by Gozu » Thu May 01, 2014 2:21 pm
Real estate agents are so dodgy.
When I was negotiating whether to sign a new lease at my place I said I wanted a periodic lease not another 12 month fixed term like they'd offered me and I want it in writing that they're not going to jack up the rent again mid-lease. I had never heard of that happening before in my life but a few months ago (about 8 months into my original lease) I asked my real estate agent if she could finally get the landlord to put a proper gate around the side of the unit like he promised he would on the day I moved in as the bed base he had been using as a makeshift gate kept blowing over and taking out my bins sending the rubbish everywhere.
A few weeks later he comes over and does it, a cheap nasty gate but at least something you can open & lock but then 3-4 days later I get a letter from the real estate agency saying my rent is going up $10 a week to start at around the 10 month mark of my original 12 month lease. I spoke to the tribunal and they said if certain language was used in the original lease it meant they could jack up the rent every 6 months. As I'm a model tenant when my original 12 month lease was about to expire I said I wanted it in writing that the rent will only go up once every 12 months and she said "Oh the law has been changed now it can only go up once every 12 months now not once every 6 months like before so don't worry about that" and then on me wanting a periodic lease she said "No one does periodic leases" I said "Hang on I was on a periodic at my last place, my mother is on a periodic at her place, my brother was on a periodic until he & his g/f bought their own place and his g/f was on a periodic before that too".
I wanted a periodic because of an incident a few months ago with a new guy that moved in who is the stereotypical un-civilised feral you would almost see on TT or ACA starring as "The world's worst neighbour". Just a rubbish human being. It sucks as the complex was decent before he moved in but it always only takes one bad egg. Anyway eventually the agent said the el cheapo tight arse landlord here doesn't do periodic leases but if I signed a 12 month fixed term they would put a clause in it I could break it and leave (4 weeks notice) if there is ever another incident with this dickhead.
Never ever take what a real estate agent says to you on face value and keep pushing until you get what you want.
"The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment" – Warren Bennis