In this edition:

Buy Ready to Rent to Avoid Tenancy

Headaches…

How to Ensure Low to No Vacancy for

Your Rental Property…

Malice in Tenant Land– Damage to

Rental Properties on the Rise!

March 2012

Landlords can Now Spend Fifty Dol-

lars to Save Hundreds…

Selection of Properties Leased This

Month

Quote

Calendar of Events

A Month for Winning Awards and Welcoming New Team Members!

Helen and Sarah (Receptionist) Grant and Christina

Our team attended the RE/MAX An-nual Award Celebrations this month. It was a great night out with the crew and a total buzz to have our people officially recognised for their superb efforts. Please see photos of some of our team, gorgeous girls aren’t they! February has been quieter then Jan-uary and compared to the last cou-ple of years from a rental perspec-tive (sales however has been going nuts). As you know, the first few months of the year are the busiest for us with the highest changeover of tenants and while we have definitely rented most properties out quickly there have still been a few that have been sticking and didn’t end up with the price increases we would have liked. It is exciting times for Chelsea, who works tirelessly behind the scenes with your account payments and transfers, as she’s getting married March 23rd. We’ll miss her for the 5 weeks she’ll be enjoying preparing for the wedding and her honeymoon and look forward to that extra spar-kle on her return! We have also split the portfolio re-cently to allow room for further growth and Nikki Zwoerner has tak-

en over some of the properties. She has spoken to many of you already, having now been here several weeks and has settled in beautifully. The timing of the above could not have been better as after almost five years of dedicated service, Connie is ready to move on and explore new challenges beyond the every day running of a property management portfolio. We would l ike to acknowledge Connie’s efforts and reliability throughout her time with us. Connie has always given her best, right through to working when she was sick so as not let the team and

our clients down! We sincerely thank her for this and wish her all the very best in her new adventures. Helen who been with us on and off for 10 years has agreed to increase her hours from part time and man-age Connie’s clients. Her children are all at school this year and she is enjoying being back in the work-force! Most of you have been dealing with her in the last 6 months with the routine inspections and this we be-lieve will be the smoothest transition and allow plenty of time to find the right person to manage the portfolio long term I will send an email before Connie leaves confirming exactly who is looking after your property and their contact details so there’s no confu-sion. Thanks for your continued support, Christina

Nikki

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

• Letterbox

• TV Antenna

• Insulation

• Heating/Cooling

A tenant will expect these

items and should you pur-

chase a new property without

these items, your tenant will

more than likely ask you to in-

clude them.

Feel free to contact us for all

your property investment

needs.

Buy Ready to Rent to Avoid Tenancy Headaches…

First time property investors

should be sure to buy property

that is not only suitable but al-

so ready to rent.

Often first time investors buy

solely on price rather than

evaluating the property’s ten-

ancy opportunities.

Investors are much better off

purchasing a property that is

ready to rent even if it is a little

more expensive, as this mini-

mises vacancy factors and

provides a better return over-

all.

Tips on what should be includ-

ed in your property to make

sure it’s ready to lease in-

clude:

• Fully-fenced rear gardens

• Carpets where necessary

• Flyscreens

• Screen security doors

• Keyed window locks

• Clothes hoist

• Gardens and landscaping

• Driveways

How to Ensure Low to No Vacancy for Your Rental Property…

One of the key factors in max-

imising your rental returns is

minimising your vacancy fac-

tor.

Your vacancy factor is the pe-

riod of time per annum that

your investment property is

vacant. By minimising your va-

cancy factor you can increase

the annual rental return, there-

by making your investment

more effective.

Often landlords seek higher

rental amounts and their prop-

erty sits vacant for a few

weeks whilst a tenant is found.

These weeks of vacancy are

costly and are rarely off-set by

the small increase in weekly

rent once a tenant is secured.

Tips for minimising your va-

cancy factor include:

• Secure and offer long-term

leases

• Ask market value rent

• Maintain premises so that

the tenant is comfortable

• Be flexible in negotiations

• Tend to repair requests

promptly in order to keep good

relations with the tenant.

Contact us for all your property

investment needs.

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

Malice in Tenant Land– Damage to Rental

Properties on the Rise!

Australia's tenants are causing

more damage to rental proper-

ties – but it's not all malicious.

Terri Scheer Insurance figures

show that accidental damage

to rental properties is increas-

ing at a higher rate than mali-

cious damage claims.

We have found a 34% in-

crease in the frequency of ma-

licious damage claims paid

over the past year. The fre-

quency of accidental damage

claims increased by a higher

46% over the same period.

The average size of malicious

damage claims increased by

3.6% over the past year, while

the average size of accidental

damage claims increased by a

much higher 16%.

These figures challenge the

stereotypes that exist in rela-

tion to rental property damage.

There is a widely-held miscon-

ception that good tenants

won't cause damage.

The figures show that this is

far from true. Even the best

tenant can cause accidental

damage to a property.

Accidental damage is caused

by a sudden and unexpected

event. This might include a

broken window or spilling red

wine on the carpet.

It may also cover damage

caused by small children, but

excludes gradual "wear and

tear" that has been sustained

over time.

Malicious damage occurs

when a tenant causes damage

to a property out of spite or ill

will. This might include holes

punched in walls, doors that

have been kicked in, intention-

al damage to flooring or arson.

Despite accidental damage

claims increasing at a higher

rate, malicious damage re-

mains a more common type of

claim.

Terri Scheer's figures also

show the average value of in-

dividual malicious damage

claims is 27% higher than

claims for accidental damage.

Malicious damage is often

more extensive than acci-

dental damage and more likely

to be spread over a number of

rooms.

Terri Scheer has paid claims

as high as $40,000 to repair

malicious damage by tenants.

In addition, malicious damage

claims are often accompanied

by claims for loss of rental in-

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

come during the time it takes

for the damage to be repaired.

The figures can't tell us why

damage claims are increasing,

however it might be the result

of uncertain economic times.

When times are tough, tenants

may be more inclined to take

out their frustrations on their

rental properties.

This is why landlord insurance

is so important to minimise the

impact of damage caused by

tenants.

Regular property inspections

can enable landlords to quickly

identify if and when any dam-

age to their property had oc-

curred and potentially mitigate

loss.

The sooner a landlord is

aware of the damage, the

sooner they can prevent fur-

ther damage occurring and

lodge an insurance claim.

It is also a good idea for land-

lords to appoint a property

manager to oversee their rent-

al property.

A property manager can help

you to choose the right tenants

and conduct regular inspec-

tions.

Tenants who have been care-

less with rental properties in

the past may also be more

likely to seek rental properties

that are not managed by a

professional property manag-

er.

Source : The Australian Real

Estate Review (21 December

2011)

Landlords can Now Spend Fifty Dollars to Save Hundreds…

Lessors can take advantage of

the Queensland Government's

ClimateSmart Home Service,

which helps Queenslanders

tackle their increasing energy

costs.

For a $50 fee, lessors can

take advantage of the Cli-

mateSmart Home Service in

their rental properties.

An electrician will visit the

property to install a wireless

power monitor, up to 5 power-

saving light globes (CFLs),

and where appropriate a pow-

er- and water-saving shower-

head as well as adjustment to

the hot water system's heating

temperature.

The service is designed to

help people to save money on

their electricity bills.

15 March Mid Month Accounting 2 April End of Month Accounting

A Selection of Properties Leased This Month

Ascot Townhouse $525p.w.

3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car accommodation

Quote

“The reason a lot of peo-ple do not recognise op-portunity is because it usually goes around

wearing overalls looking like hard work.”

- - Thomas Edison

Carina Heights House $650p.w.

4 bed, 3 bath, 2 car accommodation

RE/MAX Profile Real Estate 141 Boundary Road TEL 07 3510 5221 FAX 07 3876 5544

www.profilerealestate.com.au Bardon QLD 4065 TEL 07 3510 5227 Connie Nikki profilerentals@remax.com.au

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com PO Box 388, Paddington, 4064 Connie profilerentals2@remax.com.au

Helen helenbryan@remax.com.au

Errors & Omissions: These details have been prepared by us on information we have obtained and while we trust it to be correct, is not guaranteed by us and you should rely on your own enquiries.

Spring Hill Apartment $595p.w.

2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car accommodation

Calendar of Events

More than 300,000 Queens-

land homes have now signed

up to the ClimateSmart Home

Service which is continuing to

help homes save bundles on

their power bills.

Jennifer from Eatons Hill is

making great bill savings from

the service.

"We are making sure at the

end of day before we go to

bed everything is turned off.

We are finding the stand-by

eliminator especially useful for

this, or when we're going out

for long periods of time it's just

one button to press," Jennifer

said.

To book a service visit the Cli-

mateSmart website or phone

133 600. Services are availa-

ble from 7am to 7pm, Monday

to Saturday.

Tenants should seek their les-

sor's permission before book-

ing the ClimateSmart service.

Source : RTA Newsletter

(October – November 2011)