19 Perth Suburbs have featured in the Your Investment Property Magazine top 100 investment suburbs for 2012. The top 100 is selected from over 15,000 suburbs across the country, this is a massive achievement for WA and should deliver further confidence to buyers that now is the time to capture a great property.

Steps to securing the best tenant for your property!

Once you have selected your agent to represent you putting your home to the rental market or you are going to lease your home privately, the investigations and preparation in selecting a tenant will ultimately decide your relationship, good or bad with your tenant.

The following are critical steps which we follow to ensure we can present all the facts to an owner for their consideration of tenants applications:

• A open for inspection is conducted on the property, all names and phone numbers of people who inspect are recorded, if people decline to provide this information they are declined from entering the premises, we feel if they do not want to identify themselves then they are not welcome. 
• Application forms are received either via our online system or presented to the office in a hand written format which we have handed out at the inspection. 
• First step once the applications have been received, the perspective tenant must attend the office and show original documentation certifying their identity including a D/L or Passport to ensure they are who they say they are, a copy is taken for attachment with their application. At that point we also verify their residency status to ensure they are either permanent residents or on a suitable working visa and able to fulfill the terms of the lease agreement. 
• A phone call is made to the applicants employer where we ask for confirmation of their employment, the time they have been employed for and verification of their salary, we need to ensure that they can afford the property they are applying for. 
• If that checks out fine we will proceed to contact their previous property manager/landlord. We are looking for information to see if they have been breached for non payment of rent or based on a bad inspection report during their previous tenancy. We also need to know if they have breached their agreement by having undisclosed pets or have moved extra people into the property or establish their history on keeping gardens neat and tidy. This phase of the application process will flush out a great history or a not so great history to provide to the owner for consideration. Sometimes the application will stop here if there has been multiple breaches issued as these are the types of tenants we do not want in our owners properties. 
• We will then proceed to calling the personal references of the applicant, a skilled and experienced property manager will determine the character of the applicant from the referee by knowing the way questions are answered in terms of delayed response or tonality of the referee. 
• We can now confidently present the applicants who have made it through this process to our owners for consideration, not only on the basis of their good character and history but on what they are offering to pay for the home as well as the term of the lease in relation to time ie. 6 months, 12 months, 2 years.

At Realmark Premier, our tenant selection process provides detailed and relvent information for owners to ensure they can make an informed decision on who they put into their home. This process is the most crucial introduction for the tenant to your property.

We believe in treating all parties with respect, by doing this we know that your home will be treated with respect.

Call Helen Campbell today on 0478 685 562 to experience a truly professional property management team.

Selecting a company to look after one of the most expensive assets you will ever own can be a great experience or a negative experience depending on many factors.

Outlined below are numerous points to consider when you are choosing the property manager to represent you and your home:

• Experience – Do they have sufficient experience to handle any situation that arises during the tenancy of your property? Do they intimately know the laws, rules and regulations which govern the industry? An inexperienced property manager can cost you not only money but time and avoidable stress.
• Communication – Do you know how and the frequency of communication you will receive from your property manager? You must be confident that you will receive effective and timely communication from the person you choose to employ, communication is the cornerstone of a great working relationship.
• Price – there are 2 parts to price, the price someone thinks that your home will rent for and the price they charge when it comes to their fees. The best piece of advice I can offer is never select a company for the reason that they are the cheapest or they told you the highest price you will get for rent. Choose the company which can demonstrate HOW they will get the best price for rent and can further demonstrate WHY they are worth their fee.
• Marketing – Perspective tenants look for properties to rent via numerous media outlets, internet, papers, facebook, office locations etc. Ensure that your agent has all your bases covered when it comes to marketing, the more people you can have interested in your property, the greater the chance of receiving multiple applications and getting a better tenant and a better price.
• Ongoing Relationship – Ultimately, you need to know that you are going to be able to work with your property manager, you have to be able to trust in them to be always working in your best interests.

Keep a clear mind and focus on the above critical criteria when selecting your agent, If they get a tick next to all these items you can’t go wrong!

Call Helen Campbell today on 0478 685 562 to discuss how you can get the best in property management.

The current rental market is returning excellent yields for owners however the caveat to that is you must provide a tenant value for money.

When a tenant is paying $500 – $1000 per week they will expect everything in the home to be in good working order, nice carpets and window treatments and neat and tidy gardens. By setting the precedent at the start of a tenancy for the presentation of your home it is far more likely the tenant will keep it in excellent condition for the duration of their stay. A home which is run down and in need of maintenance more than likely won’t be treated with the same level of respect because “that’s how it was when I got it”.

To prepare your home for lease, use the below as a checklist:

• Ensure all gas, electrical and plumbing fixtures and fittings are in good working condition, no lights blown or taps dripping.
• If needed, patch and repaint walls to ensure a nice clean look. This also makes the job of tracking damage to walls much easier once the tenant has vacated.
• Have carpets cleaned if they are in good condition or replace with new if badly worn.
• Clean out your gutters before handing the property over to a tenant, this will lessen the risk of water damage related maintenance items as the tenancy goes on.
• Ensure your home is compliant with current legislative requirements in relation to pool/spa safety barrier requirements and RCD’s and smoke alarm compliance. Preferably ensure you have these items in writing to pass onto a perspective property manager to keep on file.
• Present your gardens and lawns beautifully, this will set the precedent with the tenant!
• Gather any manuals or instructions for the correct use of appliances, air conditioning units, reticulation and pool cleaning equipment to pass onto a tenant or property manager. (keep the originals, pass on copies only in the event they get lost) This will minimise the risk of features being used incorrectly and potential losses being incurred.
• Immaculately clean the home from top to bottom, ensure no mould is present in wet areas, cob webs from ceilings, exhaust fan covers are clean, light fittings are clean etc. Once again, the better you hand it over the better you should get it back.

You are well on your way to achieving the highest possible rent and ensuring your home will attract the very best tenant possible in todays market, in turn, making your ownership of an investment property a stress free and enjoyable experience!

Call Helen Campbell today for any further advice or an appraisal on your investment property, 0478 685 562.

A very interesting scenario came to my attention recently, a chain of events revealed that a home that was constructed in 1976 was in fact not built according to the plans which were submitted and approved by the local council all those years back.

It underlines a scary scenario where the current owners of the property were required to have retrospective approval for the parts of the home which were not approved in 1976.

The information that I have received is that councils are not required to inspect properties to ensure they have been constructed in accordance with the approved plans. This can lead to future owners of properties becoming liable for any deviations from the approved plans.

As a property seller or just for your information in general, it may be prudent to contact your local council and pay for a copy of the plans they have on record as a safeguard from this type of scenario.

As a buyer of property, it may also be in your best interest to gain approval from the current owner of the property to get a copy of the plans from your local council.

Has anyone else had an experience like this one?

This result once again underlines the demand for all types of homes in Duncraig and showcases to owners that they have control in the current market conditions.

Remember, the importance of selecting the right selling method and marketing combination the first time, you only want to put your home on the market once, makes sure it’s done right.

Contact your Duncraig selling and leasing specialists today at Realmark Premier

Matt Travia – 0400 476 349 for all your selling needs

Helen Campbell – 0478 685 562 for all your leasing needs

When engaging a Real Estate company to manage your investment property there are a number of factors to consider which I know are important to you.

Excellent communication, finding the right tenant, detailed and regular inspections and of course securing the best price would all be up there as priorities.

Often, the fees and charges incurred are complicated and confusing, Realmark Premier can provide an easy, all inclusive management fee which is terrific value and makes keeping track of your expenses easy and cost effective!

We believe in providing experienced managers to you who have seen so many different situations over their combined 25 years of experience. They are able to effectively advise you and remedy any situation because of the knowledge they have.

If you are not happy with your current property management or you would like an update on current rental market conditions in Duncraig call or email Helen Campbell on 0478 685 562 or hcampbell@realmark.com.au

What have your property management experiences been like?

Sellers instructions are to present all and any offers for their consideration. Stunning opportunity to buy into a much loved and respected coastal community.

Start enjoying the coastal lifestyle, buy this 221m2 block and build your dream, easy care home and spend your days at the beach.

It’s all within 1 minutes walk….Marmion Shopping Centre, lush Braden Park, Marmion Primary School, Transport.

Of course, there is the easy walk to the beach, Lennards Pool, Watermans Bay including Cafe and Restaurant.

Affordable land on the coast is rare, enquire now before you miss out!

Marmion is a well established, coastal community consisting of just under 800 homes.

The Perth median vacancy rate has dropped to 1.9%, this is the availability of rental accomodation versus the supply across the metropolitan area.

Realmark Premier, your local Duncraig office manages several investment homes in the area and the demand is strong!

When asked, prospective tenants has advised that the reason they want Duncraig as their preferred place to live is the high calibre of schools, abundance of ammenities, the ease of access to major roads and transport but the most interesting and endearing reason is the reputation the suburb has.

Realmark Premier specializes in quality, high end property management services only employing experienced and service orientated professionals to ensure our clients receive top advice and special service. If you have an investment property requiring the best in management or you would just like some helpful, local advice please enquire at anytime.

Helen Campbell – 0478 685 562 or hcampbell@realmark.com.au

Realmark said its rental property listings were being illegally copied and uploaded onto a generic free classified advertising website.

Prospective tenants who enquired about these properties via the fraudulent listings were asked to provide details for a personal identification check after which, their identities were stolen, the company said.

“It’s disheartening to see criminals aim to take advantage of people looking to secure a rental property in the current market,” said Mr Percudani.

“And it highlights the need to know the credentials of the property agent or manager that you are dealing with.”

The WA Department of Commerce’s Consumer Protection unit says there has been an increase in enquiries from real estate agents seeking advice on combating such rental scams.

Consumer Protection said such scammers post copies of genuine sales or rental listings on free listing websites and substitute an agency’s contact details with their own. It’s also common for the scammers to provide suspect passports and fraudulent title deeds to add credibility to their claims, the department said.

Consumer protection recommends tenants deal with prospective landlords or licensed real estate agents in person whenever possible. They should be wary where email exchanges are carried on via free webmail accounts (such as Gmail, hotmail and yahoo) and where payments are requested upfront.