Renting your property privately?

Renting your property out privately sounds like a reasonable idea. You can save on the fees and it seems pretty easy. Almost everyone knows someone who does it themselves successfully, you may even do it yourself.

Sounds great until something goes disastrously WRONG as it did for a client I spoke to today.

A few years ago he bought the property next door to him and decided to save a few dollars but renting it out himself. He advertised for a tenant and a lovely well dressed businesswoman applied, was accepted, paid her bond and rent in advance. Everything was going to plan. Two weeks later he went to collect the rent and was confronted by the woman now dressed in a cowboy hat and boots who promptly told him to ‘get stuffed’. Then began a 14 month ordeal involving several court appearances to finally get her evicted. During that time he could not enter the property for fear of his life as she had a sharpened tomahawk near the door and a daughter that could double as a professional wrestler. He is convinced she dealt drugs from the property and after she left he found she was being chased by several other landlords she had abused previously. After nearly losing the house because of the financial stress she finally left with broken windows, a skip bin full of rubbish and clothes strewn throughout the house and carpets destroyed by cat and dog faeces and urine.

This client will NEVER rent his property out privately ever again and openly warns everyone to follow suit. “Its like driving a car uninsured” he says, “You save money until it nearly costs you everything”