Some agents structure fees to have a low initial fee and charge for everything required thereafter, eg a % of maintenance, a fixed fee for an inspection etc - a bit like the Ryanair model of property management.
The majority don't, and one agent I know of charges 2% more than the others but does not charge any fee when the property is re-let. There is no set way of doing things, and when there are attempts at regulating fees, they just make up a new way to cover costs.

Yep, i know, but its all about trying to keep them happy and therefore keep renting this nice reasonably priced place, but even so its wearing thin now, i would be willing to pay more for less house and hopefully less hassle.

Why are there inspections at all? If you trash the place, you can lose your bond and probably get brought to court for the rest. I think they shouln't be allowed as it's an invasion of privacy that is surely paid for as part of your sky high rent. What do they gain from inspections?

But how do they know if a place is getting trashed without the inspections? If I were a landlord, I would want to know ASAP if the tenants were being problematic. Al least then there is the potential to minimise damage or put a stop to it getting worse and perhaps recoup some of the money. The hassle of trying to get money out of someone who is quite happy to wreck someone elses property, after they have left, is probably not even worth it.

But you wouldn't know asap if someone has trashed your place. You'd know after the next inspection which might mean that the place had been trashed for 6 months.

I can't see it being any easier to get money off someone mid lease than at the end of a lease when the damages aren't covered by the bond.

Plus, considering how big the rental market it, the chances of your place getting trashed are minimal. There are some poor tennants for sure, but probably far less than the number of good tennants that want to live in a nice home. Places do get trashed but inspections don't seem to deter people from doing it. Ie, it's a waste of time and money. If I was a landlord, I'd be asking for a reduced rate from the agency for them not carrying out inspections on my property.

Not sure I agree with you Nige. I do believe that an inspection is a way of knowing how your tenants are treating your property. The initial 3 month inspection really is a way of confirming if they made the right decision to allow you to rent or not. After that it then becomes 6 monthly or annually...depending on your relationship with the owner/agent.

Yeah but what difference does it make you find out it's trashed after 6 months or at the end of the lease? You still have to go about getting the money for repairing it.

But I think the point on the chances of getting a tennant who will trash your place being slim, is a fair one. A certain amount of trust should be applied, especially if the agency has went about checking applicants references from other agencies ahead of approving your application.

Maybe even only the initial 3 month inspection would be warranted.

A lot of sensible agents apply a risk factor to inspections - eg if the place looks good after 3 months and the tenant is good at keeping things tidy and rent is on time they are unlikely to inspect too frequently, giving a reasonable tenant space and privacy. This can come unstuck but is a judgement call.
A lot of process driven agents (of which there are way too many) just inspect regardless, or worse don't inspect regardless and apply little judgement to who is in residence and likely to cause problems.

In NSW you would use an inspection to make a judgement about whether to keep the tenant in the longer term and whether to serve a "no grounds" termination - this is because terminating on the grounds of untidiness or damage is difficult to sustain at tribunal unless major and continuing.

There are good and bad tenants, landlords and property managers but hopefully not all three at the same time!
A landlord might like to ask for a copy of an inspection report - cause then you know what is happening, and ask the agent what there view is on future inspections.
Tenants should make sure the place is spotless at first inspection and hope they don't have an anal property manager!

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