Real Estate Excellence MID October 2011 Member Update

Welcome to the Mid-October Edition of the Real Estate Excellence Member Update.  The Update was emailed to all Members October 13th 2011

Industry Update

Pool Safety Certificates and a Reminder about the Pool Register

Curtain and Blind Laws Update

  

LICENSEE AND ADMINISTRATION best practice

Auditing Trust Accounts

Month of licence expiry	Audit period (dd/mm)	Audit report due by end of
January	01/10 - 30/09	January
February	01/11 - 31/10	February
March	01/12 - 30/11	March
April	01/01 - 31/12	April
May	01/02 - 31/01	May
June	01/03 - 28/02	June
July	01/04 - 31/03	July
August	01/05 - 30/04	August
September	01/06 - 31/05	September
October	01/07 - 30/06	October
November	01/08 - 31/07	November
December	01/09 - 31/08	December

Applying for an extension

Lodging your audit report

Changing an auditor

Applying for approval as an auditor

Ceasing to trade

Unused trust accounts

Unclaimed trust money.

Penalties

Residential SALES best practice

Rental Properties for Sale

Residential PROPERTY MANAGEMENT best practice

General Questions and Best Practice Response Below are some common questions asked from property managers and best practice responses from Real Estate Excellence that will be of assistance to property managers and licensees. Question How to tackle landlords that want tenants to deal with light bulbs, clean gutters, house washing, trim trees etc. and some dialogue we could use Real Estate Excellence Suggested Response      Who is responsible for supplying and maintaining light bulbs? Who is responsible for light bulbs when they blow? Question How to tackle routine inspections with tenants who are not keeping the property clean (a lot of them think we are only inspecting for maintenance or damage, and are not looking at how they keep it). Wondering what is best practice here? Is it always worth breaching a tenant for cleaning? Or depending on the extent, is it worth mentioning to the tenants verbally or in writing, is there some dialogue or should this always go in writing regardless of the seriousness of the issue Real Estate Excellence Suggested Response   Question Trees and fencing….we are never sure where we stand and are not sure how to convey professionally to a landlord where our responsibility ends and where they need to handle these issues Real Estate Excellence Suggested Response Question How do we cover ourselves with tenants who keep the property in poor condition, don’t pay rent on time but the landlord has instructed us to keep them on? Should we put something in writing regarding this, or some dialogue when dealing with these landlords (who then complain about lack of rent and the condition of the property?) Real Estate Excellence Suggested Response

Property Management Resource CD Real Estate Excellence is proud to release a new service. The Property Management Resource CD has over 160 training and resource documents.  Substantial Member Discounts are provided as part of this service. For more information, please email Stacey Holt. The following information is included on the CD provided. PAMD Form 20a best practice completion (4 pages) plus explanatory notes RTA Form 18a best practice completed for house and unit example Anti-Discrimination booklet to use for training and to give to lessors Pool Safety Laws best practice information booklet plus fact sheets Safety switch brochure Smoke alarm best practice information sheet plus fact sheets PAMD Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct plus best practice explanation for sections relevant to property management RTRA Act sections that commenced in July 2009 plus link to the Act and the regulations to download) DRUG Lab awareness training .wmv file – 22 minutes plus notes for staff training and awareness including legislative tips on how to end a tenancy if a drug lab is found Best practice tenancy sign up CD – 20 minutes to use in staff training RTA Fact sheets and the green book plus a guide for managing property for managers QCAT training workbook for staff training RTA Form 11 best practice examples for; Illegal use of the premises - Smoke alarms Illegal use of the premises - Pools Breaching special terms Rent arrears Noise Pets kept inside in breach of agreement Unapproved pets Not keeping the premises clean Real Estate Excellence Best Practice Information and Training Sheets Break leases Flood disaster Inviting the tenant to the final inspection Minimum period before rent can be increased Negotiating tenancies on behalf of the lessor Payment of rent by electronic transactions Rent increases from one fixed term to another Rental bonds Rental property and advertising special terms Rental property inspections – tips for every property manager Tenancy applications – beginning with the end in mind The importance of passing on risk to the lessor What happened to declined tenancy applications Termite inspections – where do the responsibilities lie? When tenancy documents must be given to new tenants Water charging and rental property QCAT published decisions and appeals (68 decisions) QCAT Forms QCAT Form 2 Minor Civil Dispute – urgent and non-urgent application QCAT Form 8 Counter application QCAT Form 9 Affidavit of service QCAT Form 39 Application to appeal QCAT Form 40 Application for miscellaneous matters QCAT Form 43 Application for reopening Application for waiver of fees QCAT Request for compensation Request for written reasons or audio CD QCAT Form 2 best practice completed for non-urgent and urgent applications The information provided is current as at 10th October 2011.

Stacey Holt - Director
REAL ESTATE EXCELLENCE ACADEMY PTY LTD                                               www.realestateexcellence.com.au