Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT ARE YOUR FEES?

Like the majority of Real Estate Agencies, our fees are calculated as a percentage of the rental value. This means you won’t know what our services will cost you until we know what your investment property is worth. We maintain a ‘simple’ fee structure with our only three fees being a ‘Management Fee’, with an occasional ‘Letting Fee ‘or ‘Lease Renewal Fee’. We have no extra ancillary fees which many other local Agents charge. Be sure to ask other Agents about disbursement fees, sundry fees, admin fees, statement fees, fees for arranging quotes or paying bills on your behalf, etc. To figure out what our services will cost you, call us or email on the below details and we’ll be more than happy to assist you with a rental value and the fees involved.

WHAT IS A ‘LETTING FEE’?

The Letting Fee is payable when our Agency is required to find a new tenant. It covers all advertising, open homes, processing of application forms, preparation of legal documentation for the approved tenant/s, bond lodgement and completion of a very detailed ingoing condition report.

WHAT IS A ‘LEASE RENEWAL FEE’?

A Lease Renewal Fee is payable when the existing tenants' lease is about to expire and the tenant wishes to remain at the property for another lease period (e.g., 12 months). Within this fee, we will confirm the Owner is happy to have tenants remain, we will also review the market and see if there is room for a small rent increase and prepare new lease documents.

WHAT IS A ‘MANAGEMENT FEE’?

The Management Fee covers everything else required to be done for the day-to-day management of the home. Including but not limited to; rent collection from tenants, record keeping of paid to dates, payment of rental funds to owners, preparation of statements, completion of routine inspections and vacate/bond inspections, handling of maintenance requests, arranging of quotes and liaising with tradespeople to complete work, etc.

HOW MUCH WILL YOU TAKE FOR A BOND?

In Tasmania, legislation prevents us from charging more than the equivalent of 4 weeks' rent as a bond. The bonds are held by the Rental Deposit Authority which is also a requirement under legislation. Please note that Tasmanian legislation also prevents Agents from charging an additional ‘pet bond’.

HOW OFTEN WILL YOU DO ROUTINE INSPECTIONS?

Our Agency completes detailed routine inspection reports every 4 months. You will receive a copy via email with photos and text in every room. You can refer back to the inspections at any time through your personal online property portal.

HOW OFTEN WILL I GET PAID?

You can choose whether you wish to paid weekly, twice monthly (mid-month and end of the month), or monthly. There are no fees for wanting more frequent payments. Note we can only pay you as often as the tenant pays, i.e. we cannot pay you weekly if your tenant pays rent fortnightly.

CAN I USE MY OWN TRADESPEOPLE FOR MAINTENANCE?

Absolutely! Just let us know which companies you would like to use. We can still arrange maintenance for you when using your preferred tradespeople. For our agency to be able to use your nominated tradesperson, we require them to be a registered business with adequate insurance prior to engaging them for work at your property.

WHICH BILLS WILL YOU PAY ON MY BEHALF?

We’ll automatically pay any maintenance arranged by our Agency from rental funds before paying you the balance. In addition to this, we can pay anything else you require. Simply forward us a copy of the statement or have the billing address changed to ours, PO Box 70, Burnie TAS 7320.

DOES YOUR AGENCY COLLECT A PET BOND?

Unfortunately, Tasmanian residential tenancy legislation does not allow us to collect a bond beyond 4 weeks’ rent. The bond held against the tenancy can be used to rectify any damages that occur as a result of pets and therefor a pet bond is not required.”

I’M NOT HAPPY WITH MY CURRENT PROPERTY MANAGER, DO I NEED TO WAIT UNTIL THE CURRENT TENANT LEAVES TO SWITCH TO ELDERS?

No, you don’t. And that's probably the worst time to switch Agents as your current Property Manager may be ‘slack’ on the vacate inspection and ensuring the home is spotless if they know they are losing the business anyway. You can switch at any time, the only requirement is to give 30 days' written notice which we can do for you. Please note if there is no tenancy in place, the 30 days notice does not apply and we can take over straight away.

HOW DO I CHANGE FROM MY CURRENT AGENT TO ELDERS BURNIE?

If you wish to leave your current Property Management Agency, it’s as simple as completing a Management Agreement with our Agency. We can handle the rest for you, including issuing the 30 days written notice to the current Agent (as per legislation) and collecting keys and files for you.

Elders Real Estate Burnie 72-74 Wilson Street Burnie TAS 7320 (03) 6432 2311 eldersburnie.com.au ABN: 54 150 695 211