question and answers
Things you need to know
Tenants Looking to Rent
Definitely! You will need to have a legal guardian or parent as a guarantor and they will be required to complete the mandatory application process as well as you.
The most common lease terms are six or 12 months. However, there is no restriction on the lease term you can offer. A 12-month lease allows you to build a more stable relationship with your tenants, which may encourage them extend the lease. Many may shy away from longer leases that lock them into a contract.
Usually utilities are not included in your rental amount. You are responsible for paying your rent and all outgoing utilities when you lease a rental property including any connection fees. It is also your responsibility as the tenant to connect your utilities, including water, gas, electricity and any other you may require at your cost. A small number of rental properties do have outgoings included however this will be spelt out in marketing and is usually in boarding houses or shared accommodation.
Once you have submitted your application and all supporting documents required, we will keep you updated via SMS/email as it progresses to each stage in the process. After we have done all of the necessary checks, your application will be presented to the Landlord for a final decision.
As a rule, we will not begin processing your application until we have all of the necessary documents provided. If you submit your application and it is missing some information (i.e. one of the other applicants hasn’t submitted their application or you still need to provide your payslips etc.), we will send you an SMS/email ‘more info is required’. Please call our office asap to confirm when you will be providing us with the additional info.
Depending on the number of applications we receive for the property, we aim to give you a final decision within 2 – 5 days. Waiting on additional information or references to get back to us is the main reason why processing your application may take longer.
There are a number of checks that need to be done for your application so be sure to include all of the items on the check list in the application form and notify your references to expect our call.
If your situation is a complicated one and you believe that the application form does not ask questions you may wish to answer we encourage you to submit a cover letter with your application.
You can call our office during business hours for answers to any questions relating to any of the properties we have available for lease.
Alternatively, you can send an enquiry through the online advertisement of the property you are interested in.
During Your Tenancy
At the beginning of your At the beginning of your tenancy you are sent a profile link to set up with managed which explains how you are to pay your rent and includes your personal payment details. You can also set up a direct debit method through your internet banking and those options can be found after you set up your profile.
As agreed in your lease, your rent is due on a particular day each month. If your rent is not paid by this day, you are considered to be ‘in arrears’. This is a serious matter and means you are breaking the terms of your lease. Not only are you causing financial hardship for your landlord, you are also establishing a negative rental history for yourself which could make it difficult for when you apply for future rentals.
Once you are ‘in arrears’ you will be sent correspondence from your property manager daily, these may include but are not limited to; phone calls, text messages and letters.
In accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, if you allow your rent to reach 14 days in arrears your property manager will serve you with a ‘notice to vacate’
We all have times when money is tight or people let us down however if you know your rent is due and you are not going to be able to pay it in time, please call or email your property manager immediately. If you have a good history of paying on time, your property manager and landlord may show more understanding if you communicate your issue as soon as it arises. If your circumstances have changed i.e. you lost your job, got sick, separated etc. which is going to affect your rental payments for a period of time, there may be some options to help like a payment plan etc. The most important thing is that you keep communicating with your property manager.
In a rental property, the only people who should be staying at the property are those listed on the lease and any children originally listed on your approved application. If however, you are planning to have friends or family stay at the property with you (for more than 3 weeks), please notify your property manager and provide certified photo ID for each person.
Although this may seem invasive, if something was to go wrong i.e. a fire at the property, we need to know who was at the property to notify authorities.
If you wish for any friends or family to move into the property more permanently, please advise your property manager immediately before asking them to do so, as you require permission prior to the move in. This person may be required to formally ‘Apply’ for the property, as you did prior to your tenancy.
According to your lease, it is in expectation that you maintain the property at the same or higher standard that you first leased it in. This includes regularly maintaining and watering the gardens including the trees and shrubs, mowing the lawn and removing all garden rubbish from the property. If any plants at the property die during your lease it is expected that you replace them with the same or similar. If the lawns dies it is expected that you lay lawn seed and re-establish the lawn to its original condition.
If you wish to plant additional plants in the gardens, please email your property manager detailing which plants and where you wish to plant them. This will need to be approved by the landlord prior to you making any changes.
In accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 you will be provided with at least one set of keys/remotes for the property at the beginning of your lease. You are permitted to make copies of these keys at your own expense, however you are expected to provide the additional copies back to Active Agents Hervey Bay at the completion of your tenancy.
Should you want a master key or remote ie you live in apartment block, you will need to request this by emailing your property manager. Once they are received, you will be sent an invoice for payment.
In accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 you will be provided with at least one set of keys/remotes for the property at the beginning of your lease. You are permitted to make copies of these keys at your own expense, however you are expected to provide the additional copies back to Active Agents Hervey The owner will not be liable or responsible for loss or damages to articles or property belonging to the tenant. It is advised that the tenant maintain contents Insurance for their personal belongings.
Please call or email your property manager immediately. We understand that mistakes and accidents happen and we expect some fair wear and tear however it’s better that you notify us instead of us noticing it at an inspection.
The damage may be covered by the landlord’s insurance policy, which may mean you might only have to pay the excess amount. Should it not be covered by insurance, Active Agents Hervey Bay works with a range of fantastic tradesmen who are not only reliable, but they give us great rates.
Every property and landlord is different. Some landlords are happy for pets to live at the property so long as the tenant takes full responsibility for any damage, other landlords are not.
If at the time of your original application you did not have any pets and are now hoping to get one, you must seek permission from your property manager prior to acquiring the pet; this should include the type, breed, age, sex and size of the pet. If you are approved for a pet, your property manager will draw up an agreement which you will be required to sign prior to the pet moving into the property.
If you are not approved for a pet and obtain one at the property anyway, this will be in breach of your lease agreement and will have repercussions.
Office hours – you can collect the office set and return them to us within the hour. Identification will be required.
After hours – you will be required to contact a locksmith at your own cost.
When your lease is nearing its end, we will contact you to ask if you would like to enter into a new lease. If you do want a new lease, we will confirm this with your landlord and if all parties agree we will prepare the new leases for you to sign. It is at this point you may be notified of a potential rent increase.
Usually utilities are not included in your rental amount. You are responsible for paying your rent and all outgoing utilities when you lease a rental property including any connection fees. It is also your responsibility as the tenant to connect your utilities, including water, gas, electricity and any other you may require at your cost. A small number of rental properties do have outgoings included however this will be spelt out in marketing and is usually in boarding houses or shared accommodation.
Sometimes things happen and a tenant needs to move out of a property before their current lease has expired ie got a job overseas or interstate, went through a marriage breakdown, has serious health issues etc. This is known as a ‘Lease Break’. In accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act and your lease agreement special conditions, you are required to:
– Give us written notice of your intention to break your lease
– Pay rent up until the lease ends or until the new tenants lease commences (whichever comes first), even if you have physically vacated the property prior to that date.
– Pay a break lease fee of the equivalent to 1 weeks’ rent + GST and a advertising fee of £125.00
– Notify us of a date you will be vacating the property so we can prepare it ready for re-leasing
If you know someone who wishes to lease the property, they are required to complete the application process as normal. You can discuss this with your property manager in more detail, however it is important that you understand there is no guarantee that this application will be approved.
360 Realty Ltd. is required to complete a thorough inspection of the property prior to the beginning of your tenancy noting in detail the condition of the property including any damage cited and photos of the property and all items at the property. This condition report will in turn be used for your final inspection to ensure you have returned the property back to the landlord in its original condition.
As required by legislation, at the time you collect your keys, you will be given two copies of the prepared condition report, along with a CD containing the condition report photos. The condition report marked ‘copy’ and the photos is intended for you to retain for your records.
The original copy of the condition report is the one that you must check over and make any required amendments or additions to; you have 3 business days to return this back to our office.
We recommend you go through the property before you move any personal belongings in. If you agree with our comments you don’t need add any additional comments. If you notice something we haven’t mentioned or you disagree with our comments, put your comments in the ‘tenant comments’ column of the relevant area and category.
If you fail to return the amended condition report to our office within the allocated time frame (3 business days) the original condition report will be declared as true and correct.
Step 1.
Correctly identify the safety switch. They are commonly larger, should be marked “safety switch” and are different in that only safety switches have a test button.
Attempt to reset safety switch ie. Switch back “ON”
– safety switch won’t reset (go to step 2)
– safety switch resets OK (go to step 5)
Step 2.
Switch “OFF” AND UNPLUG ALL appliances from power points.
IT IS IMPERITIVE TO UNPLUG ALL APPLIANCES.
The safety switch can still detect faulty appliances if they are plugged in and switched off.
Step 3.
Turn “OFF” all other circuit breakers and main switches
Attempt to reset the safety switch first ie. Switch back “ON”
If the safety switch will not reset there may be other appliances which have not been UNPLUGED. Items like the range hood, dishwasher and outside power points for example. (return to step 2)
The safety switch resets (got to step 4)
Step 4.
Turn “ON” the main switches followed by the other circuit breakers one at a time.
If only one circuit breaker appears to effect the safety switch, leave this circuit breaker switched off and contact an Electrician.
Step 5.
Monitor safety switch and if trips persist return to step 1
Ensure you plug back in your fridges/freezers and anything else that may require power immediatly.
Otherwise leave all the appliances unplugged and only plug appliances in as you require them. This will help you to identify which appliance is causing the fault.
If you have completed the above and still unable to find the fault lodge your maintenance through…
Ending a Tenancy
If you need to vacate your property before the expiry of the tenancy agreement, you will need to complete a Notice to Vacate form as well as follow our Break Lease terms, in order to notify your agent in writing. As stated in your tenancy agreement, you will be responsible for the payment of rent until a new tenancy commences or the agreement expires
Once you have moved out of your property, we will conduct a Exit Inspection to assess the condition of your property. If everything meets the requirements, we will submit the bond claim to the Residential Tenancy Authiorty who will release your bond money and return this to you via bank transfer.
Yes. You will still need to complete a Notice to Vacate even if your tenancy agreement is at an end.
You paid your 2 weeks rent when you signed your lease. As agreed in your lease agreement, you are required to pay your rent in advance each week. The date your rent is due is the 1st day of the next rent cycle for that week. You must pay rent up to and including your final vacating date.
Once you have given notice, your property manager will arrange a time to meet you at the property for your final inspection to compare the property condition to when your tenancy began. We expect some fair wear and tear however will look for visible signs of damage and also check that the property is cleaned to a standard expected in your lease agreement.
Your property manager will discuss with you any items requiring your additional attention. At this time you will also be asked to provide a receipt for carpet cleaning or any other special requirements ie flee spraying (if you had a pet at the property) etc.
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