Landlords' Newsletter December 2012

In this edition: How long will it take for your property to rent? Tenancy Law under review in Queensland Thinking of a new Loo? Does your insurance cover Drug/Meth Lab clean ups? Paying Off Your Own Property Can Be Cheaper than Renting…

December 2012

Stop Thief! How to Secure Your Home When on Holiday… 8 Financially Fatal Mistakes Property Investors Can Make… A Selection of Properties Recently Leased Quote Calendar of Events

Maximise your rental returns!

The storm season has started

and we are trying to prepare

all our properties as best we

can! If there is anything that

you would like us to do to

yours, for example have the

gutters cleaned to be better

prepared for the season etc.

please let us know.

And along with storms come

Christmas chaos - yep the silly

season is almost upon us and

in preparation we will give the

team a well deserved rest

between Christmas and New

Year. The office will close

Christmas Eve and reopen on

the 2nd January and we will

do our end of month disburse-

ment then. Helen will be taking

a few extra days with her

family and will return the 7th

January.

A quick reminder if we haven't

yet received your instructions

for leases expiring between

now and the end of March to

please let us know whether

you would like us to negotiate

a lease renewal for you.

As this will be our last newslet-

ter before Christmas we wish

to thank you for your conti-

nued support and, as ever, we

will continually seek to maxim-

ise your rental returns!

Wishing you a joyous Holiday

Season and a most prosper-

ous and Healthy New Year.

Christina

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

How long will it take for your property to rent? That of course depends on the time of the year so here are the latest statistics for November. For RE/MAX Profile, our average days vacant were 6.8

BRISBANE STATISTICS The Market

Source: rentfind.com.au

Brisbane, QLD November 2012 Annual Change

Median Weekly Rent - House $390 0.0%

Median Weekly Rent - Unit/Apartment

$375 4.2%

Days on Market (Avg) 24.5 0.1

Days Vacant (Avg) 14.5 0.1

Tenancy Law under review

in Queensland

The RTA is conducting a targeted

review of the Residential Tenan-

cies and Rooming Accommoda-

tion Act 2008 (the Act) to ensure

it is meeting its objectives of fairly

balancing stakeholder interests

as well as removing legislative

barriers to improved service de-

livery.

A Discussion Paper outlines a

number of issues identified by the

RTA during its ongoing monitor-

ing of the Act in the areas of:

Balancing stakeholder in-

terests

Streamlining service deliv-

ery, and

Reducing red tape.

Options have been developed

against each issue to stimulate

discussion within the sector and

are not necessarily proposals for

change.

The RTA is calling for submis-

sions on the issues and options

raised in the Discussion Paper.

Some of the legislative matters

being reviewed include;

Time frames for notice to

leave without grounds

(currently 2 months’ notice

for a lessor and 2 weeks

for a tenant)

Mandatory building and

pest inspections prior to

letting of property


This includes:

1. Installing additional toilets,

showers and sinks.

2. Plumbing on your Kitchen

and bathroom or laundry.

3. Installing or replacing exist-

ing some hot water heaters

including electric, gas, solar

or heat pump hot water

units.

Thinking of any of the above or

wanting to move some plumbing

within your home? Please call or

send an email: clear-

[email protected]

For customers on their mailing

list, it is likely that they would give

you a free quote . So get in quick

if you want anything done before

Christmas, Call them now!

Gary Carson

P: 0419555004

F: 07 3511 7708

E: [email protected]

Website:

www.clearlineplumbing.com.au

Address:

86 Arthur Tce, Red Hill Qld 4059

OR VISIT THEIR SISTER COM-

PANY www.works4us.com.au

For more info, you can call the

Plumbing Industry Council on

1800 264 585 or go to this link.

Conditions apply on Combined

drains.

Source: Clearline Plumbing Services

Pty Ltd,

Allowing lessors to pass on

total water consumption

charges where premises

have individual water me-

ters

Abolish without grounds

provisions for lessor’s to

end tenancies and only al-

low for certain reasons for

tenancies to be ended

There are many other mat-

ters that are part of the re-

view.

To review the paper, visit

www.rta.qld.gov.au or speak with

our Property Management De-

partment.

Submissions are due to the RTA

by the 2nd January 2013.

The above information has been

supplied by Stacey Holt – Director of

Real Estate Excellence for Real Es-

tate Excellence Members

www.realestateexcellence.com.au

Thinking of a new Loo?

We are happy to tell you that

Queensland’s new plumbing laws

now allows for some plumbing

work to be done in an existing

home without an expensive per-

mit . (saving up to $1600 in fees)

Does your insurance cover

Drug/Meth Lab clean ups?

There are landlord insurance pol-

icies that are now covering

meth lab clean ups.

Now is the time to check your

policy! Landlord insurance is rela-

tively cheap and something we

recommend for all our landlords

as it can cover you for so many

unfortunate situations. We have

been lucky to date and have had

no drug labs in our properties but

we've certainly heard of plenty so

best to make sure you are cov-

ered for security and peace of

mind.


Paying Off Your Own

Property Can Be Cheaper

than Renting…

Australia has 238 suburbs or

towns where the mortgage repay-

ment is lower than the median

rent, based on a principal and

interest loan on a variable mort-

gage rate, RP Data has claimed.

The researcher has just launched

its annual 'Buy versus Rent'

study for 2012, reporting the dif-

ference between the cost of pay-

ing rent and paying a mortgage

across each suburb or town

around the country.

Using an interest only loan, the

list expanded to 1,320 suburbs/

towns.

RP Data research director Tim

Lawless said the results boded

well for first homebuyers return-

ing to the market. "We may see

consumers returning to the prop-

erty market as they realise in

some suburbs [buying] may actu-

ally be cheaper than renting," he

said.

Lawless added that other factors

support more buyers coming into

the market. "With lower mortgage

rates, tight rental markets result-

ing in some rental increases and

lower home values, many buyers

may see now as a good time to

either re-enter the market or buy

their first home," he said.

By state, Queensland had the

most markets where it is cheaper

to buy than rent, dominated by

regional towns, which accounted

for 68 of the state's 84 markets

that made the list.

New South Wales property mar-

kets also featured heavily on the

list, with 54 markets showing

cheaper mortgage payments

than median rents - 22 were in

Sydney, the remainder in the re-

gional parts of the state.

Melbourne recorded just two

markets where a property is now

cheaper to buy than rent. Ade-

laide had 20 and Canberra had

only one.

The majority of Western Australia

markets on the list were in the

state's regional areas, which en-

joyed the lion's share of locations

where buying is cheaper.

Lawless pointed out that although

the measure didn't consider other

costs of ownership, "it is a good

starting point for further investiga-

tions into whether or not a poten-

tial purchaser should consider

buying within a specific suburb."

Source : Life @ Home (2 October

2012)

Stop Thief! How to Secure

Your Home When on

Holiday…

Many Australians pack up the

car, the kids and the presents

and go somewhere during the

holiday season, if only to visit rel-

atives or go to the beach for

Christmas Day.

Whether you go away for a day,

a week or month, it is important

to know that your home will be

safe and secure these holidays.

There are some easy measures

you can take to ensure you return

home to your house just the way

you left it. One of the most basic

is to turn the telephone and an-

swering machine volume down

when you go out so burglars can't

hear that no one's home. Leaving


the television or radio on with the

curtains drawn, on the other

hand, will make them think some-

one could be there.

Garden sheds or garages often

present thieves with the tools

they need to break in to your

home. A ladder left lying around

the garden not only gives thieves

something they can sell, it also

hands them a tool to break into

your home. So make sure your

shed or garage is locked with a

case-hardened padlock or high

grade chain when not in use.

This will also help to secure items

such as lawn mowers, bicycles,

surf boards or garden mulchers.

Overgrown branches, thick bush-

es, large trees and high fences

all provide thieves with the per-

fect cover from the street, and

give them all the time they need

to open a door lock or window.

To help protect your home, clear

the line of sight from the street to

doors and windows.

Even better, have a monitored

security system installed and

make sure all members of your

household know how to use it.

Sensor lights on the outside of

your house can work as a deter-

rent. Sensor lights are activated

when something moves across

their path, so anyone who is con-

sidering breaking in to your home

should be discouraged by the

possibility of exposure. When in-

stalling the lights, make sure they

are not so sensitive that the fami-

ly pet will set them off.

Put deadbolt locks on outside

doors and make sure all door

hinges are on the inside. Lock all

entry points every night and

whenever you are away from

home.

If in the heat of the summer you

like to have the house open, wire

mesh security screens on doors

and windows will allow breezes

to flow through your home while

still maintaining a level of securi-

ty. Thieves have been known to

blatantly enter through an un-

locked door while the occupants

are in another part of the house.

Piles of mail, newsletters and

junk mail are a sure sign that a

house is not occupied. So if

you're planning to go away, either

have your mail picked up by a

trusted neighbour or have the

local post office stop delivery until

you get back. You'll also want to

cancel any other regular deliver-

ies such as newspapers.

Tell relatives or neighbours when

you'll be back and let them know

where you can be reached in an

emergency.

Items such as digital cameras,

televisions or stereo systems

should be engraved with their

unique serial number. Keep a

record of all serial numbers in a

secure location, preferably out-

side your home (e.g. a bank se-

curity deposit box). If you have a

lot of valuable jewellery, consider

locking it in a bank security de-

posit box, or at a minimum, take

a photo of each valuable item

with a description and ask your

solicitor to keep a copy of this

information for you.

Neighbourhood Watch has an

interactive checklist on their web-

site called Virtual House, which

has been designed to help you

assess the safety and security of

your home all year round, wheth-

er you're home or away on holi-

days.


Built in conjunction with RACV

and Lockwood, the Virtual House

comes in three parts. One is a

simple checklist of home security

basics, while another provides a

comprehensive room-by-room

tour, with safety advice for every

part of your home including the

front and back gardens. The third

section suggests ways to protect

your home, such as having moni-

tored home alarm systems, win-

dow and door locks and ade-

quate insurance cover.

Source : Quartile Property Network

slow real estate markets. Howev-

er, avoiding some classic mis-

takes will help keep you on the

right track.

So let’s look at them.

1. A plan? I’ll just go ahead

and buy something

Deciding you’re going to be a

property investor is more com-

plex than just buying a property.

Approaching investing without a

well thought through strategy that

fits in with your long-term wealth

creation goals and financial situa-

tion is a fool’s journey.

You would never take off in your

car without knowing where you

intend to go and how you plan to

get there. As a property investor

you should map out where you

want to be in five, 10 and 15

years’ time, then construct a de-

tailed plan to take you there.

2. I can do it all myself!

All successful property investors

build a great team around them-

selves. I often say that if you’re

the smartest person on your

team, you’re in trouble.

However, you can’t blindly hand

over financial control to your fi-

nance broker, accountant or so-

licitor. It’s your responsibility to

gain knowledge about the proper-

ty investment business and be-

come financially smarter – what I

call financially fluent. This will

teach you the right questions to

ask your advisors.

3. Research? Who needs it

I’ve met investors who re-

searched the purchase of their

new car more carefully than their

investment property.

Many buy their investment close

to where they live, where they

holiday or where they want to re-

tire. They make emotional pur-

chases in locations that are in

their comfort zone.

The due diligence that goes into

purchasing an investment must

be more rigorous than that.

As an investor, there are only

three good reasons to “fall in

love” with a property: it fits your

investment strategy and goals;

the numbers work; and it has up-

side potential.

Never let your emotions drive

your investment decision; that’s

what homebuyers do, not people

looking to create wealth with real

estate.

4. Losing sight of the big pic-

ture

Sure, property is a long-term in-

vestment and the costs of buying

and selling are considerable, but

that doesn't mean you should fall

into the trap of not regularly re-

8 Financially Fatal Mistakes Property Investors Can

Make…

Property investing may be sim-

ple, but it’s not easy. And that’s

not a play on words.

When you look at the statistics

and see that most investors nev-

er get past their second property,

you realise that most who get into

real estate won’t achieve the fi-

nancial freedom they were look-

ing for.

While it’s possible to make good

money in property, it will be more

of an uphill battle in the current


viewing your property portfolio.

Do you own the type of proper-

ties that will allow you to take ad-

vantage of the next property cy-

cle?

Remember, over the next few

years some properties will

strongly outperform others. If you

own secondary properties or real

estate in areas that are unlikely

to benefit from strong capital

growth, it may be worth selling up

and replacing them with the type

of property that will help you de-

velop long-term financial inde-

pendence.

When was the last time you

checked to make sure you were

getting the best rents or that your

mortgage was appropriate for the

current times? Maybe it's time to

refinance against your increased

equity and use the funds to buy

more properties?

5. I’m going to buy a property

and make millions!

If you are like me, you get regular

emails promising you instant real

estate riches. These pander to

those investors who are really

speculators looking for that one

big deal that will make them over-

night millionaires. Trust me,

these doesn’t exist!

Warren Buffett wisely said:

“Wealth is the transfer of money

from the impatient to the pa-

tient.”

Successful investment is about

patience and time. It can take two

to three property cycles to build a

sufficiently large asset base to

allow you to fire your boss.

6. I’m looking for a bargain!

Sure you make your money when

you buy your property, but you

set yourself up for property in-

vestment success by buying the

right property, not a cheap prop-

erty.

7. A lick of paint and I’ll make a

killing!

Popular TV shows like The

Block have created a new gener-

ation of “want to be” renovators

and developers.

I’m all for adding value through

renovations; but you can’t buy a

property, do minimal work and

then sell it at a profit, because

stamp duty, buying and selling

costs and tax eat away at your

profits.

On the other hand, buy, renovate

and hold in the long term is a

great investment strategy.

8. Risks? Bah-humbug! Bring

on the rewards!

Some investors don't understand

the risks associated with property

investment and therefore don't

manage them correctly.

Strategic investors don't only buy

properties; they buy time by hav-

ing financial buffers in place to

not only cover their negative

gearing, but to see them through

the down times like we have ex-

perienced in the last few years.

Another way smart property in-

vestors protect their assets is to

buy them in the correct owner-

ship structures to legally mini-

mise their tax and protect their

assets. Most wealthy property

investors own nothing in their

own names, but control their as-

sets through companies or

trusts.

The reality is that if investing in

real estate were easy, everybody

would be successful at it. Fortu-

nately, many of the struggles that

investors endure can be avoided

with proper education, planning

and due diligence.

Written By: Michael Yardney

Source : Property Update (17 August

2012)

17 December Mid Month Accounting 24 December—1 January OFFICE CLOSED 2 January End of Month Accounting

A Selection of Properties Recently Leased

Newmarket House $540p.w.

3 bed, 1 bath, 1 car accommodation

Quote

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage

to continue that counts.”

-- Winston Churchill

Auchenflower House $575 p.w.


RE/MAX Profile Real Estate 141 Boundary Road TEL 07 3510 5221 FAX 07 3876 5544

www.profilerealestate.com.au Bardon QLD 4065 TEL 07 3510 5227 Nikki [email protected]

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com PO Box 388, Paddington, 4064 Helen [email protected]

Marcia [email protected]

Errors & Omissions: These details have been prepared by us on information we have obtained and while we trust it to be correct, is not guaranteed by us and you should rely on your own enquiries.

Spring Hill House $850 p.w.


Calendar of Events

Landlords' Newsletter December 2012

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Transcript of Landlords' Newsletter December 2012