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“Never skim inspection reports,” Boer says. “Stay vigilant, insist on regular inspections and act on small maintenance issues early. They often signal bigger problems down the track.“
Boer found this out the hard way when she got complacent about her investment properties after having a baby.
“A property manager had flagged one property as ‘a little grubby’, but I didn’t follow up. Later, we decided to sell that property and discovered it had not been cleaned throughout the entire tenancy: there was visible mould on windows, dust build-up on fans and sills, and the shower needed full regrouting.
“When I went to retrieve the past reports, I discovered no inspections had occurred for over three years, and the last one, which was an online inspection, wasn’t even sent to me.“
Delaying difficult decisions can end badly
”If the tenant is not looking after your property, work closely with your property manager to create a clear game plan to get that tenant back on track, and exit them at the earliest convenience,” Boer says.
”I’ve made the mistake of giving second chances — to property managers and to tenants — that led to major problems.”
Once, when a cornice fell off in a bathroom, Boer completed the repair and asked the property manager to conduct an investigation. It didn’t happen.
When she decided to sell the property, she found out that it had been used as an overcrowded university house share.
“The cleanliness and smell of the property meant that it needed a full repaint and deep clean. I should have changed property manager, and tenants, earlier.”
The safety net
There are a couple of rules that Boer didn’t need to learn; she’s followed them from the beginning. Firstly, don’t get emotionally attached to your investment properties (“Even though I’ve lived in some of them, I’ve always treated them like a business,” she says), and secondly, always take out landlord insurance.
“I’ve never made a claim on landlord insurance,” she says. “I possibly should have when the dog did all that damage, but the tenant promised to pay for it all.”
However, Boer has seen how landlord insurance can act as a safety net when things go awry. “My friend made a claim after a tenant left their property in such disrepair upon vacating that it was unliveable. Insurance covered the deep clean of the property, the ability to ‘make good’ the property, and compensated for lost rent.
“I consider it essential. I would never rent out a property without it.”
Terri Scheer is Australia’s leading landlord insurance specialist. For more information, visit terrischeer.com.au.
Insurance issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as Terri Scheer. Read the Product Disclosure Statement before buying this insurance. Go to terrischeer.com.au for a copy. Target Market Determination also available. This advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situations or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it.
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