Frequently Asked Questions

If your property is currently managed by another agent, and you are looking to make a positive change, please contact Kellie Andriessen “Click Here” and complete the form and Kellie will be in touch.

She will make this transition extremely simple, with giving your current agent the required notice, sending them a request for the required documentation before the changeover date, and then arrange collection of such information on the hand over day along with the keys.

We will also liaise with the tenant to make this changeover a positive experience for them as well.

There will be no need for you the owner, to contact your old manger yourself.

Newcastle Property Management’s vacancy rate is always well below the Newcastle average and we achieve this by using two different methods.

Firstly, we have built up a database of over 10,000 tenants over the years who we send a weekly email to, advising them of our latest properties that have been listed for lease that week. Sometimes tenants are not even looking to relocate but they see a property on this email alert and before you know it…. they are on the move.

Secondly, by professionally marketing your property across 14 different real estate websites with quality photos, floorplans and a well worded description of your property that entices people to view it.

Generally, prospective tenants have a favourite website they view when looking for a new home and usually only look at this one site, so to ensure we get as close as possible to 100% of people looking to rent, we market across 14 different websites including:

• realestate.com.au
• domain.com.au
• rent.com.au

With our marketing knowledge and proactive approach along with setting the asking rent at a reasonable level we lease most properties in under 2 weeks.

Yes of course. We hold the viewings, take applications, do background checks (rentals references, employment references, personal references, etc.) to qualify any prospective tenant(s) who apply for your property. We then present all this information to you for you to make the final decision.

But beware – we’re honest! If we wouldn’t put them into one of our own properties, we will let you know, so you can choose if you want to put them in yours.

If you would like to provide us with your property address, we will happily and quickly provide you with a comparative market analysis which shows what other properties with similar characteristics have rented for over recent times.

The other thing to consider is how many properties are currently on the market to rent in your suburb and surrounding areas similar to yours and what price are they asking.

Our staff are highly experienced, and it is part of their job to supply this information to you and help guide you to a reasonable weekly rent.

However, it is your property and you have the final say. But remember every week it sits empty you receive $0 and miss out on 2% of your yearly income.

Every business day we are checking exactly where your tenants are paid up to. Should they be a day late a simple text reminder may fix.

However, if this does not fix the situation our Property Managers are quickly onto the phone to find out why and rectify the situation in the vast majority of instances. But should they not remedy the situation, we automatically serve them with formal notice on the 15th day of arrears for them to vacate or pay their outstanding monies. If this is not met, we will automatically proceed to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to gain possession.

Thankfully this does not happen very often with our proactive approach.

However, we always recommend owners have a quality Landlords Insurance package just in-case as sometimes the best long-standing tenants can suddenly change due to circumstances. If you are unsure about different Landlords Insurance policies, please ask us about our experiences with different companies over the years… Believe us when we say there are big differences between them.

According to the NSW Residential Tenancies Act, the lessor/agent may enter the premises under subsection (2)(b) for the purpose of inspecting the premises not more than 4 times in any 12 month period. Notice of 7-14 days must be given to do so, and a reasonable attempt to negotiate a day and time for that entry must be made as to not unduly inconvenience the tenant.   We conduct routine inspections 8 weeks into the tenancy and every 4 months thereafter. Please let your Property Manager know if you would like to accompany them on any inspection.

Termination of a tenancy depends on the type of tenancy.

Fixed Term Tenancy:

In accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act, a fixed term lease cannot be ended until the duration of the lease has elapsed unless 1) otherwise agreed by the landlord(s) and tenant(s) in writing, or 2) default by the tenant(s) for rent arrears or other by which the termination process can commence but must abide by the rules of the Residential Tenancies Act. Should you wish for the tenant to leave at the end of their fixed term lease you must give them a minimum 30 days’ notice.

Periodical Tenancy:

A periodical tenancy may be ended by the landlord by giving 90 days’ notice in writing, whereby the tenant must only give 21 days’ notice in writing. There is one exception to this, that if you sell the property and the tenants are on a periodic lease, you can give them 30 days’ notice after exchange of contracts with the purchaser.

It is the Property Owner(s) responsibility to have the property adequately insured.

We recommend:

• Building Insurance
• Landlords Protection Insurance (wilful damage, loss of rent, legal costs)
• Public Liability Insurance ($5,000,000-$10,000,000)

As a residential property owner, you are responsible for paying Council Rates, Water Rates, Strata Fees, Land Tax, Insurance and all other corporate charges. The tenant(s) is responsible for consumption such as electricity, gas, water usage (reimburse owner if property meets requirements under the Act), telephone, and internet during possession dates.

The Landlord is responsible for maintaining the property in a reasonable state of repair and comply with building, health and safety laws.

A few examples are:

• Upkeep of fixtures and chattels provided with the property for rent
• Clearing gutters, tree lopping, and cutting back overhanging trees
• Repairs and maintenance to swimming pools besides cleaning and chemical balancing
• Third party or wear and tear damage (damage except neglectful or malicious damage by tenants)
• Urgent Repairs
• Locks and security
• Pest and vermin control (unless there is evidence that it was caused by the tenant(s)

One of the most common misconceptions about finding an agent to manage your property is that they need to be located in the neighbourhood. Long gone are the days when prospective tenants went from real estate agency to real estate agency looking for homes to rent in any given area. They simply don’t have the time. Over 95% of all our tenant enquiries now come from the internet, meaning that we can quickly and easily rent out properties in a very large geographic area. We can also very quickly assess rents in any given area to determine what the right amount of rent is for a particular property. We know that if the property is within a 45-minute drive of our centrally located office at Cardiff, we can confidently assure the owner the property will be managed as if it was right next door to our office.

If we currently manage your property and you are looking to sell or even if we don’t manage your property and you are looking to sell, your choice of agent is of critical importance in ensuring you get the best price in the sale.

Whilst we are experts in Property Management our Sister Company, Andriessen Property, headed by Craig Andriessen, are experts in Property Sales.

Our goal is that you get the very best return on your investment and that extends to ensuring that the best possible price is achieved when you want to sell as well and using the team at Andriessen Property guarantees this!