Landlords are seeing an increase in late rents, reduced rents and non-payment.
Antionette McClean, rental administrator for Seeff False Bay and South Eastern Suburbs, says landlords should take steps to mitigate these risks.
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She advises landlords to:
- Open a separate account for the monthly rent and not operate debit or stop orders off it. This is because, if a tenant should pay late or default and the debit and stop orders are rejected, the bank charges the landlord a fee.
- Create a reserve fund to act as a financial buffer should the tenant default on the rent.
- Set aside at least one month’s rent to do annual maintenance on your property.
- As soon as a tenant breaches the lease in any way they must immediately be informed of the breach and the process required to remedy it.
- Get a professional to do a moving-in inspection instead of doing it yourself.
- Ensure all compliance certificates for the property are valid.
- Conduct regular interim inspections to ensure there are no surprises at the end of the lease term.
- Have personal liability insurance to cover any eventuality that might arise out of the tenancy