Bad tenants target self-managed rentals: Geoff Baldwin

GUEST OBSERVER

An increasing number of landlords are requesting agents take over the management of their rental properties after experiences with tenants who default on rent or who damage their property.

Our member agents are reporting many instances where they are inheriting properties with requests from the owners to evict tenants or to chase up unpaid rent.

Privately managed properties are targeted by bad tenants because they know the landlord does not have access to the checks and balances available to a professional property manager.

Good agents pay for access to the national defaulting tenant databases whereby they can check to see if there is any negative activity recorded against an applicant’s name anywhere in Australia.

It is not unusual for an immaculately presented applicant who looks to be a perfect tenant to owe thousands of dollars in rent or to have damaged a property in another state.

Many of these people are serial defaulters and once they are in a property it is difficult to move them without loss and aggravation.

Another advantage of professional management is that it provides a firm, friendly barrier between owner and tenant. 

It must be said that the grater majority of tenants are wonderful people who look after their rental property and pay their rent on time every time however there do exist a percentage of bad tenants and landlords are well advised to seek professional management to minimise the risks.

Geoff Baldwin is chairman of the  Certified Practicing Real Estate Agents and can be contacted here.