A few questions about private rentals

We have a property that has been rented for the last 2.5 years. We chose our property management company based on the company owner and director at the time, but he has since left and recently sold the business to a national re company. So we've had numerous pms over this time and they're just getting worse and worse.

We had a huge ongoing issue with plumbing last year that I could have had fixed so much sooner if I didn't have to deal with an incompetent pm. The person looking after us now insisted on only contacting me by email even though I told her we had no email access for over a month, I had to keep calling her to find out what was going on only to have her say "Oh, didn't you get my email?" No! She's contacted me regarding a fallen tree branch, a crack in the wall, and an electrical fault. Each time she's said "So could you please call the tenant to arrange a fix, and call a tree removal person/electrician/whatever." So I've told her no, I don't have time to make all those calls and find people (I could, but that's what we pay her for!). And she goes "Oh, would you like me to?" Yes, I'd like you to do your job thank you!

So anyway, long story short we're considering renting privately. I've found the relevant website for SA with all the info, but it is a *lot* of reading! I've got a few questions but want to get through and see if they're answered there or if any more come up. In the meantime, does anyone rent privately and have any tips or advice?

We're renting out our house at the moment, in WA, and I took over the management in January. I didn't like the idea of paying them $200 a month for not really very much!

No real advice or experience but we rented out our house once and the agents were useless. There were 3 people on the lead and about 8 people living there! Thinking of renting it out again and I would rent it myself this time.
I guess the biggest things are understanding the processes for if they are not keeping up with rent and if they do more damage than the bond covers.

I have to say here, it is so good to know that owners get as frustrated about incompetent property managers as tenants do.
I've never owned a property, and usually blamed the pm for things not getting done, but you do wonder weather or not they've passed info on sometimes & if the owner has chosen to ignore the problem.

I guess the most important things really are to ensure you have a lease agreement & a bond. Private renters often don't bother with a bond. Make sure you know and understand both your rights & the rights of the tenant.
And be confident. Know that if you need to terminate the agreement, or give a warning, for whatever reason that you can & will do it.

Don't rent to friends or family. My sister is renting from her partners boss & friend. Makes it so much harder when you're emotionally involved, for everyone.

We have rented from re and from private, and omg the place we lived in that was private was a dream! Everything was dealt thing promptly and was so refreashing being able to talk to the owners directly and not play chinese whispers with a third party.
We payed bond, and was all offical though the bond agency (cant remember the offical name, but we were in Canberra at the time).
Point of this is do it! If we ever find outselves ina position on needing to rent again, ill be seeking private properties and it will make a huge impact on our decision. Plu on the other end, if we ever have an investment property i would.do it myself.
I think the only issue would be location. Are you close to the property? Not to do drive bys, but if they do call with an issue how hard is it for you to go and check it out? That is one advantage to re, they are often closer than you.

Yeah Clover, I was certain our first tenants would think we were completely useless, nothing was getting done and we found out that when I told the pm how to use the hot water system, she wasn't getting back to the tenants. So the next thing we heard was a complaint that it still wasn't working and took forever to get it through and in the end fix the plumbing.

My main questions are around the bond, what's with lodging it? Do we give that money to the tenancies agency thing? And I'm wondering how we'd go if we ever got a "bad" tenant and had to go to the tribunal. Our current tenant is wonderful, but I know once she's finished studying, if she can get a good job she'll probably look for somewhere a bit bigger and nicer than our place (she originally wanted a different place but couldn't afford it). From what I can see, we've got access to all the forms and information that the re uses, so hopefully it wouldn't be too hard.

Oops, I posted at the same time as you TT. That sounds great though, I'm glad as a tenant you like it better! We're close enough to the house, 20-30 minutes. DH finishes work at 3 so he's able to get there in afternoons, and I may be working a couple of days a fortnight just down the road.

I've helped a friend evict 2 private tenants, one for damage and non payment, one for just non payment. The second eventually paid on a payment plan, 2 years on we are still chasing the first, we went through tribunal and won. He still refused to pay and ran to QLD so now we're dealing with another states court system and he currently has a warrant on him for not turning up to court. Young and stupid.

My personal experience renting private depends hugely on the landlord, mine was slow to fix anything and didn't like my complaints about his child next door being a pain. We eventually left as nothing was being done after many years of loyal tenancy. So it depends.

Bond is lodged with fair trading here. Very easy process to lodge and claim.

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.

If the bond is lodged with the bond board, the tenants & you will all have the same legal rights to lay claim against it. If tenants are paying a full bond, they'll want it lodged properly for their own rights.