we are currently renting privately and it has been fantastic. The owners have made a real effort to do everything by the book, they have registered bond, they send us weekly reciepts for rental payments and all the forms they have downloaded from an official website, cant think of the name now but will check the paperwork for you. In terms of documentation its just like dealing with a real estate. In terms of getting things done its amazing. We have had limited issues, and they supplied us with names of preffered contractors when we moved in, however on a few occassions one of the owners has come and completed the work himself. they live a few streets away, but apart from officially we never run into them or see them around.

For us a major perk was the rent was about $30 cheaper a week than similar properties through real estate agents as they were not paying the fees. They have said they are still coming out in front as well. I guess we feel a bit more responsibility to take care of the house and make an effort to keep the gardens clean tidy and well maintained as we like the owners. For us they are not faceless or nameless people.