Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 03, 2008 7:55 am Hi. We are about to settle and we are having no end of problems with the real estate handling the current tenants. Due to the nature of the lease, we can't kick the tenants out and it does actually suit us better to keep them in until February.
HOWEVER since the agent has found this out, they have been completely impossible to deal with. They took THREE WEEKS and FOUR TELEPHONE CALLS to actually SEND us the documentation required to change over the details from the old owner to ours. They have been exceptionally rude to my husband and I. The receptionist actually threatened me over the telephone and said I better pray that the tenants don't retaliate when we hand them the notice to vacate on settlement (the tenants already know, we approached them well before this and they are happy with the arrangement)!!! They are also charging us quite high fees compared to other agents. I know it's just two months, but is there anything we can do? We really don't want to give them our money. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 2Nov 03, 2008 8:24 am karol Hi. We are about to settle and we are having no end of problems with the real estate handling the current tenants. If you don't have the documents to settle then the old owners can fire them - because they will cause the old owners the grief of not being able to settle on time (interest payments etc). There is no requirement for you to keep them on after settling. Maybe you should remind them of that. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 3Nov 03, 2008 9:29 am Yep, Tell them your going to hand over the rental to another estate agent. even if it's for a couple of months. You already have the tenants so you don't have to worry about that. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W.C. Fields Brought Established. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 4Nov 03, 2008 12:48 pm I called them again this morning and got put through to three different people only to be told that no one could help me and someone will call me back. They still haven't called back.
I'm at my wit's end with this real estate. Can we manage it ourselves or something? Re: What can we do about our property managers? 6Nov 05, 2008 10:10 am karol Can we manage it ourselves or something? of course you can if your willing to deal with the stresses. Private rent but still get contracts drawn up and get a bond. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W.C. Fields Brought Established. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 7Nov 05, 2008 11:12 am Just manage it yourself. If the tenant and therefore lease is already in place, no stress there. You just have to do a bond transfer from the agent, and then arrange for the bond to be repaid at the end. No hassle at all. Don't give them any more of your money. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 8Nov 11, 2008 4:08 pm Do you really need the tennants out before the lease is up?
We have negotiated with tennants previously and given them a "help you move and find something else" fee to ease the process. More often then not the tennants are happy to do that. Just don't give them the money until they have actually moved out Sounds like you are having a lot of trouble with that realestate agency. Make sure you contact the principal of that office and speak to him directly about the trouble you have been having, ideally you want to present it to him in writing. Ask to get released from your management agreement with them immediately (no notice period) and explain why. The principal will in most cases agree straight away if you have had repeatable and unreasonable trouble with their agents. P.S. Make sure you have someone else lined up before you get released from the management agreement. Which town are you in? I hope this has helped. Wishing you every success, - Contributor to Australian Property Investor mag, Wealth Creator, YIP, Property Review Weekly, Herald Sun, Courier Mail, 4BC radio, 2UE radio, Southern FM, etc http://www.RenovateAndProfit.com Re: What can we do about our property managers? 9Nov 13, 2008 2:58 pm Hi there, I understand how you feel as I have been here before and now manage my own rental on the Gold Coast. I recommend you do the following
1. Write a letter explaining how you feel/what the issues are are send it to the principal of the office 2. Contact the REIQ Queensland and ask for advise Kylie Re: What can we do about our property managers? 10Jun 21, 2009 5:34 pm Just having a really lazy sunday going back through some of the old posts and this thread made me laugh. Sorry to revive this thread but we just have to tell our story when it comes to buying a house with tennants in there, especially if you want to live in the property yourself. When we bought our place it was subject to lease but the tennants had'nt completely moved in. The selling agent assured us that the tennant was of an elder age and would want to quit the lease early due to the amount of stairs in the place. lesson 1. treat real estate agents like politicians. When their lips move they lie thru their teeth. we wanted to live in our place not have it as a investment property. We approached the tennant about cancelling the lease. Answer NO. We offered here $25k cash plus removal costs to move elsewhere. Answer NO The place next door came up for lease (It's the same as ours) so we offered to pay for her removalists costs to move next door as well as making up the difference in the rent as next door was more expensive than ours. Answer NO We went to court to try to get the lease unnulled under the terms of "undue hardship" We found out the the court interpretation of "undue hardship" means in reality that it doesnt exist under any circumstances. Answer NO We hoped that she would not take up the option of extending the lease. Answer NO. It turns out that the lease isnt a 2yr lease with 2yr option but a 4 yr lease with the option of them breaking the lease at the halfway mark at no penalty to them They are a family of lawyers. What did we learn out of this ??? Never ever listen to real estate agents. Avoid anything to do with lawyers at all times unless absolutely nessessary. Never confuse the legal system with a justice system. As a homeower you have no rights at all if your place has a fixed term lease. Beware of any property that has a tennant. In the end we have taken over the property managing ourself because out of all of this our tennant turns out to be the tennant from heaven provided you dont want to move in to your "dream home". Cheers Roger an Caz P.S. now the tennant wants to move out 3 months early (ie breaking the lease) So what do we do? let her go an take the loss cos we want to move in?? Or stand our ground and make her stay and shoot ourselves in the foot? And we get to say NO. This has been 4 yrs in the making. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 11Jun 21, 2009 6:10 pm My work colleague is going through the same situation - they were on a fixed 2 year lease, and moved out at 17 months, after purchasing their dream property. They still have 7 months left, and the landlord is being difficult. They have to pay every months rent, until a replacement tenant is found. They are also billed advertising costs by the agent. The agent is making no effort to advertise, and in their own internal 'property fact sheet' given to prospective tenants, they have even put the rent up 20% - almost guaranteeing nobody will rent it. The agent doesn't give a rats, because the rent is still being paid. They tried the hardship route, but the agent, who happens to have a brother who runs a hotshot law firm, won out. So based on what you've said above, and what my colleague has experienced, I'd hold them to the date in the agreement. If they want to leave early, they need to pay the rent up until the end of the lease date, or pay reasonable costs towards finding another tenant, and if no tenant is found prior to the lease ending, they still need to pay. That's effectively how it is in NSW - not sure if these rules apply to other states. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 12Jun 21, 2009 6:35 pm I was in a similar situation, I leased a place on a 12 month contract, then was retrenched from work and had to move to a cheaper place. . . the realestate agents said that was fine, but that I'd had to keep paying the rent until they re-rented. . . they advertised, had open houses and had somebody move in the week after I moved out. I suppose that not all realestate agents are built the same. Re: What can we do about our property managers? 13Jun 22, 2009 12:34 am commodorenut They have to pay every months rent, until a replacement tenant is found. They are also billed advertising costs by the agent. The agent is making no effort to advertise, and in their own internal 'property fact sheet' given to prospective tenants, they have even put the rent up 20% - almost guaranteeing nobody will rent it. The agent doesn't give a rats, because the rent is still being paid. They tried the hardship route, but the agent, who happens to have a brother who runs a hotshot law firm, won out That's effectively how it is in NSW - not sure if these rules apply to other states. Hey commo'nut The laws are different here in W.A. The small claims court, tenancy tribinuls (sic) here dont allow the parties to have legal representation. All parties represent themselves. This is both good and bad depending on the individuals situation. The hardship laws here are for the owner usually. And not much chop anyway. your mate can do his own advertising and get someone else to move in. effectively a sublease but that is fraught with it's own dangers. Just a thought and please let me be clear on this , this is NOT legal advice ok !!! I am putting myself in your mates position. THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL. If I am already living somewhere else already and still having to pay the rent on the old place, I would be tempted to with hold the rent from the agent but deposit into another bank account each week, fortnight or month or however I gets paid. This then puts pressure on the agent to explain to the owner why there is no rent money coming in. I just have to stick to my guns and keep telling the agent that the rent will be paid in full at the expiry of the lease. Be prepared for an irate agent tho. Document everything and record calls if possible. Chances are that eventually I will get a summons to goto court, expect this. Keep maintaining the agent is not doing enuff to re-lease the place. Show proof of rent being deposited in account. Expect court order to pay outstanding rent. It's in the bank account isnt it? Ignore court order as thousands of people do every day. Chances are that place will have new tennant before expiry of lease. (7 months away?) Pay rent that is owing to the new lease date (should be before old lease expiry cos owner will be screaming at the agent for his money ) or pay outstanding rent at expiry of old lease, whichever comes first. This way it's gotta work out cheaper in the long run and it pisses off smartarse agent on the way thru. All I gotta do is not get intimidated by nasty agent and fancy lawyer boy brother. Anyway thats my hypothetical scenario of how I would be tempted to handle it. Cheers Roger ps I am in HBF just in case You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 16146 Ask for some kickplate to be added and also for tradies to be requested to use lanyards on tools on that side of the building. Be respectful and have the discussion… 1 1690 The setback from the kerb is 4m. It is council land to provide an area for services like sewer main, gas mains, water mains, underground power or poles for overhead power,… 4 2394 |