Landlords of Ozb How Would You Feel if Tenant Reached out Directly?

Cheaplikethebird on 16/03/2023 - 09:30
Last edited 16/03/2023 - 10:59 by 1 other user

Firstly I just want to say that I'm asking this as a general question not necessarily in relation to my own situation but recently I received a notice of rent increase and am going to try and negotiate a fairer rate. After reading this thread (tl;dr landlord wants to leave rent the same but agency is pressuring to up it so they can increase their commissions) I'm thinking that I would be more successful if I were able to reach out to the landlord and negotiate the rent increase directly rather than through a middleman who has their own interests that oppose mine.

Lets assume for the exercise that you have a good tenant, pays rent on time and maintains the house to a high standard. How would you feel if your tenant reached out to you directly?

Home & Garden

Comments

    • duchy on 17/03/2023 - 23:11

      Who votes against their economic interests? My hand would have to fall off with shame! 😀

      • GourmetFoodie on 18/03/2023 - 10:25
        +2

        Did it for my kids and their generation who deserve to be able to buy a house…

  • Wasabi Ninja on 17/03/2023 - 15:57
    +2

    I pay the agent so I don’t have direct contact with tenants. No one is talking directly to me.

  • jaimex2 on 17/03/2023 - 16:36
    +2

    I'd politely direct you back to the property manager as that's what I'm paying them for.

    If they're trying to up the rent they've already run it by me and I've oked it.

  • imurgod on 17/03/2023 - 16:50
    +1

    It depends on your approach.

    Some of my tenants will approach me directly and other have to go through the REA because I simply won't deal with them.

    I still constantly have to educate the REA on laws and things though… useless bunch!

  • kaleidoscope on 17/03/2023 - 16:54
    +1

    How would you feel if your tenant reached out to you directly

    If it's an urgent matter like a breakdown of service I would take an appropriate action AFTER I contact my agency and based on their advice. For a matter like you say I would kindly ask tenant to contact me through agency.

    rather than through a middleman who has their own interests that oppose mine

    How does your own interests matter to landlord's investment and it's returns?

    Eh, my owner has turned up on my doorstep unannounced numerous times, now I could have told him to f**k off and return after giving me written notice but I didn't so a bit of give and take in my case at least. I can appreciate the sentiment though.

    You should have told him to go through the correct way instead of allowing him to continue to do that. Is this a situation where your landlord lives in the same land but different building?

  • Hugh G Rection on 17/03/2023 - 19:19

    rate increase, so i have to pay more. now i need more from my renters. go directly to the banks and complain not to raise rates, then it wouldn't be passed on to you.

    right now houses places to rent are in high demand, so you actually don't have much power. you aren't the only great tenant, there are many other future tenants that are willing to pay more and also take great care of my houses i have for rent.

    i would listen to what you have to say, but would probably find another tenant to replace you if you can no longer afford to stay there.

    it has nothing to do with you and im pretty sure ur awesome, but at the end of the day i didn't invest in all my properties to lose money.

    • NevC on 21/03/2023 - 21:19

      In my opinion investing in rental property is a gamble. Just like any form of gambling, you should not be compensated for rate increases, or anything like this, by demanding more rent. Try going to the pokies, losing and then demanding your money back.

      • Extreme on 25/03/2023 - 10:00

        The market says your opinion is wrong.

        The reality is, rents are going up for a number of reasons.

        The biggest one is lack of supply.

        If there was more supply, landlords wouldn’t be in a position where they could raise rents, as tenants could just move to the vacant house next door.

        • NevC on 25/03/2023 - 20:17

          Lack of supply is because of greedy people buying every house they can, which results in others not able to afford their own house and being forced to rent instead. House prices have also reached levels way above what they are really worth, adding to the problem.

          • Extreme on 26/03/2023 - 09:16

            @NevC: Lack of supply is due to the average number of residents per dwelling reducing through covid.

            If I own 2 houses and you none, there’s no difference in supply if I own 1 and you 1.

            The reality of it is, there will always be a need for private rental properties. Even if property prices were $100k, there would still be people who couldn’t afford or wouldn’t want to buy for various reasons.

            House prices have gone up for a number of reasons. High building costs due to inflation is one part of it.

            The problem is only going to get worse. Especially once you factor in the fact that building approvals are down.

  • Hadranius on 17/03/2023 - 20:00

    Bikies!

  • duchy on 17/03/2023 - 23:17

    Easy. Go through the agency but address the letter to the landlord. Ask for a reduction in a newly proposed rent.

    Don’t contact the owner directly.

    LLs use REA for a reason - so they don’t have to deal with tenants directly (imagine being in a pub on Friday and getting a phone call from a tenant about broken hot water system).

  • Venustrap87 on 18/03/2023 - 10:11

    Your better to go through with the agent to then try will forward the letter to the landlord. With prices set to soar and prices increasing council rate , water and insurance & interest rate hikes then the LL has no choice .

    If your unhappy with the new rent then I suggest you move out and look somewhere nearby but note that vacancy rate is at all time low I believe it’s only 0.8% and hundreds of renters trying to find a place to live good luck
    Trying to find one .

  • Sxio on 18/03/2023 - 13:03
    +2

    I am a landlord.

    I absolutely 100% do not want tenants contacting me or even knowing who I am if possible. This is why I use property managers. I've seen self managed properties go very badly in the past and it's not something I would ever do personally.

    All contact should be through the property manager. Everything has a paper trail. Every cost has an invoice and a receipt. Makes everything much simpler.

    • tetsuma on 18/03/2023 - 19:56

      If being a landlord is such an ethical practice, why should you be anonymous and protected? At least Mao got one thing right.

      • bobolo on 19/03/2023 - 08:16

        Because many tenants are the ones that are not "ethical". Many want the world without any thought to the cost.

        I have had tenants demand $20k ducted aircon systems because split aircon systems are not good enough for them
        I have had tenants ask for security roller shutters so that they can feel safe
        I have had one tenant ask if we can pay and install an in ground pool, and when I said no, they stopped paying rent and I had to evict them over the course of 3 months

  • burns13 on 18/03/2023 - 21:06

    If it were that easy there wouldnt be rental managers.

  • Delilahgetsaround on 18/03/2023 - 21:11
    +2

    My real-estate has contacted me twice in 12 months to raise our tenants rent. The first time we raised it $10 as Interest has went up. The second time we said no as they were just being greedy, wanted another $15 on top. They went on to show us other properties in the neighbourhood with higher rent.

    I'd much rather keep my good tenants, Instead of the $700 or so annual I'd make extra with a hike. It's almost $1500 for the change of Tennant (photos, advertising etc)

    Real-estate treats the tenants in the same manner as the landlord.

    • TEER3X on 18/03/2023 - 21:15

      Plus, the good tenants might decide to leave and then you are potentially stuck without rental income for a few weeks/months

      • Delilahgetsaround on 18/03/2023 - 21:17

        Yes, that's exactly right. Depending on the price of the property just two weeks lost rent could be the same money you'd get from the proposed hike.

        • Extreme on 25/03/2023 - 10:02

          But you might also end up with a better tenant who’s willing to pay more, which more than makes up for the agents advertising fee.

  • frugalftw on 18/03/2023 - 22:05

    How do you contact the landlord? I thought one benefit of having an agent is to create the separation. It’s not like they offer their contact details, or do they? I’ve only ever lived in cash only share houses. It’s a great way to save money btw. I don’t believe everyone is doing anything just for money, and I tend to end up renting rooms at 60% the normal cost anyway.

  • webtonmoy on 19/03/2023 - 00:38
    +1

    Once I had a similar situation. I sent a letter to the landlord through the agent and offered like a 5% raise instead of the 10% that they asked. The request was granted. :)

    As a landlord now, I would try my best to accommodate a reasonable request regarding rent from a good tenant. However, if I am employing an agent, I would prefer to have that request come through the agent.

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