Do you ever supply appliances to your IP ?

Not sure where to put this one

I have my dads old fridge and washing machine. I guess if I cannot sell them would they be of some use in a rental property?

Pro's and Con's I can see

Pro's more attractive to tenant + can increase rent a litle bit

Con's - if old appliances ( they are ) if one breaks or washing machine causes a flood can they point the figure at me and not pay for damages say if water flooded the carpets

 

You missed a Pro : Can add the item to depreciation schedule if you bought it new.

You missed the main Con : If you're providing them, you're also expected to repair/replace as needed. This alone makes it not worth the hassle.

 

There are several routes you can take, and we have done almost all:

1. Supply appliances now, and replace when broken. Full tax benefit, more money, more hassles
2. Supply appliances now, but mention in the Lease that they WILL NOT be replaced when broken. This merely act as sweetener to attract Tenants.
3. Dont bother, sell them cheap, or giveaway.

 

I would caution against this as there is a precedent set at VCAT where they said that Act says LL's have responsibility to maintain properties and excluding an item is therefore contracting outside of the Act.

 

Yes it will be maintained for the whole duration of the life of the appliance. It's just a Freebie and no impact on the Rental Amount. All Tenants are just too happy to receive this. We have one Owner "gave-away" a wine rack!

 

the appliances are already old, so i think ill take option 3. Dont bother and sell could be more hassle then worth the extra tiny bit of rent

but then again old appliances lasts much longer then new appliances

 

I may be interested in the old washing machine, is it an old mechanical top loader type?

 

While it could be a bonus for some renters, as a renter who owns a fridge and washing machine already, a property that included old items would turn me off. It means I have either store mine or store yours.

 

We had an enclosure, attached to the house, that we used as a cattery in our old PPOR. When we moved out & put the home on the rental market, the new tenant had a cat. Her son lives in the house at the back of ours, & she knew that our house was going to be rented out. She asked if we could leave the enclosure there for her to use. We did, & the agreement was that it was a gift & does not form part of the rental agreement, therefore when it needs maintenance it was not our responsibility.

 

We included a dryer in a unit we owned in a complex that did not have clothes lines.
Marg

 

That's compulsory If there's no line space.

 

No depreciation for used appliances now. OP explained item is Dads old items

 

Hence why i said if bought new.

The con of having to maintain/repair/replace trumps everything though.

 

It comes down to:

1. Are you required to provide the appliance?
2. Will you achieve less rent If you don't provide it?
3. What does the market dictate?

Note: tax position doesn't come into the equation.

 

There are certain situations where I do:

1. if it's an apartment and there is no room for a washing line then by law I need to supply a dryer. Generally I then supply a washer/dryer combo machine so I can design around it.
2. A very tiny kitchen. On a recent high spec unit I used an integrated fridge/freezer that was 600mm wide which saved me having to leave a 900mm recess to fit tenant various sized fridges. That extra 300mm in the kitchen gave extra benchspace that was really needed.
3. Dishwashers - all the time.
4. 3rd floor apartment with stair access only. This is a project I'm building this year and I'm considering supplying a fridge so that tenants don't have to get a fridge up the stairs and less chance of them damaging the walls of the stair well bringing fridges up and down on tenant changeover. This apartment will definitely have a dishwasher and washer/dryer but I'm undecided on fridge yet.