LANDLORDS INFORMATION

Please find set out below answers to some of the frequently asked questions asked by Landlords. These answers will give you a general idea but if you want further clarification or to ask more questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

As Property Managers, Harrods Real Estate strives to give all it’s Landlord’s the best professional service at all times so they have piece of mind that their investment will always be given First Class Priority.

Property Management Fee

Our standard Property Management Fee is 8.8%.

This fee covers:

• Processing of new Landlord information in Office system
• Collection of Rents & Receipt allocation to tenant
• Rental bond sent Department of Fair Trading
• Daily Rental Arrears
• Phone calls/e-mail/sms/letter to tenant with rental arrears
• Regular communication with tenant & Landlord
• Maintenance of property
• Liaison with tenant, Landlord & tradespeople to organise repairs & maintenance
• Obtaining quotes for repairs & maintenance
• Routine inspections
• Follow-up process for routine inspections including report to Landlord
• Process & reimbursement by tenant of water usage
• Payment & processing of all maintenance & body corporate accounts
• Payment & processing of all other accounts (insurance, land rate, etc) if required
• Process vacating tenant
• Arrange date & time for property to be available after vacating
• Arrange time & date for “Exit Inspection”
• Organise keys, remotes, etc after property is vacated
• Communication with tenant & relevant arrangements for further cleaning & repairs (if required after exit inspection)
• Preparation of bond refund or action against tenant

It must also be taken into account that each property is different as is each Landlord’s requirements, thus individual negotiations can be arranged

Letting Fee

Our standard Letting Fee is the equivalent to one (1) weeks rent.

This fee covers:

• Notification to Landlord of tenant vacating & instruction to re-let
• Advertising copy prepared for marketing
• Digital photos taken
• Colour window card prepared
• Property advertised on 2 internet sites
• Ad copy prepared for local paper advertising
• Sign erected on property (where possible)
• Property added to rental list
• Take inquiry on property
• Arrange appointments with prospective tenant to inspect
• Provide comprehensive Tenancy Applications
• Discuss property with team at weekly meetings
• Regular Landlord contact with updates
• Process Tenancy Applications (references, database checks, 100 pint ID, etc)
• Communication with Landlord regarding applications & subsequent approval
• Preparation of “Entry Condition Report”
• Arrange date & time for lease signing, rent & bond to be paid, key collection, etc.

Statements

Our statements are sent at the end of every month with a year to date statement sent at the end of every financial year.

Payments

You can have your money deposited into your bank account or a cheque dispersed to you either at the end of every month or bi-monthly.

Rents

We give our tenants 2 options to pay the rent:

• By direct debit into our account
• By cash at our office

Qualifying Tenants

We take every possible precaution when qualifying tenants as we strive to get the best tenant for every property. This process involves:

• Completion of comprehensive Tenancy Application form
• References
• Employment & previous tenancy reference checks
• TICA checks, this is a National Database for Tenants

As mentioned before, we take this process extremely seriously, because a good tenant is worth its weight in gold.

Time to Find Tenant

If you are a new Landlord, we start marketing your property immediately after you approve us as your marketing agent. If we already manage your property, we start once the vacating notice is given.

Our first objective is to cross match your property with our existing database of potential tenants before we start our extensive marketing campaign.

You must be made aware though; our main objective is to find the best tenant for your property, not the quickest tenant.

The time it will take to find a tenant can vary due to forces beyond our control, such as economic climate, supply & demand, seasonal factors, etc, but at all times we endeavour to find the right tenant in the shortest time possible & for the highest rent possible.

Insurance

The short answer is YES, you need insurance to cover building, contents & public liability. It is imperative that this insurance is taken out & maintained. If you have a strata unit, the body corporate takes out the building insurance but you should take out a policy covering contents & public liability.

Arrears

Once a tenant falls 5 days in arrears we contact the tenant with a phone call/sms/e-mail as well as a letter. This action is usually enough to have the matter resolved immediately.

If the tenant falls 10 days in arrears, the tenant is advised that if payment is not immediate, then they will be served with a notice to quit.

If there is still no payment after 14 days, then the Termination Notice is served requesting vacant procession.

Damage

We conduct periodic inspections of every property; this process enables us to keep close tabs on the condition of every property. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that damage will not occur to your property.

This is why we take such an involved process in selecting our tenants & implement such strict control on arrears & periodic inspections to reduce the chance of this occurring.

We are the most professional Property Managers in Shellharbour City.