy.

However minor you feel they may be, the below list contains common issues that arise in residential tenancies that may quickly turn into disputes about whether they will be provided to the tenant.

If not provided to a tenant, you may very well lose what is a great tenant for the sake of providing these creature comforts that would have ultimately added significant value and appeal to your property:

1. Phone line to the property
2. TV points
3. TV aerial reliability
4. Location of electrical outlets around the property
5. Flyscreens/security screens
6. Airconditioning
7. Fenced yard
8. Ceiling fans
9. Dishwasher
10. Permission for pets

While some of these may not have been an inconvenience to you or your previous tenants, you should consider the long-term goal of attracting the best tenants who will be glad to look after your property and pay their rent on time if you look after them.

You don’t need to go over the top and provide all of these features to your investment property, but you need to be prepared that an otherwise great tenant might request it as a means of them applying or staying because it happens more often than you think.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

If under a fixed-term lease, Queensland legislation requires a tenant to be given two months notice to renew their tenancy or be given a notice to leave.

Should you decide to offer a lease renewal to your tenant, a pro-active property manager will commence the process suitably before the end of your tenants fixed term to reduce any chance of your property becoming vacant. Your property manager will first prepare a Comparative Rental Analysis (CRA), which identifies how much properties similar to yours are rented for.

Combining this data with the consideration of what time of the year the tenant’s lease will end and other measures such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), your property manager should be providing you with this information to justify their recommendations of the new rent being offered to your tenant and how long the new lease should be.

Once you are happy with the new lease being offered, your property manager will prepare the necessary legal paperwork along with their new lease terms and present this to your tenant with the prescribed notice under state legislation. Your property manager should also provide a strict timeline for your tenants to respond to your offer of a lease renewal to ensure you cancommence advertising for new tenants well in advance should your current tenant decline your offer and decided to vacate.

Should your tenant accept the lease renewal offer, the contractual paperwork is signed and you should be formally notified of the acceptance from your property manager.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

There are numerous ways a property management department can be structured and it will be different in almost every agency.

This matters to you as the client because the experience with your selected agent should be in line with how you wish to be served.

The most common structures include:

Portfolio Management

Traditionally the most common way properties have been managed, portfolio management is where a single property manager looks after every task to do with the management of a property.

That property manager is then a central point of contact for all matters relating to the management of a property. The property manager is usually allocated an amount of clients to service depending on their skill level and industry experience.

Task Management

This is when all of the tasks relating to the management of your property ie: maintenance, rent collection, inspections and leasing, are divided up and allocated to specialists within a property management team to take care of.

Pod Management

Pod management consists of small teams managing a portfolio of properties and the tasks are either rotated between team members or there is one central point of contact for the client, and the other team members are assigned various tasks to manage a property.

Hybrid Management

In modern years, hybrid management has become more popular. A mix of other structures is used or certain administration tasks are outsourced to allow property managers more time to focus on the tasks most important to the client experience and their investment goals.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

The short answer to this people is… A lot.

Tax depreciation (also known as property depreciation) is a legitimate deduction against assessable taxable income, generated by a residential or commercial investment property. Tax depreciation experts BMT estimate that between 70%-80% of property investors aren’t claiming tax depreciation and may be missing out on large amounts of cash that should be back in their pocket.

Most people do not claim for property depreciation because either they do not understand that they are allowed to do so or they do not realise how much money they are missing out on by failing to claim.

Typically the value of depreciation that can be claimed for a residential property may range between $1500 and $15,000 a year.

For someone in the top marginal tax bracket, the effect of tax depreciation is to put between $650 and $6500 a year back in their pocket in the initial full year of claim alone.

You can claim tax depreciation for most parts of a building that is related to the creation of assessable income, however there are some exclusions such as the cost of landscaping and retaining walls that do not play an inherent part of the buildings function.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

A vacant investment property does not produce income and unless your property is vacant for a specific purpose, such as renovating or selling, there is a need to generate money from that investment as quickly as possible.

If a tenant has vacated or you have vacated the property yourself, there are strategies available to help you find a suitable tenant as quickly as possible to minimise the amount of income being lost.

If your property has been vacant for some time, consider the amount your property is being advertised for and whether this could be reduced on the basis that a shorter lease period is offered to a suitable applicant. In a time like this when your investment property is not producing income for you, this will help you secure a suitable tenant. You can then review the rent at the end of their fixed term, rather than prolong the vacancy in the hope more rent will be achieved.

A fun little fact for you…Did you know that each week your investment property is vacant, you lose 2% of your annual rental yield. Proactivity and understanding the supply and demand of a market is key!

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

In Queensland, it is compulsory for investors to have the appropriate level of cover for public liability insurance for their investment property.

The standard rules regarding building and contents insurance still apply for your dwelling type, although it is a tenant’s responsibility to insure their own personal belongings.

Landlord insurance is optional, however it should be considered whether it is right for you. Landlord insurance covers you for tenant-related risks including loss of rental income and loss or damage to your contents and building by the tenant.

Bad things can happen to great tenants and a bad tenant is unpredictable. There are numerous, very affordable policies available and you should speak with your property manager about the level of cover that is right for you.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Tenants are required to be in advance with their rental payments, however the frequency with which they pay their rent can almost always fluctuate.

More often than not, the frequency of a tenant’s rent payments coincide with their employment wages being paid. This will vary from person to person.

Your property manager should suggest to any new tenant who is paying their initial rent payment to include any additional rent up to and including their next pay day. This will align each corresponding pay day to

the amount of rent they owe to ensure a consistent calendar of rent payments is set up right from the start.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

You Can’t! You must stay with us and love us forever!!

But seriously though, the rights and obligations of both the tenant and the landlord including notice periods, are prescribed in state legislation.

A tenant cannot be forced to vacate the property simply because you have a buyer. There are legal obligations that must be met to terminate both a fixed-term and periodic agreement.

The sale process can impact on the tenant’s “quiet enjoyment”, a term often referred to as a right of the tenant during their tenancy. The sale process can often result in an unhappy tenant who may become unco-operative during the time the property is for sale.

To encourage the tenant to co-operate fully with the marketing strategies and inspection times, and to have the property clean for inspections, these popular options may be considered:

• Consider offering the tenant a cleaner to come once a week before the open for inspection – it is money worth spending and a good way to keep the tenant on side
• Offer compensation to the tenant by reducing the rent payable for the selling period
• Consider selling via your property management agency as they will have full maintenance history of your property, of which a new owner will appreciate

you know there is an intention to sell the property prior to a tenant moving into your property, you must advise your property manager as there may be legal requirements relating to notices that must be issued prior to the tenant signing their agreement.

on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

One of the most common disputes in a tribunal is about the responsibilities of both parties relating to paying for utilities such as water, gas, electricity and telecommunications.

These responsibilities will depend on a range of considerations including your dwelling type and council laws. The way in which your property is set up with relation to metering will also impact on the responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant.

For example, in some regions, there are a set of steps that must be taken and fittings installed to have a qualified tradesperson certify your home as water efficient before you can charge your tenant for 100% of water consumption.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Rent arrears can impact on the performance of your investment property and your emotional wellbeing if not managed correctly.

Bad things can happen to good people and should your tenant find themselves in financial struggle or stop paying their rent for any reason, a diligent rent monitoring system will ensure that you as the landlord are not out of pocket. This includes checking rent payments daily and issuing the appropriate notices as permitted by legislation.

The legislation is clear about when the formal notices can be issued, however your property manager should have a detailed arrears follow-up process and should be working with the tenant proactively to resolve any rent arrears from day one.

Some tenants genuinely may have forgotten to pay their rent if they don’t have an automatic payment set up so if it is left until when a notice is issued, the relationship with the tenant can become quite negative.

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Management Fees

Management fees are charged on a percentage basis of the total rent monies collected. The amount charged will depend upon the actual rent amount.

The management fees are associated with general management duties including but not limited to:

• Rent collection and managing rental arrears
• Paying and recovery of water consumption from tenants
• Conducting regular rent reviews
• Preparing statements for the owner and collating supporting information for the owner’s statement
• Organising maintenance repairs and quotes.
• Liaison and regular follow-up with maintenance contractors
• Organising special water readings when required
• Organising keys for inspections and tradespeople.
• Copying/scanning of invoices
• Attending to the payment of general property expenses such as council rates
• Liaising with owners and tenants
• Liaising with insurance companies
• Attending to daily telephone, email and fax enquiries
• Liaising with the strata company if applicable
• Processing notices to vacate
• Disbursement of the vacated tenant’s bond
• Administration of advertising tribunal hearings
• Some advertising activities

Letting Fees

The letting fee is based on the weekly rent and only charged when a new  tenant is found.

If a tenant breaks their fixed term tenancy agreement prior to the end date, the letting fee is generally paid by the outgoing tenant as compensation for ending their agreement early. The amount charged will depend upon the actual rent amount.

The letting fee is associated with, but not limited to:

• Arranging, placement, recording and administering advertising
• Arranging, taking and uploading photographs of your property
• Arranging and conducting personal viewing appointments with prospective tenants
• Administrating and processing applications for tenancy 100-point checks
• Processing the application for tenancy, including checking of all references
• Negotiating the terms of the lease with both owner and tenant
• Attending to the preparation, execution and processing of lease documentation including the bond lodgement form, general information for tenants, photocopying keys and the emergency plan for tenants
• Compiling the ingoing inspection including photos (approximately 200 photos are taken for a standard size house)

For more information on this question, we have handy e-book full of FAQ’s. The Sutherlands Property Management Recommendation is to hit the download button and grab a tasty beverage!

Please note that much of this publication is based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence. Although the author and publisher have made every reasonable attempt to achieve complete accuracy of the content in this eBook, they assume no responsibility for errors or omissions and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

It is intended to provide general news and information only. The content does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs.

Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms.

Readers are advised to contact their financial adviser, broker or accountant before making any investment decisions and should not rely on this eBook as a substitute for professional advice. All information is current as at publication release and the publishers take no responsibility for any factors that may change thereafter.

spmg.com.au

p: 07 5535 8854