Leaky shower
Tenants said nothing -- Property Manager --'hasn't seen it!'
Just a 'nice' example of a lack of experience when the time comes to tenanted property inspected by letting property manager.
At the time when tenants sometime 'don't care' it's very important to do a maintenance inspection performed by experienced house inspector.
The 'maintenance inspection' cost as little as $300 plus GST for this kind of property and cover very important aspects as roof, cladding, foundation condition and moisture scan.
In this particular case, such inspection will reveal bathroom's leaking problem and could save thousands on repair cost.
This house was rented out for about $340 a week after commission to the property managers so with estimated repair cost around $5K it equals almost 15 weeks of 'free' rent!
Not to mention that when buyers negotiate the final price - having a leaky shower is not particularly strong negotiating point for the vendor.
Prolonged settlement to accommodate the repair also added to the loss as tenants have already moved out.
Questions:
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Can vendor can sue the letting agency for the negligence resulting in such big repair bill?
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What 'stopping' vendors to perform the maintenance and pre-sale house inspections?
But the main question is - can it be avoided? and the answer is yes.
Cost?
Routin maintenance inspection - $300.oo plus gGST
Pre-sale inspection -$350.oo plus GST
Not much with comparison with money could be saved hah? And a good news is - with our 'Do it now - pay latter' payment option it's easy as!
When listing the house be proactive - advise your vendors to perform pre-sale inspection - it could save them thousands and also reduce the time you spend conducting open homes & working through the pre-sale negotiation process.