RE/MAX Profile Landlords' Newsletter January 2016

In this edition: How long will it take for your property to rent? When You Can Legally DIY – Plumbing Works that Don’t Need a Licenced Plumber Warning! Unlicensed Building Work Cops Hefty Fines Why a Bounce Back in Building Approvals is Good News!

January 2016

Best Ways to Burglar Proof for When You are Away A Selection of Properties Recently Leased Another happy customer—Wow Moment Quote Calendar of Events

Dear Landlord,

Happy New Year! We hope you

have had a fantastic holiday

season, we are all back on board

and rearing to go for another

exciting year ahead!

It's been a cooler Summer than

anticipated and it's been nice to

see some long overdue rain. In

saying that, the storm season is

always something we need to keep

in mind. In our November

Newsletter we offered some great

advice on being prepared. Are

your gutters, downpipes and

stormwater drains clear of leaves

Rental and Team Updates

and other matter? Have you

checked that your insurance

c o ve r s f l o o d a n d s t o r m

damage? As always we love to

hear from you if we can help.

The Property Management

department has seen a few

changes over the last couple of

weeks. We bid farewell to Jodi due

to a personal matter whilst we

have welcomed Katrina to assist

with letting and Emmalene on

Reception. The girls out front have

certainly been busy processing

applications which didn't seem to

stop, despite the Christmas and

New Year period. We worked

every busy day except New Years

Eve to be sure we are on the front

foot for the busiest letting period of

the year! A reminder to let us know

your lease renewal instructions if

your leases are expiring in the first

quarter of the year remembering if

you wish the tenants to vacate you

are required to give two months

notice.

Wishing you all the best for a

sensational 2016!

Your Property Management Team,

Christina, Helen, Iszabel, Alex,

Kobe, Freda and Katrina

Our finance specialist Joshua Vecchio can help with;

Interest in Advance, Home Loan Health Check,

Depreciation Reports and much more.

Call him now on 0432 989 866

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 December.

BRISBANE STATISTICS The Market

Source: rentfind.com.au

Brisbane, QLD December 2015 Annual Change

Median Weekly Rent - House $420 0.0%

Median Weekly Rent - Unit/Apartment $390 0.0%

Days on Market (Avg) 32.3 1.7 increase

Days Vacant (Avg) 19.2 1.4 increase

When You Can Legally DIY –

Plumbing Works that Don’t

Need a Licenced Plumber

Queensland legis la t ion,

“Plumbing and Drainage

Regulation 2003” specifies

that plumbing work which is

classified as „Unregulated

Work‟ does not require a

Plumbing Licence.

The legislation details can be

found on Schedule 4 –

Unregulated Work. We‟ve

included the law below for

your interest.

STANDARD PLUMBING AND

DRAINAGE REGULATION

2003 - SCHEDULE 4 -

UNREGULATED WORK

For sanitary plumbing and

sanitary drainage

• cleaning or maintaining

ground level grates to

traps on sanitary drains

• replacing caps to ground

level inspection openings

on sanitary drains

• maintaining an above or

below ground irrigation

system for the disposal of

effluent from an on-site

sewerage facil ity or

greywater use facility

For water plumbing

• installing or maintaining an

irrigation or lawn watering

system downstream from

an isolating valve, tap or

backf low preven t ion

device on the supply pipe


for the irrigation or lawn

watering system

• replacing a jumper valve

or washer in a tap

• changing a shower head

• replacing, in a water closet

(WC) cistern, a drop valve

washer, float valve washer

or suction cup rubber

• replacing a domestic water

filter cartridge

Source: Real Estate Dynamics,

Jennifer Brooks

over $2 million worth of

unlawful plastering work and

pretending to be licensed.

T h e Q B C C A c t i n g

Commissioner Kellie Lowe

said that unlicensed building

work can be extremely

damaging to the livelihoods of

hard-working Queenslanders

who make their living as

licensed contractors.

“The QBCC strives to ensure

that people are appropriately

licensed for the work they are

being paid to do, and has

been prosecuting companies

and individuals that contract

without a licence.”

C a i r n s c o m p a n y A A

Transportables Pty Ltd was

recently fined $15,000 after

the QBCC discovered it had

continued to carry out building

work while unlicensed, despite

being prosecuted previously

for the same offence.

Brisbane Balustrade Group

Pty Ltd, a company that

primarily contracted on the

Gold Coast, was also fined

$10,000 for unlicensed

contracting and pretending to

be licensed.

The QBCC was determined to

prosecute Brisbane Balustrade

Group Pty Ltd as the

company‟s director, Mark

Stachura, (also known as

Marek Stachura), had been a

director, secretary and

shareholder of other

deregistered companies,

previously fined by the QBCC.

“The problem of „phoenix‟

companies has had a

devastating impact on the

construction industry, and the

QBCC has zero tolerance for

individuals engaging in this

t yp e o f un sc rup u lo us

behaviour,” Ms Lowe said.

Anyone with concerns about

unlicensed work can call the

QBCC 24/7 on 139 333 or visit

www.qbcc.qld.gov.au

Source: Queensland Building and

Construction Commission, Brian

Bolton, 6 December 2015

Warning! Unlicensed

Building Work Cops Hefty

Fines

When 17 unlicensed workers

were discovered on a

construction site at Brisbane‟s

Woody Point earlier this year,

the Queensland Building and

Construction Commission

(QBCC) took action.

Recently Dragons Renovation

(NSW) Pty Ltd was fined

$ 4 0 , 0 0 0 i n R e d c l i f f e

Magistrates Court for offences

which included carrying out

http://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au


housing affordability.

“T h e 1 9 , 6 5 2 b u i l d i n g

approvals recorded in October

are heading back towards

peak territory of 20,000

recorded earlier this year.

“The 3.9 per cent month-on-

month increase in dwelling

approvals nationally was led

by Victoria, which has now hit

the 70,000 approvals in 12

months mark for the first time.

“A big jump in South Australia,

up 23.4 per cent for the month

is particularly welcome news

in terms of potential job

creation in that state and puts

approvals over the 10 year

average.

“Queensland on the other

hand saw the largest drop in

dwellings approved by volume

from the previous month with

28.7 per cent fewer homes

approved in October.

“It is clear that the larger

states are still driving national

activity, with benefits flowing

through to the broader

economy. Implement ing

national efficiencies for

housing supply to support

completions across all states

will maximise the economic

return from this heightened

activity.

“As we head into 2016 there is

a need to better leverage the

s t r o n g e s t r e s i d e n t i a l

construction activity ever

recorded and consider new

ways to support supply to

meet the housing needs of all

Australians.”

Source: Property Council of

A u s t r a l i a , F i o n a B e n s o n ,

1 December 2015

Why a Bounce Back in

Building Approvals is Good

News!

Building approvals have

bounced back in October and

pushed the total number of

residential dwellings approved

nationally to 233,180 over the

year on a seasonal basis.

Property Council Executive

Director Residential, Nick

Proud, said the turnaround in

October was welcome news,

with the strong results

delivering important gains for

Australia‟s economy.

“Property is Australia‟s largest

industry, contributing more to

GDP than any other and

strong residential construction

activity helps underpin the 1.1

million jobs the industry

creates,” Mr Proud said.

“It is critically important that we

maintain a solid forward

pipeline of new housing

construction to consolidate the

gains new supply has made

towards improvements in

Best Ways to Burglar Proof

for When You are Away

An empty home is a prime

target for intruders because

they have less chance of

being disturbed and the

offence can go undetected for

days or even weeks.


Check the yard to ensure

no ladders or tools are

accessible.

Do n ‟ t l e a ve ke ys

concealed outside the

house. Give them to a

t r u s t e d f r i e n d o r

neighbour.

Ask neighbours to

contact police if they

n o t i c e a n y t h i n g

suspicious.

Secure your vehicle if

leaving it at home.

Ask a neighbour to park

their car in your driveway

at different times.

E n su re a l l ea s i l y

removable articles are

marked us ing the

Property Identification

System.

If you‟re a member of

Neighbourhood Watch, inform

your neighbours and block

coordinator that you will be

away.

Source: Queensland Police

Intruders always look for signs

that a home is unoccupied.

The longer the home is

unoccup ied , the more

vulnerable it becomes. If you

are away for an extended

period of time, police advise

that you have someone house

sit.

Follow these tips for keeping

your house secure while

you're away:

Inform local police of

your absence and leave

a contact name and

number.

Check all doors and

windows are securely

locked.

Ask your neighbours to

watch for visitors but not

to tell visitors you are

away.

Arrange a friend or

neighbour to mow the

lawn and water the

plants.

Arrange for mail to be

held at the Post Office or

collected by a neighbour.

Cancel all deliveries,

especially newspapers.

Ask your neighbours to

collect junk mail.

Secure your garbage bin.

Install electrical timers

that automatically switch

on lights and tune your

radio to a talk-back

program during the day

so your house looks and

sounds “normal”.

Disconnect the electrical

pad on radio controlled

or electronic garage

doors and use a strong

auxi l ia ry key lock

instead.

Turn down the volume of

your telephone ringer

and don‟t leave a

message on you r

answering machine that

tells callers you‟re away.

Install external sensor

lights.

15th January Mid Month Accounting 26th January Australia Day 1st February End of Month Accounting

A Selection of Properties Recently Leased

Bardon House $830 p.w.

4 bed, 2 bath 2 car accommodation

Quote

“If my mind can conceive it, my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it!”

—Jesse Jackson

Kenmore House $600 p.w.

4 bed, 2 bath, 2 car accommodation

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

www.profilerealestate.com.au Bardon QLD 4065 Helen [email protected]

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

Alex [email protected]

Kobe [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.



Calendar of Events

Helen and her team of property managers

recognised that as a tenant my rental property was

my home. They treated me respectfully and managed

my needs professionally – this sets the standard for

all property managers.

Elizabeth

Another happy customer—Wow Moment



RE/MAX Profile Landlords' Newsletter January 2016

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