I need some advice please. I know these issues are minor but I feel that the tenants are mis-treating my property. I have new tenants move in about a week ago. I just received an email from my agent stating that the tenants have reported the door handle in the main bathroom needs replacing and the towel rack is a bit wobbly. Also 2 doors in the kitchen that are not on properly. It sounds like the previous tenants have caused this damage. Should I urge my agent to make the previous tenant pay for this out of their bond or just put up with it and just have it fixed?
Sounds like wear and tear to me. You cannot prove the outgoing tenants damaged these things. I would just pay to have them fixed, but that's just me. I'd want to get it sorted for the new tenants. You could ask if the bond has been returned, and if not, make a try to get some reimbursement, but I don't know how you would go.
You must be prepared for wear and tear. No place stays in perfect condition forever. And even though owners put up with minor hassles, tenants are entitled to have faults fixed. Most PMs have a handyman who can attend to these minor issues in one visit. Marg
Meanwhile........back to stupid reality again, you need to be prepared for this kind of maintenance on any property that is tenanted.
It's the joys of operating as a residential property investor. All our properties are only a few years old and we get this type of stuff all the time. New or old, stuff breaks if tenants are involved.
Hi Joker Sometimes when tenants have been in the property for a while they get used to things like loose towel racks or doors that stick, and little things like that and don't actually report them. When a new tenant goes into a property they noticed them a lot more and they start reporting them. We manage about 200 properties and this is very usual for a new tenancy it is very common for tenants to report a range of small items especially within the first three months of a new tenancy. I would suggest a general handyman and a couple of hours work to get everything done and you may find that the rest of the tenancy is pretty smooth
You can't blame new tenants ensuring everything is in order so that they are not held responsible for the faults. Marg
We also generally expect new tenants to report things that aren't easily noticed, or were not bothering the outgoing tenants. One tenant's "must be fixed" is another tenants "meh?" We just get these things done, and that ensures the property isn't slowly falling apart without us noticing.
Yeah, quite often they report so they do not get the blame......from someone with your thoughts....(see, your trying to blame someone for wear and tear) like a car, there is lots of stuff that needs fixing or maintaining, you will get over it, they will get used to it too. PS I can tell you any tenant I had has far better service than what we get at home, a lot of tenants also cannot help it, they truly believe the rent is your creme or spending money & think everything should be in tip top shape, some also will moan when a tradie takes a day or two for non urgent things, where at home your just happy if one turns up on the day or week expected.
Jumping on this thread rather then start a new one. Broken toilet seat in one of my ip's . Is it unreasonable to ask agent to get tenant to buy a new one from bunnings and reimburse them. Agent seems to think we need a handyman to go out and replace ?
Technically your agent is correct - you can't just palm off maintenance to your tenant and just cover the cost. At the risk of perhaps ******* off your tenant, you might be able to ask them if they are willing to do an arrangement like that though. Some tenants don't mind, while others aren't happy about having to do it though.
You could ask, I have asked for small things to be tended to if tenant feels capable and happy to do so...... The risk ? they slip, hit head on bowl and require 2k of dental work, you have to pay for it most likely.
Bal It depends on the tenant. Some would be happy to do it and the agent reimburse them, some will have no idea what to do. Use descretion but no it's not unreasonable. Property manager/ tenant relationship also makes a difference in whether they have enough rapport with tenant to ask. You are correct though $20 from Bunnings vs $50- $80 to get it picked up and installed.
Yeah wear n tear. Issues always crop up. Joker, if you're handy all it takes is a trip to Bunnings and a screw driver set to fix those problems. I usually do small repairs myself to save money and check out the tenants.
That's true, people tend to get used to things after a while. I guess it's another reason to have your PM do a good check when they're moving out.
