confused.pom

Can anyone recommend a good solicitor in the Bayside area of Brisbane? We are about to look at renting a property and have read that letting a solicitor look at the contracts is a wise move.

Thanks,

Brian and Jane

spalen

if its a standard rental contract from someone like LJ Hooker or a real estate agent it'll be a standard rental contract of about 2-3 pages of A4 they are all the same. There is little point getting anyone to look at it - it is in plain english, you should be able to read & understand it. It will deal with things like inventory, damages, notice periods, what happens when the house is for sale/viewings , and access for landlord etc. All the rentals we've had in the 3 yrs we rented were all on standard paper which was a government licenced document not drawn up by the realtors. The bond will be lodged with the rental body for the state and will be held by them until the terms of the release are met by both sides.

If its off a bloke down the pub - yes get it checked.

Go into LJ Hooker or somewhere you've been looking and ask them if you can read the standard rental contract and go get a coffee and read it.

lapin_windstar

Hi Confused

Property rentals are usually pretty heavily regulated by the government in Australia so that there's not usually that much to negotiate apart from the price! When we rented, the rental document wasn't long or complicated, particularly.

But OTOH, solicitors can be pretty cheap, and if you'd feel reassured by having an eye cast over it, it wouldn't cost a lot. Up to you.

Queensland Law Society find a solicitor database: http://www.qls.com.au/content/lwp/wc...d+a+Solicitor/

You can also get free legal advice from a Community Legal Centre: http://www.qails.org.au/

You should also read through the information of the Residential Tenancies Authority of Queensland: http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/

And some trade unions also give access to free legal advice if you're a member, I believe.

hth

ABCDiamond

In agree with spalen, but I have used Clapins Lawyers, (conveyancers) a couple of times, in Victoria Point, and feel they could probably help, IF needed.

What exact area are you in ?

confused.pom

Thanks all.

We are in Biggera Waters for 2 weeks and will begin looking at rentals tomorrow. My wife has lined up a viewing in Wynnum West but I am unsure what this area is like. I think we will visit a number of real estate agents and see what they have got.

Centurion

Its usually a standard form 18A from the residential tenancies authority as a tenancy agreement. A solicitor checking that would be a bit of a waste of time unless there is an unusual clause which will be easy for you to see immediately.

Here is a link to the RTA publication on how to rent a property which might help you and explains all the forms, bonds, things you should know :

http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/zone_files.../17a-final.pdf

It may seen daunting but really the most important thing is more a case of ensuring that you photograph the property completely at the start of the tenancy and go through the condition report with a toothcomb. Pictures explain so much more and you should do it with the rental agent so they know you have done exactly that too. It will save so many problems when you leave.

spalen

Wynnum is nice.

Be prepared - When we were renting most rental agents couldn't give a fig. The "list" was on the wall outside the estate agents.

You can try redlands real estate in wellington point opposite the BP garage in wellington point - we rented from them for a couple of years. Best bet is looking on realestate.com.au for rental. They have a lot of new houses on their books.

The only real gotcha's in a rental contract are the bond return - dont expect to get it all back - and - that if the owner decides to sell then they can have viewings almost without your say-so and it can be a nightmare, open house multiple times with you having to clean/etc before people come round and then they traipse through your home. We had that happen to us. Its just part of being a 2nd class citizen :-)

Rudi

As others have suggested, most rental contracts are pretty standard. However, if you want to err on the side of caution, we used Quinn and Scattini in Cleveland for conveyancing when we bought and found them efficient and reasonably priced.

When you do move in, go through the list of defects that they give you in detail. Most of the time they just churn out the same standard list from the previous tenant, but there are usually lots more dings and dents to add!! Don't be afraid of adding them to your list. We also took photos of everything we listed. We had no problem when we moved out and got all our bond back.

If you end up in the Bayside, give me a shout and grab a cuppa sometime. It's always great to meet new people.

Love

Rudi
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