by George Astudillo | Nov 1, 2018 | Financial, Landlord mindset, Management Systems, Tenant
Who you select as the tenant for your investment property will have a major impact on both your financial return and your peace of mind.
There are three things that you need to look for in a tenant:
- Reliability
This is mainly about paying the rent. You need to be sure that the tenant can afford to pay the rent without undue strain. As a general rule of thumb, rent should be around a third of the (combined) gross income of the applicant(s).
- Responsibility
How will your tenants treat the property? It’s important to make sure that they will take the appropriate steps to keep the property clean, minimise any wear and tear and are ready to advise of any property issues that may come up. A careless tenant, on the other hand, will create extra problems which means more costs to you.
- Responsiveness
In the event of a problem the last thing you need is an uncooperative tenant. Willingness to collaborate and assist will not only make life easier for all, but will also reduce costs and time.
The first two points can be easily addressed with an effective tenant application. You will want to follow up on the application to confirm financial details with employers and past tenancy performance with landlords and agents. As a final measure, you can also run a check through a tenancy database such as TICA or National Tenancy Database to make sure they are not listed as a problem tenant.
However, recognising a co-operative nature may require more of a gut feel evaluation. Use the time during inspections and negotiations to assess the personality and character of the potential tenant. Their attitude during these moments can be very revealing.
Many of the problems faced by property investors can be avoided by selecting the right tenant. It’s the tenant that underpins the success of owning an investment property, both commercially and emotionally. So it’s important not to take risks or compromise when it’s time to choose a tenant.
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
Copyright © 2022, www.propertyquarters.com.au
by George Astudillo | Aug 24, 2018 | Financial, Reports, Tenant
If you want to live amongst Sydney’s most prestigious suburbs all signs are pointing East.
The Eastern Suburbs of Sydney have long been known for an increasing rental demand but what kind of rental prices are they fetching?
Bellevue Hill has taken the lead for highest median rent price for houses at $2048 p/w, with Point Piper taking number one spot for highest median rent price for units at $998 p/w.
According to Domain Groups latest Rental Report it seems Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs have graduated to become the most costly region in the country.
Overall, when you combine houses and apartments, the highest ranking Sydney suburbs for median rental prices, according to the latest Domain Group Data for June 2018, are;
- Darling Point – $2,625
- Watsons Bay – $2,500
- Tamarama – $2,200
- Bellevue Hill – $2,024
- Vaucluse – $1,875
- Kurraba Point – $1,800
- Rose Bay – $1,768
- Dover Heights – $1,700
- Double Bay – $1,690
- Clontarf – $1,650
When it comes to popularity as opposed to price and prestige, Sydney CBD was the most searched for suburb followed by Surry Hills, Paddington, Newtown and Darlinghurst. It seems convenience and ease of transport is highly desired by Sydney renters. Mosman is the suburb most frequently searched by those looking to purchase.
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
Copyright © 2022, www.propertyquarters.com.au
by George Astudillo | Jan 8, 2018 | Financial, Landlord mindset, Management Systems, Planning
Does investing in property take you outside of your comfort zone?
Most people understand the concept of living within your comfort zone. When the events in your life are within your comfort zone you feel relaxed and calm. When events occur that take you outside of that comfort zone, that’s when you start to feel pressured and anxious.
And whilst a little pressure is ok, even beneficial, too much will create panic.
How you buy and manage your investment property, which tenants you choose and how high your mortgage repayments are, will have a direct effect on your peace of mind. The higher the risk, the higher your tolerance of risk needs to be. Too much risk and you will become anxious and uncomfortable.
By knowing your position on risk, you can use strategies that will help keep you in the comfort zone. It’s also important to know the risk tolerance of others particularly in the following situations.
Partnerships
When buying an investment property with other people, the risk profile of the partners involved may vary greatly potentially increasing the chances of conflict. If one partner can tolerate a higher risk level they will want to pursue a more aggressive investment strategy, which will make the other partner with a lower tolerance apprehensive and anxious. This dynamic is often the cause of friction between couples where one partner’s ideas are considered reckless and the other partner is accused of stalling. This situation can also occur with other family members and well-meaning business partners.
Financial advice
When seeking financial or property advice make sure the person giving the advice is sensitive to your level of tolerance. If your risk tolerance is low, trying to follow the advice from someone that has a high risk tolerance will result in many sleepless nights. When fear and panic creep in, it will be difficult to keep making the appropriate decisions to maintain a high risk strategy. Alternatively receiving tame advice when you are looking for fast growth will leave you underwhelmed and disappointed.
Overwhelm
Some feelings of nervousness are natural when investing your money, but if you feel overwhelmed on a continual basis you may need to look at your strategy and/or seek advice from a property professional that can help minimise the risks. Many times it’s the accumulation of many small risky decisions that add up to one huge headache. Stepping back occasionally can help clarify which areas are making you feel uneasy.
So, how do you feel about your investments? Are you comfortable?
Thinking of investing? See our previous blog “Mortgage Brokers- What Do They Offer the Property Investor”
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
Copyright © 2022, www.propertyquarters.com.au
Copyright © 2016, www.propertyquarters.com.au
by George Astudillo | Aug 2, 2017 | Financial, Management Systems, Tenant
According to an ABC news article dated 14 April, 2015, “More than three quarters of a million Australians were the victims of identity theft in the past year, costing the average victim about $4,000…”.
As a landlord you must be sure who is getting the keys to your property. Using the “100 point checklist” together with a tenant reference check, will virtually eliminate the risk of identity fraud. The checklist is designed to accumulate 100 points from various sources. There must be at least one document from the primary documents list and one from the secondary documents list that has a photo.
Primary documents (only one can be used) 40 points
- Australian passport (current, or expired within past two years, but not cancelled)
- International passport (current, or expired within past two years, but not cancelled)
- Other document of identity, e.g. diplomatic/refugee (photo or signature)
Secondary documents – First document 30 points, others 25 points
- Current driver’s licence or permit (government issued)
- Working with children/teachers registration card
- Aviation security identification card
- Maritime security identification card
- Public employee photo ID card (government issued)
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs card
- Centrelink pensioner concession card or health care card (government issued)
- Current tertiary education institution photo ID
- Birth certificate/birth extract
- Australian citizenship certificate
- Reference from a doctor (must have been known for a period of at least twelve months)
10 points
- Foreign/international driver’s licence
- Proof of age card (government issued)
- Medicare card/private health care card
- Council rates notice
- Property lease/rental agreement
- Property insurance papers
- Tax declaration
- Superannuation statement
- Seniors card
- Electoral roll registration
- Motor vehicle registration or insurance documents
- Professional or trade association card
- Utility bills (phone, gas, electricity, water)
- Credit/debit card (if using more than one, each must be from different sources)
- Bank statement/passbook (if using more than one, each must be from different sources)
And don’t forget the tenancy reference check.
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
Copyright © 2022, www.propertyquarters.com.au
by George Astudillo | Jun 5, 2017 | Financial, Landlord mindset, Management Systems, Planning
Property management is more than collecting rent and organising repairs.
An investment property requires planning and follow through.
There are many events that need to be scheduled over the course of a tenancy. For some events the reminders come in the form of invoices such as Council and Water rates. But even these need to be scheduled to make sure they get paid on time.
Missing deadlines can be costly, for example, forgetting to pay the insurance can put your whole investment at risk. Overlooking rent reviews means you are missing out on potential income whilst missed routine inspections may mean the difference between a simple timely repair and a costly emergency.
It’s easy to create an annual calendar on which you can record the events for the year and check them off as they occur. This way nothing gets missed and once you know everything is covered, you can relax.
The dates you’ll want to monitor include:
o Tenancy expiry date
o Routine inspections
o Rent due dates
o Insurance due date
o Smoke alarm inspections
o Rent review date
o Pest inspection
o Pool and garden maintenance |
o Taxation
o Council rates due dates
o Water rates due dates
o Strata levies due dates
o Dates to invoice tenant for water usage
o Dates to follow up water usage invoice
o Budget review
o Regular maintenance |
Add any event to this list that is specific to your property that is necessary for the protection and maintenance of your property and income.
For the financial component to planning see our blog “Budgeting and Expenses”
Do you know what’s due or coming up this month?
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
Copyright © 2022, www.propertyquarters.com.au
by George Astudillo | Feb 15, 2017 | Financial, Management Systems, Planning
If the cost of owning an investment property is more than the income you receive, what’s the point?
I mean sure, Negative Gearing allows you to offset those losses against your other income, but even on the highest tax scale you’re still losing some of your hard earned cash (at least on paper).
So, let’s talk depreciation.
A property with a large depreciation allowance allows you to have a positively geared cash flow yet be negatively geared for tax purposes.
Let me explain further.
The Australian Taxation Office regards depreciating assets as a long-term cost of ownership.
In most properties there are many items that will, over time, deteriorate – i.e. the value of those items will depreciate. The ATO has worked out what items you are allowed to claim as depreciation as a deduction over specified period of time. There are two main types of depreciation claims: those for capital works and those for depreciating assets.
- Capital works are improvements to the property that are of a structural nature and fixed to the property. For example, kitchen and bathroom renovations, paving and driveways, built-in cupboards, clothes lines and fences are regarded as capital items (but note that not all capital works are recognised and advice should be taken here). Capital works include the initial cost of building, but not the cost of the land. When buying into any brand new building, you are entitled to claim all or a portion of the construction costs.
- Equipment and appliances are depreciating assets and include such items as kitchen appliances, carpets and other floor coverings, window finishes, air-conditioning units, alarms and pool equipment.
When you buy a brand new property, a list of these costs, known as a depreciation schedule, should be available from the property developer; this identifies the cost of every item that can be claimed. On older properties, there may still be items that you can claim depreciation on.
You can commission a quantity surveyor who specialises in preparing depreciation schedules to draw up a schedule for you.
A claim for depreciation is treated as an expense and is included as a cost of ownership that is deducted from the rental income. Negative gearing legislation allows any loss made on an investment property to be applied against other income.
If depreciation is the cause of the loss, then it seems you can have your cake and eat it too.
For a better understanding of negative gearing see our previous blog “What’s This Thing Called Negative Gearing?”
About Us
George Astudillo is the founder of Property Quarters, an agency that values communication and great relationships with its landlords.
George now has more than 30 years in real estate, including 15 years as the owner of a national real estate franchise. He’s also an accredited auctioneer and is the author of “The Landlord Mindset”, a book with his best tips to help landlords look after their investments. His book has been quoted in the SMH, The Huffington Post and The Age.
As the founder of Property Quarters, George takes great care in looking after his landlord’s investments. Having seen it all and worked with may landlords and tenants, he’s a strong mediator and negotiator and knows how to navigate through property legislation.
George is trusted by his landlords to advise on the financial management of their investments. He’s put in place proven processes to ensure each property he looks after is managed effectively to retain its value, quality tenants and rental income.
If you’re looking for a property manager who thinks like a landlord and whose business is built on tested processes, contact us by clicking HERE.
Copyright © 2022, www.propertyquarters.com.au
