cookiestar

I have never rented a place ever before, so apologies in advance if these are really stupid questions!

When we secure a rental in Australia, obviously we pay the bond (this is refundable when we move out, right?) and pay rent to the landlord monthly. Utilities, phone and all that stuff, we pay for that ourselves obviously.

What I'm not clear on is things like the Australian equivalent of council tax, buildings insurance and contents insurance?

I would imagine the buildings insurance is the responsibility of the landlord, and the contents (given they'll be our possessions) insurance will be our responsibility as tenants? What about the council tax/rates? If there is a service charge (is it called Body Corporate in Aus?) like a factor fee in the UK, is that paid for by the tenant or the landlord?

I am getting obsessed about detail just now, but it's the only way I can keep myself sane before we fly out next month

Pollyana

Landlord would usually cover the rates etc and the buildings insurance. Contents insurance is your problem.
The bond is only refundable if you hand the place back spotless and unmarked; they are very hot on that here. You virtually have to live without breathing in some houses to get the money back. Best way to think abolut it is to assume the bond is dead money, then its a bonus if you get it back.

cookiestar

Thanks Polly. That's useful to know about the bond too.

louie

We (the landlords) pay council tax/rates, water rates and strata levy (flat service charge) which covers buildings insurance, plus land tax.

copa

When you move in they'll probably ask you to fill in a property inspection report ... you walk around the house and take note of everything that is broken, damaged, scratched etc ... be totally obsessive about this. If the fly-screen has a small cat scratch mark in it - include it. If a tile in a remote corner of the bathroom looks slightly scratched .. include it. If there is a small mark on the carpet in an out of the way place - include it. Some landlords look for absolutely any reason to not give you your bond back so if they can say something was damaged while you were in there they'll jump at the chance.

Daydreamer123

We also took photo's of every bit of damage, and noted an overall condition for each room - most of them were pretty dirty so we noted that on our report, which we attached to theirs and made sure the agents signed two copies, one for us, one for them. Totally obsessive, but I want my money back

spadgersdad

Have to agree with Pollyana,
Some people are very keen and will try and keep your bond, we nearly lost ours due to the simple fact that the owner said we hadnt cleaned the plugs I mean THE PLUGS
It was only the lenting agent that insisted that we have our bond back stating that the owner was being very unreasonable as the house was left spotless, so she overlooked the owner and gave our money back to us.
As said previous check everything in the pre-look around as they will try anything to keep your bond.
Hope all goes well

TrickyTree

In QLD the tennant can now be charged for water consumption (as long as certain steps have been taken by the landlord).

cookiestar

Brilliant. Thanks for all of these replies. I will take my camera with me when we do the pre-inspection, and be totally meticulous about it all (they're going to love us!)

We'll be living in Brisbane, so I'll check out that water consumption thing you've mentioned TrickyTree.

TrickyTree

Heres a link

http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/water_charging_1.cfm

cookiestar

Thanks!

Sock Puppet

Oh yes, did the same - take photos, burn a CD and give one copy in with the inspection report (YOUR INSPECTION REPORT, NOT THE ONE THE AGENT DOES)...

When we moved out we had the phone call "Sorry you can't have your all money back, we found some soap marks on the shower in the bathroom, $250 please"

Our reply: "Get St*ffed, it was twice as clean as when we moved in, look at the photos"

Agent phone call 10 minutes later, "Oh er yep, I see what you mean, you can have all your bond money back"

No Dramas

Is there any form of Tenancy Deposit Scheme to protect your deposit as recently introduced in the UK?

Sounds like one is needed.

Sock Puppet

It is held safely by the bond board and you get a very 'little' interest, problem is that the real estate or letting agent writes to them to tell them how much to release at the end of your rental.

slipshot

Only thing I would also add is that because they are so hot on it, a newer property versus an older one has issues - a newer one because everything was brand new when you moved in so they look for everything thing.

Our current house is old but was repainted - and we have the paint code.

So every time I have left a place I painted white on white or whatever the colour was - not the entire wall but enough to cover the marks. Back of wardrobes are a killer - you can never see the marks when clothes and shoes are there, but take everything out and they stand out like a sore thumb. But slap some paint over it and they'll never know the difference.

I've always had my bond back and even a comment the place was cleaner than when I moved in - yet it was brand new when I moved in. Probably because I had painted and cleaned!