What is a typical lease period?

The most common lease periods for residential property are normally 6 or 12 months. There are no restrictions on the lease terms you can offer, however, a 12-month lease allows you to build a more stable relationship with your tenants, which may encourage them to extend the lease.

How do you screen tenants?

Our screening procedure is very strict; your property manager will screen the potential tenants in the rental databases, contact their personal & employment references, and view their Facebook and other social media accounts to ensure they are of good standard. This includes blacklists, bankruptcies, and prior court records.

What would be considered a good tenant?

A good tenant is considered as someone who pays rent on time and maintains your property responsibly, as if it was their own. You can expect a stress-free and positive experience with most tenants. As a property manager, it’s vital they understand the importance of upholding the terms and conditions of their contract.

How often do you inspect the properties?

We conduct four routine inspections per year - the maximum allowed by legislation.

Do I need Landlord insurance?

We will help organise your building and landlord insurance and yes, this is vital! Building & landlord insurance is an insurance policy designed to cover property owners where there is damage to a property they rent out. This includes damages to the building, tenant rent default, malicious damage and theft.

What happens if my property requires urgent maintenance?

Motivate Realty has preferred contractors we use to deal with emergency situations at your property, they can organise quotes and co-ordinate required works to a pre-arranged financial limit. We use them based on the price, quality and service they provide to our owners.

What happens if something happens to the property at night or over the weekend?

That’s no problems at all, our property managers are used to getting calls late at night for urgent works on the properties. This is what we’re here for!

What actions can be taken if a clients rent is in arrears?

It is inevitable that some tenants may find it challenging to pay rent at some point during their tenancy. Motivate Realty have strict policy control in regards to rent arrears and will make a clear pathway for the tenant to get up to date as soon as they can.

What happens at the end of the lease?

At the end of the lease, it’s our main priority to renew the lease for a further 6-12 months. At this time, you also have the ability to request the tenant to vacate. Landlords normally extend the lease when they have good tenants.

What is my responsibility as a landlord?

Your major responsibility as a landlord is to offer and maintain the dwelling that meets basic requirements, such as structural safety, heat, water, electricity, and a sanitary indoor environment. You are responsible for ensuring the safety requirements set out in the Building Code of Australia as per the Australian Standards.

Rental Properties FAQs by Motivate Property

When you go to see your everyday bank, they can only provide advice on that specific banks products & policies. When you see an independent Mortgage Broker, they provide the lending advice across a range of banks & lenders, suited to your needs & goals. With your property strategy, we may recommend using a variety of different banks to help put the security back in your hands, rather than leaving you at the mercy of one bank.

Generally speaking, if you have enough funds saved for a 20% deposit plus costs, then you’ll avoid paying LMI. In some cases, exceptions may apply to this, meaning you won't need to pay LMI with less than a 20% deposit if you’re in certain industries, income levels or in line with some Government back schemes.

Yes, if you have enough equity, you can typically leverage up to 80% of the value of your home (minus the debt) to be used as deposit for your next property purchase – this is called ‘Useable Equity’. There are some circumstances where lenders may allow you to leverage up to 90% of the value of the home.

As an independent broker, we are paid by the banks after settlement of the loan, meaning our service is at no cost to you.

Refinancing is when we approach a lender (same bank or different), and adjust your loan structure for your financial benefit. For example, this may be to release useable equity, reduce your interest rates or costs, or improve cash-flow.

As per our ‘Best Interest Duty’, an independent broker is bound by very strict laws to ensure that our recommendations are the most suitable for your needs & goals. When we assess your situation, you will be provided with a Credit Proposal, outlining the top options for you, as well as the specific reasons we’re recommending that particular loan & structure. Once you’ve approved this, then we move to facilitate this on your behalf.

Generally speaking, many First Home Buyers are starting with as little as a 5% deposit plus costs. If you want to avoid having to pay LMI, typically you will need 20% deposit plus costs. Most people enter the market somewhere in between. The deposit amount itself is based on the property, value, lender and your situation.

Yes, we can assist no matter where you are living, working or purchasing. Nowadays with online video calls, e-signing, and online verification systems, most of our industry is moving to working online.

For most people, once you’ve purchased the property, it may take anywhere from 3-6 weeks to obtain finance approval. Keeping in mind, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered, for example, the number of properties, loans, banks and vendors involved in the transaction. It is important to engage with your broker before you even considering buying, to ensure you’re prepared and ready.

Yes, there are many finance options for all types and tenures of employment, including new jobs, casual employment, overseas income etc.

FINANCE FAQs

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