Owners

Living offer full service property management. We pride ourselves on being able to offer you a personalised service. If you are Brisbane or Gold Coast based we are able to come to your place of residence, work or at your investment property to discuss our services in person. Please do not hesitate to contact our office to arrange an obligation free personal appointment with our Property Managers.

The first step is to contact our friendly staff to arrange a meeting to discuss our services; you will need to appoint our agency to act on your behalf. Once we are appointed to manage your investment property, we will make contact with the tenant and arrange collection of keys and all relevant documents from your current agent.

In most cases you will be required to give 30 – 90 days’ notice depending on what is in your current management agreement.

Our personalised service. You will find that we use the most up to date software and training tools. We are able to give our landlords and tenants personalised service and focus on building professional relationships. Living Property Management specialises solely in Property Management allowing us to excel in this field.

Our Property Managers are responsible for both the leasing and ongoing management of the property. They carry out viewings with the tenants as well as maintaining contact with the tenant throughout the duration of the lease agreement. Firstly, we meet the tenants during the viewing of the property. Viewings are carried out on a regular basis at times that suit prospective tenants. We conduct viewings after hours and on Saturdays. All applications undergo strict employment and reference checks. We also ensure that tenants are not listed on the national database for rental arrears and damages. You will be kept informed of who has applied for your property and you will have the final say on who resides at your property.

Changes to renting with pets will allow a property owner to refuse a pet only on prescribed reasonable grounds. There are clear rules in relation to renter’s requests for pets:

1. Tenants will be liable for any damage caused by the pet (as they are now).

2. Blanket “no pets” rules will be prohibited

3. Owners will have to consider the specific circumstances or the specific attributes of a pet request

4. Strict timeframes will also apply for property owners/managers to respond to any requests for a pet or the request will be considered approved.

5. ‘Pets’ can include a wide range of animals and are not restricted to dogs and cats.

Grounds to refuse a pet will include –

1. the rental property is unsuitable for the proposed pet

2. the pet poses an unacceptable risk to health and safety eg venomous pets

3. keeping the pet would breach laws, by-laws or park rules

4. request exceeds a reasonable number of animals to be kept

5. animal is not a pet

Keeping a pet may be subject to conditions –

1. Conditions only to relate to keeping a pet on the premises

2. They must be reasonable in regard to the type of pet and nature of premises.

3. Conditions must be included in the lessor’s written approval.

4. They are void if they increase the rent or bond, require a form of security

5. Examples of reasonable conditions

1. If the pet is not a type of pet ordinarily kept inside—a condition requiring the pet to be kept outside at the premises

2. if the pet is capable of carrying parasites that could infest the premises—a condition requiring the premises to be professionally fumigated at the end of the tenancy

3. if the pet is allowed inside the premises—a condition requiring carpets in the premises to be professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy.

A maximum amount equal to four weeks rent is to be paid by the Tenant as Bond prior to the Tenant moving into the Property unless the rent is greater than $700 per week. In this case, then an agreed amount can be requested to be paid over and above the four weeks rent as Bond. The Bond is lodged with the Residential Tenancies Authority and held there until the Tenant vacates the premises and a thorough Agent Exit Property Inspection and report is completed and we are satisfied the Tenant has returned the Property as required and all rent has been paid. The Bond is then dispersed appropriately.

All monies received on your behalf are held in our regularly audited Trust Account. We offer weekly disbursements to our landlords, being paid to you every Thursday. Should you wish for funds to be made only once per month, this can be arranged. From these monies we pay all authorised payments relating to your property eg council rates, insurance, repairs and maintenance. Copies of any paid invoices are sent to you with your monthly statement. You will receive one monthly statement of all funds paid into your nominated bank account for that monthly period. We electronically transfer your funds into your nominated financial account within the next 2 business days.

Work arranged by our Agency for your Property is carried out by a suitably qualified and licensed tradesperson. If the work required is covered by a warranty, our Agency contacts the supplier, or if the work is claimable under your Landlord or any other insurance policy, we can contact the insurer to claim on your behalf. Our Agency has access to a wide range of trades people who have met our Agency’s stringent criteria.

Each business day rent arrears are monitored with action taken. If the Tenant is 4 days in arrears a reminder is sent. If rent is in arrears on the 8th day, we issue a formal Notice to Remedy, as the law allows at his time. In this event, a Notice copy will be sent to you for your reference. If rent continues to be unpaid we issue a formal Notice to Leave when the law allows and send a copy to you. We maintain contact with you until the matter is finalised ie rent is paid or the eviction process concludes.

The most common tenancy is a Fixed Term eg 12 months or longer. In today’s market less Tenants are requesting 6 month tenancies due to the costs of moving premises and the desire to have security with their home and the knowledge the rent will not alter over the next 12 months. We suggest a new Tenant’s first Tenancy Agreement be for 12 months to see how the Tenant performs. If the market allows a rent increase can be written into the Agreement at the 6 month mark. The Agreement may be re-negotiated before the end of each fixed term period. We contact you about 3.5 months prior to a lease expiry with options and advice about rent.

The Tenancy Agreement specifies that the Tenant permits the Lessor/Agent to inspect the Property during the tenancy provided the Tenant is given notice, as required by the RTRA Act. The Act states that unless a Tenant agrees otherwise, entry may not be made less than 3 months after a previous entry by the Lessor/Agent.

Before renting a Property it is highly recommended to have appropriate insurance cover such as ‘Landlord Protection Insurance’. We can provide various brochures from Insurance Companies providing this type of policy. In addition, building and contents insurance and public liability cover are vital. Packages are typically available from your preferred Insurer for cost effective and comprehensive protection. All queries about insurance must be directed to Insurance Providers.

The Lessor is responsible to pay Council / Shire sewerage and drainage rates, Land Tax and all corporate charges. From the date a tenancy commences and if specified on the Tenancy Agreement, Tenants are responsible to pay for electricity, telephone, gas plus water charges over and above the average allowance incurred. The Lessor can pass on full water consumption costs as long as their Property meets the criteria of the 3 star wells rating.

It is recommended that if the Property is new or has been vacant for awhile and a telephone line is not connected to the Property the Lessor pays for a line connection. We recommend the Tenant organises the work and submits the account to us for the Lessor to pay. The Tenant is responsible to pay for the service connection to the line and all services used.