16th December 2008: Tips for investors!

Here are some tips from Fletchers aimed at helping landlords to handle their investments.

Sales appraisal
It's important with an investment to keep in touch with the market. As an investor you need to know what your asset is worth – especially if you are planning to sell in the near future.
Would you like an update on the value of your investment property? If so, then contact Fletchers and they can arrange for one of their experienced sales consultants to give you an appraisal. The appraisal is free and there are no obligations.

Accurate financial records are essential
If you are an investor, you know just how demanding it can be to own a rental property. That is why so many property owners turn to Fletchers for advice and entrust them to manage their properties.However, no matter how professional an agent may be, no matter how attentive they are, there are always tasks that a landlord must attend to such as maintaining financial records and keeping up to date with market trends if they are considering buying or selling.
They also need to understand the nature of different types of repairs and what constitutes emergency repairs and what do not. It is essential that landlords appreciate what is required of them and their agent in the event of an emergency. They also need to know a tenant's responsibilities and rights under those circumstances.

Financial records
Be sure to keep your investment property records comprising rental income statements, insurance details, depreciation reports and invoices in a safe, central location for the coming financial year to ensure you are prepared for your accountant's meeting. Remember too, that under Australian taxation law, a business must keep records for five years after they were prepared, obtained or the transactions were completed (whichever occurs later).

Emergency repairs
As a property investor, it is important for you to understand what an emergency repair is and how the management of this type of repair differs from a general routine repair. An emergency repair relates to work that needs to be undertaken to rectify the premises or inclusions and the repair will generally have a direct impact on the tenant's immediate living conditions, health and or safety. The following is a list of what are deemed to be emergency repairs in a residential property:

• A blocked water service
• A blocked or broken lavatory system
• A serious roof leak
• A gas leak
• A dangerous electrical fault
• Flooding or serious flood damage
• Serious storm, fire or impact damage

Contact Fletchers for further information.

– Fletchers Property Newsletter October 2008 Edition