So, you have inspected the property, submitted all your payslips, given your references, and now the property manager has called you up to say “Congratulations! You have been accepted into the property”.
You’re asked to come to the office to sign the lease, your heart leaps with joy, and now you’re looking at pages and pages of legalese. What to do? Here are a couple of things you should ask before you sign that legal document!
- What are my lease terms?
Before you enter into a lease, you must understand the terms and conditions of the agreement. This includes (but not limited to) the duration of the lease; whether utility bills are included in the rental amount; if the owner or strata allows pets, etc.
It is important that each party agrees to the terms and conditions before the start of the lease to prevent miscommunication in the future.
- Is there anything I should know about the property?
If the owner has not disclosed them to you already, you must ask if the owner has disclosed all “material facts”. What are “material facts”? Here are some examples of information that the owner must disclose to you:
- The property has significant health or safety risks that are not apparent upon inspection.
- A violent crime was committed in the premises sometime in the last five years.
- The property was exposed to serious flooding or bushfires in the last five years.
- There is no free residential parking permit (in an area where only paid parking is available)
- What should I do when there is maintenance to be done?
The agency or the owner usually have contracts whom they regularly use. So, it is best to find out with them how do they want maintenance requests to be reported. Normally, they would ask you to document the issue by taking pictures of it and reporting it in writing (usually via email). Also ask about their emergency maintenance policy, because as we all know, requesting for the property manager to fix the A/C controller is not as urgent as asking your property manager to fix a burst pipe.
- Should I purchase Contents’ Insurance?
Although owners are responsible for paying insurance on the property, that insurance normally will not cover tenants’ possessions. However, if you have Contents’ Insurance and your television set is damaged in case of theft, fire, natural disasters, or other damages, you will be able to claim insurance on it. So, this is probably something you might want to consider.
- How do I pay my rent?
Typically, agencies have their preferred method of receiving payment. It can vary from electronic funds transfer (EFT), BPAY, cash, to cheques. So, before moving in, you might want to agree with your property manager on how to pay the rent.
- Can I add changes to the property?
If you are not too keen on the brown paint that fills your bedroom walls and would like to repaint it, it is best to bring this up with the property manager first. Although you might think that the property’s value might be improved with having the paint blue, the owner might not share the same view. This also applies to putting a nail in the wall to hang your Van Gogh original. Before you do anything to alter the property, always clear it with your property manager first.
The one thing to keep in mind when signing up a lease is that never leave questions unanswered. Always ask and make sure to keep everything in writing, because as an anonymous person once said: “if it’s not written, it never happened.”
