With over 30 years of history being your neighbourhood experts, we’ve overseen thousands of rentals. Here are our top tips to ensure you enjoy a smooth, successful renting experience.
1. CHOOSE WISELY
We understand that your property is a prized possesion and asset. It’s important your tenant feels the same way. So choose employ a trusted estate agent to help you find a responsible tenant with a good financial track-record, who can respect your property and the lease agreement.
2. SPEAK UP
Open, ongoing communication between all parties involved in a lease agreement is vital. So don’t wait to speak up about your concerns or grievances.
3. KNOW YOUR ROLE
As the landlord, you will have the following responsibilities:
- The landlord must make sure the property is in a reasonable condition when the tenant moves in.
- The landlord shall keep and maintain all external walls, roof, plumbing (including any applicable flushing mechanism of all toilets on the property), electrical fixtures and other structural parts of the property in good order and repair.
- The landlord (or agent) must provide a written lease agreement.
- The landlord (or agent) must issue a receipt for every payment received.
- The landlord (or agent) must invest the deposit in an interest bearing trust account. On termination of the lease, the deposit plus interest is payable to the tenant after all damages in respect of the leased property have been paid, provided such damages exist.
- The landlord must allow the tenant the right to privacy and to enjoy their home undisturbed, which means that the landlord (or agent) cannot enter the property without the tenant’s permission and can enter only after reasonable notice has been given.
- Before the tenant moves in, the landlord (or agent) and the tenant must inspect the property together to list any damage, in order to determine what the landlord must fix and to record any damage that happened before the tenant moved in (this is important when it comes to claiming back a deposit).
- The landlord must timeously pay all rates, taxes and or levies due in respect of the leased property.
- The landlord must keep the leased property insured to its full value against risk of damage by fire.
- Should the property be furnished, the landlord must insure and keep insured all contents on the property.
- During the period of 3 days before the lease expires, the landlord (or agent) and tenant must inspect the property (at a time convenient to both parties) to assess if there is any damage caused during the tenant’s occupation of the property.
- In the case of a furnished rental, the landlord (or agent) needs to supply the tenant with an inventory of all furniture and equipment and the tenant needs to sign acknowledgement of the inventory at the incoming inspection.
- The landlord must adhere to all applicable laws and by-laws at all times.
- The landlord must, after inspecting the property, pay back the tenant deposit plus interest, within 7 days after inspection if there are no damages. If damages are present, the damages must be repaired and the deposit’s remainder repaid to the tenant within 14 days after restoration of the property.
- If the tenant fails to be present for the outgoing inspection, the landlord must repay the deposit within 21 days after the tenant has vacated.
4. LEAVE IT TO THE EXPERTS
Ensuring a successful rental experience involves a surprising amount of paperwork, detail and ongoing administration. Why not let us take care of it for you, so you can get on with enjoying your life instead of worrying about a lease.
