Come and see your property!

Many landlords do not realise that it is well within their rights to attend routine inspections undertaken at their property.  Many clients that move to us from other agents have not been aware of this and in some cases have actually been told the exact opposite!

We recommend all of our landlords exercise there right to attend an inspection at least once a year as although we provide them with detailed quarterly inspection reports with accompanying photos, nothing provides the same clarity as seeing things with your own eyes.

It is quite common for our property managers to alert owners to small maintenance items in successive reports, however as we all know a small problem can over time become  a big problem if approval for repair is not given in a reasonable time.

Seeing your property annually can help to ensure small items are attended to and can also help to further alert you to areas that may need attention in the future. It can also provide you with peace of mind that your property is being well looked after.

The law states very clearly that owners must allow for ‘fair wear and tear’ when leasing property. This is one the more difficult areas for property managers to handle & manage fairly.

Annually viewing your property helps to keep you up to date with the wear and tear on your property. This is especially important for landlords who have long term tenants (3+ years in a property) as we must allow for more wear and tear than would  possibly be acceptable for a shorter tenancy. 

The age of the home also plays a large part in determining what ‘acceptable wear and tear’ is, as well as the condition the home was in when your tenant originally took possession. 

Written By Emma Trezise - Business Development Manager LJH Leeming

WA agents reject push from Canberra

Real estate agents in Western Australia have expressed strong reservations about the fallout from a Federal push to create a national licensing system for the profession.

And it seems the WA parliament agrees, with an Upper House Committee looking into the state legislation required to meet the Commonwealth’s request, recently rejecting the proposal.   

President of the Real Estate Institute of WA, Alan Bourke, said on the face of it the proposal to have a national license for real estate personnel made good sense, but that the devil was in the detail.

“The plan from Canberra is broadly to ensure that when workers move interstate their licenses are uniform and recognised across state borders,” Mr Bourke said.

“While on the surface this makes perfect sense when it comes to real estate agency in WA the proposal has the effect of watering down our existing high standards and lowering the benchmark for training and for ongoing professional development.”

Mr Bourke said buying a house was the single biggest investment most Australians will make and that REIWA is adamant that the key to providing a low-risk professional service to home buyers is by mandating a high level of qualification and ongoing professional development. 

“Whilst it is important to have a high level of initial training, it is equally important that agents are kept up to date with changes in the industry including government requirements and the regulatory environment agents operate within.

This requirement is not contained within the current Federal proposal,” Mr Bourke said.

The Board of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, which met in Perth at the end of June, has called for the Federal Government, States and Territories to agree to a national licensing system which requires agents to achieve:

• a diploma level for licensing;
• compulsory continuing professional development; and
• requires licensing for commercial agency work.

The national licensing scheme is due to start in July of 2012, however Mr Bourke said the industry would continue to lobby for changes so that the professional safeguards currently in place are not undermined. 

REIWA - http://reiwa.com.au/Faq/Pages/News.aspx

Leeming obtaining above average rents

Leeming 3 bedroom house - $370 p.w  VS  Perth median 3 bedroom house - $350 p.w

Leeming 4 bedroom house - $590 p.w  VS  Perth median 4 bedroom house - $400 p.w

Leeming All bedroom house - $380 p.w VS  Perth median All bedroom house - $365 p.w

LJ Hooker West Australian Annual Awards Night

Saturday 2nd July 2011 marked the LJ Hooker West Australian Annual Awards Night this year being held at the Burswood Grand Ballroom. The night was a huge success with the entire team enjoying the night and the Leeming team taking out a number of awards:

Darryl & Pauline Francis - 'Franchise owners of the year 2011'

Darryl Francis - Initiated into the 'Platinum Life Members Club'

Darryl Francis - WA 'Top salesman' (Number of transactions)

Darryl Francis - WA 'Top salesman' (Commission earnt)

Darryl Francis - Australasian 4th 'Top salesman' (Commission earnt)

Darryl Francis - Australasian 5th 'Top salesman' (Number of transactions)

Fayroza Esat - WA 'Top finance consultant' (Number of transactions)
Fayroza Esat - Australasian 2nd 'Top finance consultant' (Volume settled)
Emmajane Trezise - Nominated for 'Top business support'

Nikki Clark - Nominated for 'Top property manager'

Our Captains were also recognized:

Darryl Francis - Platinum life member, Multi million dollar club

Pauline Francis - Admiral, Multi million dollar club

Emmajane Trezise - Captain

Nikki Clark - Captain

Rhonda Barrat - Captain

Rhonnie Sundo - Captain

Rebecca Berry  - Captain

LJ Hooker Leeming would like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients who have made this possible, to all our sellers, purchasers, owners and tenants a huge THANK YOU.

Well done to the Leeming team, we are truly proud of your outstanding efforts.



A Break For The Blokes - 31st July

For many years LJ Hooker and Cystic Fibrosis Australia have had a fanstastic relationship, with LJ Hooker helping to raise awareness through fund raising and donantions.

click here.  RSVP to Gillian by email or call 9346 7338.

This year we CF Australia will hold there very first ‘Break for the Blokes’ on the 31^st of July, which will involve a wine and brewery tour of the Swan Valley.  The tour will pick members up from the CFWA head offices (11 Aberdare Rd Nedlands) and will take you on a tour of the beautiful Swan Valley with samples, snacks and lunch all included for free!

The tour will run from 11am to 5pm. This event will be for all males, whether you may be a dad, brother, uncle or grandad.

If you would like to know more, please

Join LJ Hooker Leeming's facebook & twitter pages

LJ Hooker Leeming is now live on both Facebook & Twitter.

Add us to receive information on our latest listings and rental properties. Both pages will be updated very reguarly with usefull information and this will be the best way to stay on top of what is happening in the Perth real estate market.

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ljhooker.leeming
&
Twitter - http://twitter.com/LJHookerLeeming

Tips and Tricks to a Warm Home!

Do you live in a big, drafty house? Does your house run solely on electric heating? Here are a bunch of great tips to help keep you toasty warm in the winter when your house is freezing!

1. Go around your house and check all of your windows. Are they properly shut?  Is there a draft coming from the sides?  They may need to be re-sealed. 

2. Seal your doors. Check around the door frame and also under the door. You may want to buy weather stripping or a door sweep. Again, at minimum, make a draft blocker (if you're the crafty sort) or stuff a towel at the bottom of the doors.

3. Close off any unused rooms. The closed door makes that room another barrier between you and the wicked winter weather. It also stops air from circulating as much, which reduces heat loss. 

4. Put up sets of heavy curtains. These can block drafts on both windows AND doors. Open them when the sun is shining to help pull in the solar heat into your house and close them when it gets cloudy or dark out to better keep the heat in.

5. Dress warmly. Hats/beanies are a great idea, as it is a well known fact that 75% of your body heat escapes from your head! 

6. Cook. Steam will raise the moisture level in your home, making you feel warmer. Make a large pot of soup, put the kettle on for tea, bake bread or cookies. Your oven will help to heat the kitchen. Make sure to leave the oven door open after cooking/baking to allow the heat to escape into your house.

7. Take a hot shower. Not only will this warm you up quickly, but the steam from the hot water will raise moisture levels in the house, helping the ambient temperature feel about 15 degree warmer. 

8.  Last, but not least, cuddle up on the couch with your loved ones. The closer you cuddle the more body heat you can build up! 

Investment property

You want to buy an investment property in an area where property values are likely to rise by more than the average rate of growth, such as the near city suburbs. However values in most of these suburbs are well above average property prices, which means stretching your finances by more than you planned in order to afford to buy in these areas.

Of course this is an over-simplification. There are still opportunities to buy affordable investment properties, of varying age and condition, in areas with good prospects for capital growth. However you should not also overlook the option of buying an investment property in areas achieving closer to average growth rates in property values. Often these areas are further from the city centre.

Investment patterns are changing. Low interest rates enable you to borrow funds to buy investments that achieve yields, or rents, almost equal to the cost of servicing the loan. In the context of property investment this means that you can purchase a recently constructed home in a middle-ranking suburb where the rent virtually matches the loan repayments. In more expensive suburbs a similar property would be more difficult to acquire.

Although the expected immediate increases in property values may be less than other areas, you are nevertheless well on the road towards owning the property without committing substantial amounts of your own spare money. In other words the investment pays itself off.

The other bonus from buying a near new home is the prospect of less maintenance costs. Also if you select wisely, the suburb may eventually become a higher capital growth area as the metropolitan area expands further.

Other important consideration you need to keep in mind if you choose this strategy is to ensure that you select a property and a location, which are attractive to tenants.