 Balcony and deck safety update – regular inspections are needed
The tragic collapse of a balcony in a rented property over the weekend highlights the need for regular inspections by a suitably qualified building practitioner. All balconies and decks are constructed to carry a specific load and should not be overloaded. Signs that a balcony or deck may have deteriorated include:
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Is Your Balcony or Deck Safe?
Telstra Outage at Planinsek PropertyFloods cause havoc with our phones
Apparantly the rains at the weekend have cause a major Telstra outage in the city.
Usually it is us helping others with their water damage but for the present we are the victims. Telstra tell us it should be fixed by 20 December. Yikes … that is 15 days away.
We are able to make outgoing calls and the internet wafts in and out so emails will get to us.
Our landline number 03 9663 6435 is not working so to phone us you need to call us on one of the following mobile numbers.
0438 028 935 0438 187 465 0438 291 779
Hopefully it will be all fixed well before the 20th.
Did the salesperson say buy and forget when you bought your investment property?How we all wish it could be so.
Rental Income
Let me remind you that there is the possibility of three sources of income fro an investment property.
- 1. Rental return – which do you think brings in the better rental amount?
- A well maintained property or one that is not?
- 2. Capital gains – which do you think goes up higher in value?
- A well maintained property or one that is not?
- 3. Taxation benefits through negative gearing –
- is maintenance part of your claimable costs?
Maintenance Plan
If you are serious about maximising the returns from your investment property then you need to have a maintenance plan. Your plan needs to have some money set aside each year to ensure that the required maintenance is done. Our property managers talk to landlords about short term and long term maintenance requirements for their properties.
Some items are mandatory in law e.g. Smoke detector checking and logs. We arrange for this to be done on behalf of the landlord.
Other items like painting the bathroom ceiling or refreshing internal painting of walls are done at the discretion of the landlord unless there is a health issue involved like mould.
Your List
Below is a list of possible items which may apply to your property. Decide what you think might be a reasonable frequency and do an estimate of cost. This will be the beginning of a plan. If you haven’t spent money for quite sometime then you really must face the fact that your time for expenses might be coming sooner rather than later. If your property is part of a strata development then the Owners Corporation may already have a Maintenance plan for common areas like the external walls and roof.
I live in a development with 68 units and each year we do some major work like painting one side of the building. We have a levy for this work on each of our fee notices. You need to be sending a levy to your self for the maintenance of inside the property if it is strata or the whole property if it is a house.
Possible items for inclusion in an Investment Property Maintenance Plan
- Smoke detectors – check and log
- Wet areas all still sealed properly – balconies, showers, taps, pipes, kitchen counters etc
- Gutters – need to be cleared
- All the windows and doors should close and lock quietly and correctly
- Clean the filters, condenser, and evaporator coils in your heating and air conditioning units, and change the filters if necessary.
- Check the auto-reverse on garage door – we don’t want squashed children
- Check exhaust fans in kitchen and laundry are cleaned regularly
- There needs to be one undamaged insect screen in each bedroom
- Termites in your area?
- Check plant and tree growth – not out of hand, touching wires etc
- Blind cords are secured properly
- Internal and external painting
- Replacing floor coverings
- Decks resealed
And from your experience with your own home I am sure there are lots more things you will want to add to the list.
I would be interested in what % of the property value or % of rental return you have decided to set aside for your maintenance plan. Send me an email on toni@planinsek.com.
Does your property have the same hidden value as Manhattan property?In New York it is rock called the Manhattan schist
The New York rocks are fragments of Pangaea, which formed when the ancient supercontinent split. It is these fragments of very hard rock which provide the perfect foundations for New York’s highest buildings. Where Manhattan schist can be found very close to the surface you can build high, and so Downtown and Midtown have become home to Manhattan’s tallest buildings. The hidden rock adds value to that land.
Your property won’t have Manhattan schist but it does have lots of factors which determine its value – some obvious and maybe some hidden. Consider these three aspects which influence its value. …
Were you happy with your land tax bill this year?What one landlord did about it.
I suspect we are never happy with our land tax bill. I try to sooth myself and keep a positive spin on paying tax by saying it means we have assets so be thankful. If we didn’t have any income or assets then we wouldn’t pay tax.
That may work some of the time but when the tax has increased by an enormous amount then all positive thoughts fly out the window. What do you do?
Well, one of our landlords showed what persistence can achieve.
He read on his notices (yes he has more than one investment property) that you could appeal within a certain timeframe. So he did just that. The council he was dealing with had increased his property values ridiculously so he was determined to win a revision downwards. …
Why do Victorians say ouch about stamp duty?Looking at examples in three States.
(Chart from Corelogic)
The recent announcements about no Stamp Duty for first home buyers is the subject of lots of speculation. Peter Gray and I will discuss on an upcoming episode of Real Estate Matters podcast.
Are you like the thief stealing the paintings?Planning and Preparation
A thief was caught after stealing some paintings from the Louvre in Paris, when his getaway van ran out of fuel. Given bail at his first hearing, a reporter asked him on the steps of the courthouse how he forgot such a vital part of his plan.
“Simple,” said the thief, “I had no Monet for Degas to make the Van Gogh.”
I know it is corny and I had to say it aloud with an Italian accent a couple of times before I ‘got it’ but the moral is important.
Have you planned and are you prepared for the end of the financial year?
We have sophisticated software in place to help reduce accountancy fees by giving our investors a comprehensive report on income and expenses handled through our office. You need to have a Quantity Surveyor prepare a depreciation schedule for the property. I did a podcast earlier in the year with Bradley Beer. He tells how you can save tax.
http://planinsek.com/pay-less-tax-understanding-depreciation-investment-properties/
Better Design for Melbourne Apartments
Recently there has been a lot of coverage in the press about the enormous number of apartments currently being built in the city. Perhaps the most troubling news is that there may be an over supply but I think worse than the over supply aspect is that many are of very poor quality. This has been happening in the city for quite some time. The apartments have got smaller.
When I first came into real estate about 17 years ago 50 sq metres was considered small and the banks didn’t want t lend on anything smaller. Now they are building them much smaller than that. …
What was our worst nightmares ?
Finding a drug house
Lots of people were interested in the drug house blog so we have republished it on this new site.
Police Warnings
There are warnings all over the media. Look out for drug houses. The police send information to managing agents like us. At Planinsek Property we have discussed many times the procedure we need to have in place to make sure that this doesn’t happen to one of our landlord’s property. But it did.
The usual checks were done when the tenants, two adults and a baby, applied for the property. All looked good when the tenancy started. Rent was paid on time. The first inspection was conducted at three months into the tenancy. …
Does your property have the same hidden value as Manhattan property?In New York it is rock called the Manhattan schist
The New York rocks are fragments of Pangaea, which formed when the ancient supercontinent split. It is these fragments of very hard rock which provide the perfect foundations for New York’s highest buildings. Where Manhattan schist can be found very close to the surface you can build high, and so Downtown and Midtown have become home to Manhattan’s tallest buildings. The hidden rock adds value to that land.
Your property won’t have Manhattan schist but it does have lots of factors which determine its value – some obvious and maybe some hidden. Consider these three aspects which influence its value. …
Were you happy with your land tax bill this year?What one landlord did about it.
I suspect we are never happy with our land tax bill. I try to sooth myself and keep a positive spin on paying tax by saying it means we have assets so be thankful. If we didn’t have any income or assets then we wouldn’t pay tax.
That may work some of the time but when the tax has increased by an enormous amount then all positive thoughts fly out the window. What do you do?
Well, one of our landlords showed what persistence can achieve.
He read on his notices (yes he has more than one investment property) that you could appeal within a certain timeframe. So he did just that. The council he was dealing with had increased his property values ridiculously so he was determined to win a revision downwards. …
How our team works – and gets the best results for landlords
Can you imagine an airline where the pilots help clean the plane?
Back in 1972 The Southwest Airlines staff knew they were fighting for their jobs as other airlines were trying to put them out of business. Being the underdogs spurred them on to work as an efficient team.
There was no demarkation of jobs on the ground. All pitched in including the pilots and did what was needed to make it happen. The airline had fought for years for the right to fly but when finally they had permission things were very grim financially. Vice President Bill Franklin and the other company leaders, came up with a scheme.
…
Better Design for Melbourne Apartments
Recently there has been a lot of coverage in the press about the enormous number of apartments currently being built in the city. Perhaps the most troubling news is that there may be an over supply but I think worse than the over supply aspect is that many are of very poor quality. This has been happening in the city for quite some time. The apartments have got smaller.
When I first came into real estate about 17 years ago 50 sq metres was considered small and the banks didn’t want t lend on anything smaller. Now they are building them much smaller than that. …
February Rental Market
This month the rental market has been busy. Each year at this time we see the influx of overseas and country students to Melbourne. I have made this short video to give investors a look at some rental return examples which were rented this month across Melbourne
Housing affordability – and a backyard option
The prices of housing in the larger Australian cities and the cost of renting are constantly in the news. Yet one thing we don’t hear much of in Victoria is the ‘Granny Flat’.
It came to mind for me over the holiday period when I was visiting my daughter and her family in Singapore. They are contemplating moving back to Sydney and I jokingly said well you had better find a house with a granny flat or room to build one. …
Does your property have potentially dangerous external gas pipes?
A couple of days ago the ABC featured the following on the news. As many of our landlords have properties built in the last ten years I thought it important that I bring this issue to their attention. What shocked me on the report was that the reporter went to a random street in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne and went into ten homes and they all had the illegal piping showing.
Once again I ask the question “Whose responsibility is to check new homes? Who signs off on this sort of thing? Surely a plumber who installs this piping without the correct protection should be held accountable. …
Were you happy with your land tax bill this year?What one landlord did about it.
I suspect we are never happy with our land tax bill. I try to sooth myself and keep a positive spin on paying tax by saying it means we have assets so be thankful. If we didn’t have any income or assets then we wouldn’t pay tax.
That may work some of the time but when the tax has increased by an enormous amount then all positive thoughts fly out the window. What do you do?
Well, one of our landlords showed what persistence can achieve.
He read on his notices (yes he has more than one investment property) that you could appeal within a certain timeframe. So he did just that. The council he was dealing with had increased his property values ridiculously so he was determined to win a revision downwards. …
Are you like the thief stealing the paintings?Planning and Preparation
A thief was caught after stealing some paintings from the Louvre in Paris, when his getaway van ran out of fuel. Given bail at his first hearing, a reporter asked him on the steps of the courthouse how he forgot such a vital part of his plan.
“Simple,” said the thief, “I had no Monet for Degas to make the Van Gogh.”
I know it is corny and I had to say it aloud with an Italian accent a couple of times before I ‘got it’ but the moral is important.
Have you planned and are you prepared for the end of the financial year?
We have sophisticated software in place to help reduce accountancy fees by giving our investors a comprehensive report on income and expenses handled through our office. You need to have a Quantity Surveyor prepare a depreciation schedule for the property. I did a podcast earlier in the year with Bradley Beer. He tells how you can save tax.
http://planinsek.com/pay-less-tax-understanding-depreciation-investment-properties/
How our team works – and gets the best results for landlords
Can you imagine an airline where the pilots help clean the plane?
Back in 1972 The Southwest Airlines staff knew they were fighting for their jobs as other airlines were trying to put them out of business. Being the underdogs spurred them on to work as an efficient team.
There was no demarkation of jobs on the ground. All pitched in including the pilots and did what was needed to make it happen. The airline had fought for years for the right to fly but when finally they had permission things were very grim financially. Vice President Bill Franklin and the other company leaders, came up with a scheme.
…
Better Design for Melbourne Apartments
Recently there has been a lot of coverage in the press about the enormous number of apartments currently being built in the city. Perhaps the most troubling news is that there may be an over supply but I think worse than the over supply aspect is that many are of very poor quality. This has been happening in the city for quite some time. The apartments have got smaller.
When I first came into real estate about 17 years ago 50 sq metres was considered small and the banks didn’t want t lend on anything smaller. Now they are building them much smaller than that. …
Housing affordability – and a backyard option
The prices of housing in the larger Australian cities and the cost of renting are constantly in the news. Yet one thing we don’t hear much of in Victoria is the ‘Granny Flat’.
It came to mind for me over the holiday period when I was visiting my daughter and her family in Singapore. They are contemplating moving back to Sydney and I jokingly said well you had better find a house with a granny flat or room to build one. …
So what’s in store this year?
Outlook for Investors:
Last year we saw experts begin to question the future of negative gearing and stamp duty as first -home buyers were pushed further out of the market. Home loan costs increased, construction numbers for apartments exploded and foreign investors were hit with big taxes.
Looking forward Ben Kingsley, chair of Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA says investors need to get creative to overcome affordability problems and to steer clear of areas inundated with apartments. …
What was our worst nightmares ?
Finding a drug house
Lots of people were interested in the drug house blog so we have republished it on this new site.
Police Warnings
There are warnings all over the media. Look out for drug houses. The police send information to managing agents like us. At Planinsek Property we have discussed many times the procedure we need to have in place to make sure that this doesn’t happen to one of our landlord’s property. But it did.
The usual checks were done when the tenants, two adults and a baby, applied for the property. All looked good when the tenancy started. Rent was paid on time. The first inspection was conducted at three months into the tenancy. …
How our team works – and gets the best results for landlords
Can you imagine an airline where the pilots help clean the plane?
Back in 1972 The Southwest Airlines staff knew they were fighting for their jobs as other airlines were trying to put them out of business. Being the underdogs spurred them on to work as an efficient team.
There was no demarkation of jobs on the ground. All pitched in including the pilots and did what was needed to make it happen. The airline had fought for years for the right to fly but when finally they had permission things were very grim financially. Vice President Bill Franklin and the other company leaders, came up with a scheme.
…
What was our worst nightmares ?
Finding a drug house
Lots of people were interested in the drug house blog so we have republished it on this new site.
Police Warnings
There are warnings all over the media. Look out for drug houses. The police send information to managing agents like us. At Planinsek Property we have discussed many times the procedure we need to have in place to make sure that this doesn’t happen to one of our landlord’s property. But it did.
The usual checks were done when the tenants, two adults and a baby, applied for the property. All looked good when the tenancy started. Rent was paid on time. The first inspection was conducted at three months into the tenancy. …
What Property Managers Are Saying …
Around the office: Lately I have had a couple of very distressed property managers on behalf of their landlords. It seems a tenant can continue to live in a property without paying rent for up to three months just by knowing the system and using it to their advantage.
My advice to property investors is to understand how VCAT works and what can happen there. In that way you are prepared for the worst and will understand what your property manager is doing on your behalf. Read on to understand what can happen with rent arrears. …
Does your property have the same hidden value as Manhattan property?In New York it is rock called the Manhattan schist
The New York rocks are fragments of Pangaea, which formed when the ancient supercontinent split. It is these fragments of very hard rock which provide the perfect foundations for New York’s highest buildings. Where Manhattan schist can be found very close to the surface you can build high, and so Downtown and Midtown have become home to Manhattan’s tallest buildings. The hidden rock adds value to that land.
Your property won’t have Manhattan schist but it does have lots of factors which determine its value – some obvious and maybe some hidden. Consider these three aspects which influence its value. …
So what’s in store this year?
Outlook for Investors:
Last year we saw experts begin to question the future of negative gearing and stamp duty as first -home buyers were pushed further out of the market. Home loan costs increased, construction numbers for apartments exploded and foreign investors were hit with big taxes.
Looking forward Ben Kingsley, chair of Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA says investors need to get creative to overcome affordability problems and to steer clear of areas inundated with apartments. …
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year
All the team members at Planinsek send our Christmas Greetings for the holidays. As usual we remain open over the holiday so rent continues to be collected and properties sold and leased. We just had new photos taken which were great for the Christmas video. Click the button to see our video.
…
Signing on the dotted line – and not regretting it
There has been quite a bit of discussion around our office this week because one of the staff repeated something he had heard about breaking a contract. It turned out to be be wrong but it got me thinking how we often have an idea, more of an urban myth than fact, and we continue to believe it for a very long time. It can be to our detriment. …
What was our worst nightmares ?
Finding a drug house
Lots of people were interested in the drug house blog so we have republished it on this new site.
Police Warnings
There are warnings all over the media. Look out for drug houses. The police send information to managing agents like us. At Planinsek Property we have discussed many times the procedure we need to have in place to make sure that this doesn’t happen to one of our landlord’s property. But it did.
The usual checks were done when the tenants, two adults and a baby, applied for the property. All looked good when the tenancy started. Rent was paid on time. The first inspection was conducted at three months into the tenancy. …
Freebie to Help You Play It Safe with Blinds
Consumer Affairs Victoria will give you a free safety kit. Give them a call or visit them on the link below.
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/shopping/product-safety-for-consumers/curtain-and-blind-cord-safety#free-safety-kit
Tragically, at least 15 Australian children have died in strangling incidents related to blind and curtain cords since the early 1990s, including two Victorian infants late last year. …
What Property Managers Are Saying …
Around the office: Lately I have had a couple of very distressed property managers on behalf of their landlords. It seems a tenant can continue to live in a property without paying rent for up to three months just by knowing the system and using it to their advantage.
My advice to property investors is to understand how VCAT works and what can happen there. In that way you are prepared for the worst and will understand what your property manager is doing on your behalf. Read on to understand what can happen with rent arrears. …
