anybody sold the property because

And they have all day to call and ask for things

Your better off with people who work unless your getting good CG and yield, the one plus is often these people in regionals may also be less fussy when it comes to having everything modern.

 

I sold my investment property because I couldn't deal with tenants any more

 

Hi Samiam,I have had this sometimes to find that the agent is poor and so allowing the tenants to whinge about any little thing. If a tenant gets whingey like this In mine I usually remind them how much of a deal they are getting ,and all the positives etc and if that doesn't settle them I aim to move them on next lease

 

I was confused by comment about the 10% CGT that follows selling the rental..... delusional person ? Didnt use an agent and accepted any hard luck for their word. I would bet money it was run down, didnt want to spend $ and whinged when repairs were needed.

 

Haha, yep, that's pretty much what I thought too.

 

But I think it shows the other side, it is not all rosey and lovely and a care free get rich quick scheme, you can get horrible tenants, poor PM (which amplify tenant problems) loss of income and potentially also loss on purchase price as well.

There is 2 sides.

 

The thing that I think is a bit strange is the newspaper article says 'staff writer'

please..
get me the salt shaker........

 

my first property was in NSW a few hours from Sydney.

I regret selling it now but I wanted to use the money for traveling and I just needed a nudge. This is why it's important to get a good PM as they were not good.

I sold as I wanted the cash but also because:

# Agent was annoying me to make minor repairs every week like stupid things, had to travel from Sydney myself
# Agent got in a family on centrelink DSP with issues so made me feel guilty if I did not comply with all their requests
# the property had areas in the sandy backyard that were sinking
# It had a huge gum tree at the front and I was frightened it would fall down anytime despite requests to the council to allow me to remove it. Plus it made landscaping difficult in the front yard with all the roots
# The neighbors at the back property were really feral and the woman always screamed and yelled at her kids but the worse thing their backyard was like a rubbish tip
# The house was old and had some asbestos
# It had foundations that were nothing but concrete slabs and it did not look stable especially with the sink holes
# The old weatherboard was deteriorating despite sanding and painting it.
# I was worried it would have white ant
# the area had too many BAD bogans and low lifes, some teens would walk down the road yelling out and they looked like trouble even though the street was otherwise quiet but neighboring streets at the back were dodgy areas
# Capital growth had hardly moved in 2 years (it has now unfortunately with the Sydney prices in last few years)
# it was a maintenance nightmare as it was old and had too many problems with the tenants wanting things fixed. Many of these requests they could have easily done themselves with all the time they had. I had to travel a long way to fix things and I did not want to spend money on a handyman as it was already costing me a lot
# the list goes on...

 

Many of those items show inexperience.

You can say NO! Fix everything that NEEDS fixing in one go. Don't do upgrades just because a tenant asks for something.

It's up to you to approve the tenants. Although in saying that, we've had heaps on Centrelink who have been no problem. Remember requests are just that. You don't have to do it.

That one could be a real concern, BUT was it like that when you bought it? Did you get it inspected?

This was there when you bought it. Did you document conversations with Council to protect yourself? Also, my experience is that if you send something in writing to Councils, documenting that the tree poses a risk, and that the Council will be deemed responsible if nothing is done....approval to remove comes rather quickly.

I presume this was here when you bought as well. If it worries you, put up a higher fence, so you can't see it.

Most old houses do.

Again, this was there when you bought it.

It obviously needed some kind of treatment BEFORE painting it.

Did you get an inspection?

These were here when you bought

Property can stay stagnant for many more than two years before you see increases. It's not a short term investment.

You are repeating yourself here. The tenants have a right to have things fixed, so FIX EVERYTHING FIRST, before the tenants move in. Keep your property well maintained. If you keep your property well maintained, even in a dodgy area, you are more likely to attract house proud tenants, who will look after it. It is not up to a tenant to fix things in YOUR property. If you don't want to do it yourself, then you need to get a Handyman in to do it.

 

This is you Skater... not afraid to spell it out in black and white. True words spoken left, right and centre. I think in your case, your no bulls#it attitude helps you be a success.

Keep posting, sometimes people need to be given a good shake up/wake up.

 

yes I was, this was my first property over 9 years ago.
I didn't have anything to gain by posting my experience, only to share so others can learn from my mistakes and myself as well so I appreciate your feedback. I respect your input skater as your posts on SS were helpful back in those days and I realise you have a lot of experience in low social areas. It might be better for me to be more careful what I post about my past experiences in the future though to avoid your wrath.

I realize that these days but it was a tricky situation as they had family issues that I will not go into here and if I did not comply with their requests the agent would make me feel guilty and remind me of those issues. I also had a conscious. Even when I sold the place I requested the agent find a buyer that would allow the tenants to stay on preferably. I made friends with the guy towards the end and I really wanted them to be able to stay there. They were OK besides the number of requests to fix things and other factors probably were more important with making me sell when added up together.

Yes I got building and pests inspected, nothing showed up. I do remember posting about it on SS and asking about what happens when you have bought a property and problems are found later after inspections but there was little I could do.

I'm sure I would have, I was communicating with them in writing so everything was written but there might have been a few phone calls as well so I'm not sure how these can be documented besides asking for what was said in writing..

I did, I put up fences all around myself and one neighbor helped on his side. I put up a hedge where the bad neighbors were as there were height restrictions. I'm sure by now they are complexity blocked out.

ha, I sanded it all down myself and treated it, painted special under-coat etc but I was still concerned.

yes and yes as above

I spent nearly a year renovating it before I letted it out. believe me it was well maintained but it had a big back section and a garage and a number of issues so it was not a simple 4 wall granny flat. I actually liked living there myself too and that was another thing as I would have liked to have moved back in the future but with the tenants there I could not see myself throwing them out as they were happy there. I also had issues with the area so even if I moved back myself it was not the ideal location to settle in. As I said it was my first property so it was a great learning experience 9 years ago.

 

I hope I wasn't too harsh. Sometimes these things are learning scenarios, and we all make mistakes. Just learn from them & move along, but you need to always keep at the back of your mind that investing is like running a Business. Try to keep the emotion out of decisions, and don't let Agents or Tenants sway you.

Posting up experiences is good, and you didn't annoy me, but thought I needed to put up another perspective, as some of what happened appears to have been avoidable, so hopefully next time it will be a better experience.

 

@samiam where's your property? Think long term. Of course if it's a dud, it will be a dud for a long time.

 

Whenever tenant stopped paying rent and I need to go back to tribunal for it I feel like selling it it's in low socio area and if the market is good I think I'll sell one for a better stock... or just keep the proceed in offset as increased buffer

 

Ok. I can say I've had 3 less than ideal tenants in nearly 10 years... the two worst both moved out in 3 months (good for me)... the third was ok, she just sometimes paid late... everybody else has been great!

 

I wish mine is like that... I have non paying or late paying tenants in several rows now.
Just checking the sold list in the area, it has increased quite a bit.. if I can sell it for the lower market price It is still 40% increase in 4.5 years if.

 

I suppose if you sell, make sure you can keep the loan open. Imo you don't want to lose the ability to redeploy the money for another investment.

 

Maybe your PM is the problem?
IP's are a business, if you had a potentially profitable business in a shopping centre and went through a few bad managers do you close up/sell, or keep looking for the right one?

 

The manager were ok, but the market were not, I.e. The supply of tenant for the kind of property is not exactly very good. Have 2 properties is arear at the moment, one in qld of the tenant is sourced by the ex-agency and have made it clear they can't pay more rent.
The one in NSW is a serial late payer, who usually try to catch up once we Bring tribunal. Rental Market has improved for the NSW one so I'll see if we can source better tenant...

 

7 bad tenants in a row sounds a bit rough though.
But, yea if its that kind of area and you can't see growth, rezoning etc, and in an equity position to perhaps unload and upgrade to a better area, that's prob what most of us would do.