Why do people do this sort of thing?

[himzol]

Hi Folks,

I moved to the Adelaide Hills about a year ago. The property we aquired has a great view and a bush setting.
We've decided that the house has to go so have done very little on it as such, however I have spent the better part of the last year fixing "home renovations" that were obviously inspired by the large number of TV shows around at the moment. Things like, paving without drainage, large trees planted up against the house, retaining walls incorrectly made and rebuilding a chook shed.
Having done all that (still have some retaining walls to fix) I moved on to the "garden". Here I have so far removed about five Umbrella trees and have about the same number to go.

Here is where I really got steamed.

While cutting back some blackberry bush to get to one of these trees I inadvertantly uncovered what I can only describe as a DUMP, the sort of stuff that I uncovered ranges from old shoes and flower pots to some asbestos fence sheets.
What upsets me is that apart from the asbestos all of this stuff could have gone into the regular weekly garbage pickup.

Why, ????

Himzo.

[Wood Borer]

Himzol,

Get with it!

Today's new religion is money and the monks of the new religion are selfishness and greed. The new temples are the stock exchange and the banks. The concepts of making the world a better place, the environment, being honest etc have no place any longer - old hat.

Developers have embraced this new religion with open arms and have dragged a whole lot of suckers along with them.

I agree with you whole heartedly, these slimeballs need to be stopped but unfortunately the likes of us are in the minority and are labelled as cynics and stirrers when we make statements that might affect their bottom line.

I can't put into words many more of my feelings on this topic or I might get myself into trouble.

I feel a bit better getting that off my chest.


- Wood Borer

[silentC]

Yeah, they could've at least dug a hole to put it in. Lazy buggers ;)

[Wongo]

Some people just don’t care. I still don’t understand why people would put old shoes, fish bones and disposable nappies into the paper bins. :(

[jackiew]

working in software the majority of my colleagues are eductated to at least degree level ( i.e. they can read and should be able to understand simple instructions ). We've done away with the coffee maker but until we did there were one or two individuals who would take the last cup of coffee but not set off a fresh brew, and would frequently not even bother to turn the coffee maker off. Didn't matter how many signs or e-mails were posted to ask them not to do this.

In a previous workplace I was responsible for emptying the can-crusher ... either people were too lazy to use it or they just chucked in all sorts of rubbish.

The same people are presumably the ones who empty their car ash-trays onto other people's nature strips ( or into the face of following motorcyclists ), drop their macdonalds wrappers half a metre from the bin, or into handy mailboxes, and let their dogs crap all over sports fields and school playing fields, park across other people's driveways and in disabled bays at the supermarket.

After much ranting about this I've come to the conclusion that there are two possible reasons for this behaviour

1.they genuinely think they are "too important" to make coffee, put rubbish in the bin or spend an extra 2 minutes walking across a supermarket carpark and it never even crosses their minds that the rules apply to them or that they should consider anyone else.

2. they recognise the fact that they are pathetic insignificant beings, understand exactly what they are doing wrong and their behaviour is their attempt to prove to themselves ( if not to anyone else) that they are important after all.

I do think you learn by example. As a small child my mother was all set to drag me into the police station ( under the eyes of an interested bus queue ) and dob me in if I didn't pick up the sweetie wrapper that I'd just dropped. I am totally unable to throw down rubbish in the street. I'm will carry an icy-pole stick for miles while looking for a bin. So its no surprise that my son aged under 5 watched the man in front of us in a queue drop something on the floor and announced in a very loud voice . "mummy, that man hasn't been brought up properly has he, he doesn't know he's meant to put rubbish in the bin" :D

Which sadly means that the children of the man I saw giving his dog a haircut in a beauty spot in a victorian national park ( blocking the path and leaving piles of dog hair behind ) will probably not have respect for anyone else either :mad:

[himzol]

The worst thing is that now I have to clean up somebody elses c**p, which leaves me out of the shed for at least another day.

Jackie,
I agree we learn by example, my son who is 15 is a bit like me (except better looking and taller) nearly missed the winning goal being scored in the Oceania game between Australia and New Zealand because he was taking his hot dog wrapper and drink bottle to the bin unlike the people around us who were just dropping theirs behind the seat in front.

SilentC,
They did dig a hole and put it in, they just didn't bother covering it.

Woodborer,
I'm quite happy to be labeled a cynic and a stirrer, but I disagree that we are a the minority.

Anyway I really just wanted to get a bit of frustration out of my system, thanks for the replies.

Himzo.

[Iain]

Not to mention the stains on your clothes from the graffiti on the bus/train etc, the lump of second hand chewing gum, the cretin next door who lets his diesel leak into my property and the (n)ever vigilant EPA who can't be bothered to do anything about it.

[ozwinner]

We had a rental property out in the country, actualy we couldnt sell it so we had to rent it out.

Anyway after they left we found this mountain of green rubbish dags full of cr&p in the carport, it was about 6x4x.5M.
To get to the carport was a longer trip than taking it out to the nature strip for the garbos.
Why? Because they are morons. Why else?
Oh, and we found out later on, that they were shooting up too, this is from people who had the references to get into the place to start with.

Al :(

[davo453]

It can at times be a sad world, humans are (it is my observation) by nature a self destructive creature, hell bent on annoying each other be it by being antisocial or by being too constrained by the rules set by society. You can't win really I guess that’s what makes life interesting, at least it puts a bit of variety into our day.

On my planet everyone gets on with everyone else there are no war's, no terrorism, no murders or unthoughtful behaviour, no vomiting in the street or litter out of place, the public toilets are always spotless and drivers always obey the rules, you never see disagreements of any sort at sporting events in fact violence and unexpected events just never happen. Guess that’s why, news papers don't sell and why I don't live there anymore :D

Cheers

Dave (nanoo nanoo)

[bitingmidge]

Developers have embraced this new religion with open arms and have dragged a whole lot of suckers along with them.


In defence of SOME developers :eek:, may I ask what relationship a half-witted moron who is too lazy to properly dispose of or recycle household refuse has with the person who originally subdivided the lot on which the house was constructed?

Having been involved with the development industry for most of my life, I have certainly seen the "White Shoe Brigade" at work, and note that they are not typical, but I have never actually ever seen any bone fide developer:
cut his dog's hair in a national park, dispose of dirty nappies unthoughtfully, leave garbage bags in carports, or hide household refuse in half buried patches behing the blackberries.

Before we declare open season on Developers as a breed, let's not forget that developers make a living by responding to a market. The market comprises by and large, the great unwashed, the morons, those bereft of any morality or even an inch of behavioural responsibilty, the blithering idiots!

If there were no blithering idiots, there would be only wonderous and wholesome responses to the market, and developers would be the good guys!

Death to the blithering idiots!!! (Haven't we been here before?)
:D :D :D

P

[DarrylF]

Nothing a bullet wouldn't fix.

[Caliban]

quote "Nothing a bullet wouldn't fix."
Darryl
Or a dot point.
or even a good old fashioned indent. :D
Jackie
where did he plug his dog hair clipper in?
Al(Oz)
I feel your pain, I had the same experience with my house, except I had to rip up the carpet after "they" let their kids run around without nappies and s*#t all over the carpet.
everyone
or the morons who drive into the bush to set their old lounges, fridges, baby strollers etc free, oh and sometimes, kittens. But lets not go there. :mad:
I feel much better now.
We, on this forum, are all such responsible citizens it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Or is that what incontinence feels like? :rolleyes:

[nik]

Here's one for ya, what about us honest people that don't litter, and don't vandalise and destroy things and we are made the victims. When I was renting a unit last year, i made sure that I didn't break anything, it was always clean, and I even fixed a few things in the place that were broken. 4 months out of a 6 month contract, i call It quits, and tell the real estate that I'll be leaving early, and agreed to pay the rent up untill someone else rents the unit. So I cleaned everything, made sure nothing was out of place in the unit, in fact, It was in a worse state when I arrived there than when I left. Anyway, the real estate agent inspected the property and she said that everything was fine and that I'd get all of my bond back. What happens, about a month later, I found out that the property had been rented out (and no, she didn't call me, i looked on the website every week) so I called her and she said everything was fine and she'd send down papers for me to get my bond back. What happens? They charge me $100 for bloody cleaning! How dirty can it be after 1 month? All that could be there is a bit of dust, and you'd think that the new tennants would clean it anyway, i had to when I moved in. And that aint the end of it, they tried to rip me off another weeks rent! When you can get tennants like ozwinner had and leave piles of garbage around and crap like that, they seem to get away with it. Honestly, somethings seriously wrong in this world. Well, i've had my little say about the topic, and it brought back a bit of anger from that damn real estate agent that I had stored away. ARRR, I think i'm going to have to find a bit of scrap wood and hit it very hard for a few hours...If ya need me i'll be me shed.

Nik.

[Eastie]

quote "Nothing a bullet wouldn't fix." ...or the morons who drive into the bush to set their old lounges, fridges, baby strollers etc free, oh and sometimes, kittens. But lets not go there. :mad:
That reminds me of something so funny I nearly died laughing.
I was out fixing up a stock yard ramp with my brother many moons ago when a toorak tractor pulled up about 100m off where we were on the side of the road. A lady gets out, opened the back of the car up and pulled out a box. Before you know it hey presto out jumps a cat. The cat obviously didn’t think much of being confined in the box as it took off like lightning in to the paddock in front of us. My brother who was oblivious to what was going on lifts his head up from reading the plan, saw the cat, instinctively grabbed the 22-250 off the dash and with great composure nailed the fleeing feline in full view of the owner. I managed to compose myself just long enough to point out the owner standing on the side of the road, hands over her face shocked a the fast demise of the pet she had set free.

[silentC]

I've posted this story before but what the heck. I worked for a developer in Sydney building a block of retirement units. His trick to get rid of rubbish without paying for it was to have us pile it up in decorative heaps and throw pine bark over it. We'd then plant shrubs in it. I remember planting one shrub by removing a paint tin from the heap, which gave me a ready made hole for the shrub. The only problem then was what to do with the paint can.

Eastie, are you sure she wasn't just taking Tiddles for a walk? Now that would be funny. :eek:

[Eastie]

The thought crossed my mind at the time that she was just giving the poor cat a toilet break - that's when I nearly died http://www.ubeaut.biz/chuckle.gif

[jackiew]

Jackie
where did he plug his dog hair clipper in?


He rocked up in a camper van ... parked across the only entry/exit road to the camping area and refused point blank to move so that campers could enter or exit ( most of them were in 4 wheel drives so went round him ... we had to leave our sedan parked elsewhere when we came back to the tent from a food run and couldn't get near it ). presumably the clippers were either battery charged or he plugged them into his cigarette lighter. After doing the dog hair cut and inconveniencing everyone else he then got back in the van with his tribe and departed. I do wonder if he'd made a special trip so that his dog could have a scenic view while getting a trim.

[craigb]

The thought crossed my mind at the time that she was just giving the poor cat a toilet break - that's when I nearly died http://www.ubeaut.biz/chuckle.gif

Did she not remonstrate with you? Or did she maybe think "mmm here's two rednecks, one of them's got a gun, maybe I'll just get back in the Range Rover and POQ" ? :D

[Markw]

Call me insensitive, but the best cat running around on the farm/bush/wildlife areas is a dead cat.
Our wildlife and our farm animals cannot tolerate these creatures and its a shame you didn't open up on the owner.

BTW - I have no time for cat owners who don't keep their cats either in an enclosure or their house 24/7. Shame you can't discharge a firearm within Sydney Met without copping a sentence. Maybe the courts could provide special dispensation for cat erradication, a dollar a tail - just to compensate for the waste of a perfectly good bullet.

[Bob Willson]

Did she not remonstrate with you? Haven't you got that the wrong way round craigb? Didn't you remonstrate with and castigate her Eastie?

My wife and I had a house, brand new pink carpet and spotless throughout, that we rented out to a minister and his wife. They had a large dog that they told us about beforehand that they were going to keep in the garden shed. They also asked for a fence all round the property so that they could contain the dog. As we intended to do this sometime anyway, we put a chain wire fence up for them at a cost of about $3K.
The management company had apparently done regular inspections and were happy with the way things were looking.
Minister and wife left and we went to inspect the house. Opened the front door to find damage to all the walls and nasty stains around every area where they had stood furniture. They had apparently oiled their furniture so that it would stay nice looking. They must hve actually been using an oil bath I think. Same story in two of the bedrooms and the kitchen was a mess. Went into the third bedroom and literally ran from the house. The third bedroom was alive with thousands of fleas and the whole room stank of dogs pi$$. We then knew where they had kept their dog in the cruel winter months.
We complained to them and they weren't interested. We complained to the real estate people and they weren't interested. We complained to the cops and they weren't interested. Luckilly, the carpet and walls were covered by insurance as they are considered fixtures. the whole experience however put us right off the rental property idea and we later sold the property at the bottom of the market for a hefty loss just to get out of it all.

[craigb]

I guess it depends on why she was letting the cat out. If it was to dump it then she certainly did deserve castigating or worse :)

If however it was a family pet that she was letting out have a break from the box and it was sudenly blown away in fornt of her eyes, well that may be different.

[silentC]

My first experience as a tenant put me off real estate agents and cats for life. A mate and myself rented a 2 bedroom flat. We lived there for about a year and at the end of the lease, moved out. Because we'd moved in on a Wednesday, the lease ran out in the middle of the week but we moved out on the weekend before. I dropped the keys at the real estate agent's office on the Monday morning. When I went in to pick up the bond a week later, I was told I would not be getting it back. They told me that a cat had broken in though a window during the week and 'n' shat all over the place. They had to get the carpet steam cleaned and because it was still technically leased to me, I had to pay. Sounded like BS to me but I didn't think there was much I could do (no rental bond board or tenants advisory back then).

[craigb]

They told me that a cat had broken in though a window during the week and 'n' shat all over the place.

I have this vision of a cat with a jemmy going around breaking into unoccupied premises. :D

Sounds like BS to me too Darren.

I seem to remember that the reason that the rental bond board was established in the first place was to protect tennants from the exact ripoff you describe.

In Bob's case it seems they wen't too far in the tennant's favor :(

[jackiew]

in victoria now you commit to getting the carpets throughout steam cleaned regardless of how short a time you've been there ( and they insist that you provide a receipt from a Carpet Cleaning business, no hiring a steam cleaner and doing it yourself ).

i've seen the tenant bit from both sides. There was the house I rented where the heating packed in and the landlady insisted on using her "tame" plumber who wasn't available for weeks. In summer it was alive with cockroaches ( woke up with them in bed with me :eek: ) .. all the rental agency would say was "haven't you got a hammer". When I moved out I cleaned it from top to bottom .. finding at the back of a kitchen cupboard a grill pan still full of fat and mouldery meat from a previous tenant ... obviously rigourous inspection. They had me back to clean the backs of doors I'd already cleaned and all sorts of nonsense stuff in an attempt to hold back the bond. However I've also had some super landlords.

My uk tenants let the garden turn into a jungle, filled the sheds with broken furniture, let their toddler scribble on every wall in the house, didn't vacuum for 3 years as far as i could tell, stole the curtains I'd deliberately chosen as too hideous to steal, left the grill pan with an inch of grease and every surface in the kitchen was coated so heavily with grease that I had to scrape it off with a knife. It took a week of hard work to bring it up to acceptable standards. In some ways I don't blame them 100% because the rental agent (CP Walker of Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England...you are on my "do not recommend" list, take a bow ) had failed to carry out maintenance work that I'd authorised. The agent had also not taken photos of the condition of the house when it was let out as they'd promised ( fortunately I had ) so they had no idea of its original condition and had lost documents relating to the house. I find it hard to believe that they were doing the 6 monthly checks and hadn't realised that something was seriously wrong. I got to keep the deposit ( which the tenants, unbelievably, kicked up a fuss about) but it went nowhere near the cost of sorting the mess out ... not to mention spending a week of my precious holiday with rubber gloves and bleach and taking trips to the tip, organising worken and stuff. ... very cathartic getting that off my chest :D

[q9]

My favourite whinge - bagging real estate agents.

Look, I hate real estate agents. All of them. If you are one, then that means you. I have found that the sooner you treat them like the bottom dwelling scum that they are, the better.

Only once have I had an agent refund my bond in full without an argument. Every other time I got it back, but it took some "negotiating". They nearly always try and claim between $50 - $100 for "cleaning". Everyone I have spoken to has had the same thing. Except they pay it (fools) and I don't. I have also refused each and every increase in rent, no matter how many times they try.

The tide has been turning the last few years, and with record numbers of investment units/houses relying on tenant income, we tenants actually have quite a bit of power these days. All that power, such responsibility...

[Caliban]

Power to the people?
You'll probably get cnsored for such a strong view.
There must be some real estate agents who aren't scum. Just because I haven't met any doesn't mean they don't exist.

[Justin]

Gotta agree with the sentiment on estate agents. They should have the title "Professional Parasite" printed on their business cards, because all they do is attach themselves to a host (vendor, buyer, landlord or tenant) and suck out what they need to grow.

Thank god we're paying off our own house now.


Justin.

[Bob Willson]

Thank god we're paying off our own house now. Just the blood sucking, parasitical banks that you need to worry about for the next 30 years now eh? :)

[Marc]

q9, I find your post rather amusing, and must assume it is said in jest, just like most of the other post.

I have been involved in RE for a few decades and have half a dozen RE agent working for me, plus a daughter who has a RE agency.

An agent, according to the law is someone who represents you, that is, the agent represents and defends the rights of the owner of the property you rent, in exchange for a fee, that goes from 5 to 9% according to areas and type of property.

Agents come in all shape and form and some are better than others, meaning ... some do their due diligence in selecting the appropriate tenant, and following up that the property is looked after, others don't bother (I suppose the tenant would probably think they are "good" during this time)

When the tenant leaves, unless there has been a close scrutiny of what needs to be done and determining who needs to do it if the owner or the tenant, invariably there will be problems at final inspection. That is what the bond is for, since the parting tenant usually is not inclined to recognise that nailing or screwing the plasterboard to hang that shelf he is now taking away, will need to be repaired, just like the broken glass the missing tile or the filthy stove.

Considering that 95% of "investors" in re, are mums and dads who own just one investment property, unfortunately there is a large amount of amateur owners around, and low interest rates keeps interest in re high even when returns are lousy not more than 3 or 5 % in the city and 7 to 9% in regional areas.

The thought that the "Owner" is the greedy ogre that is squeezing the life out of the tenant and that any damage the tenant can inflict onto the owner is well deserved, is total rubbish. To think that leaving behind mountains of garbage or vandalising the property, not paying the rent or other nice gestures is something to be supported , something like a hero's attitude, some Robin Hood concept, does not wash.

"Rich is bad, poor is virtuous" theory of life is absurd and is good just for a laugh.

[silentC]

I rented a 2 bed flat in Sydney a few years ago. The owner had just bought the place, repainted it and put in new carpet. I moved in and lived there for a year and a half. When I moved out, the agent told me that I had to pay to have the carpet cleaned and the walls repainted. I refused on the grounds that it was brand new when I moved in and you cannot expect it to stay that way for a year and a half. I think there is a tendency to try it on and I have absolutely no doubt that the agent was behind it. When I jacked up about it, he backed right off. They even let me stay for another 2 weeks when the purchase of my new place took a bit longer than planned.

With the last place we rented in Sydney after we sold our house, there was a clause in the lease that required us to pay for carpet cleaning. We thought that was fair enough given the state of it after living there a year with two little kids.

On the other hand, when we sold our house in Sydney a couple of years ago, the agent got us much more than we expected (probably more than it was worth). Of course we were happy. The agent we chose was the second one who looked at the property. The reason we didn't go with the first guy was because he wanted to put it up for auction. During the course of his pitch he told us that he would be providing a couple of bidders to 'keep up momentum' although they would not be allowed to bid above the reserve. That sounded dodgey to me and made me wonder what tricks he would be playing on us. I gather that practice has been outlawed now.

Just as a final point, we have friends who own a rental property here. They live in Perth. The local agent who manages it put tenants in for $50 a week less than what was agreed when they took it on. Since then, they have authorised and billed my friends for numerous 'improvements' around the house without first seeking permission. Glass breakages have occured and my friends have been billed for it. Doesn't sound like they're doing a very good job of protecting the owners from the tenants there.

[bitingmidge]

Only once have I had an agent refund my bond in full without an argument.

Hmmmm...have you ever tried leaving a place in the same condition it was in when you arrived? :D

P

[Guy]

I was renting a place many years ago and had been living in it for about 6 years. I did my own maintenance in the place to keep it in good working order, one day when it was raining i could hear the sound of dripping water on the ceiling. Being a good tenant i email the agent ( the only way to get her attention) telling her about this, later the next day she rings me to tell me that someone has been into the flat and done an inspection in the roof space and found nothing wrong.
Thats funny, how did they get in there the agent doesnt have the spare key after i changed the lock forgot to give them :D
Well many months went by and everytime it rained i would email her and tell her again about the dripping water to no avail, as i was looking for a house to buy during this time i couldnt care theat much. So eventually the day of the big move, all the furniture and stuff gone to new joint and it starts to rain, well it rained for the next 4 days non stop.
Rang the stupid bimbo at the real estate for her to come do inspection, ageed the folowing morning. Get the nice and early just to check everything ship shape to find these black lines all down the wall (shi?) quickly cleaned the walls down again , agent appears does her inspection and asks do u still have that problem with the ceiling as i never got time to get someone around to look. I replied No as now it wasnt my problem now. just got to the bottom of the stairs when there was an almighty bang from upstairs and her screaming. Shot back up stairs to see her lying on the floor with the plasterboard on top of her and a pile of filthy water.
I helped her up and made sure she was ok, then she turns to me and says i thought u send the problem wasnt there anymore, to which i replied when you ask me you used present tense, as u released me from my from the lease before u ask me, the problem was no longer mine, it was your.
Do you know they tried to use my bond money to pay for the repairs, whent to tenants tribunal and won , as i kept all the emails to them asking for someone to look at it

[Bob Willson]

Hmmmm...have you ever tried leaving a place in the same condition it was in when you arrived? The advantage of digital cameras. Take 10,000 pictures of EXACTLY what the condition of the place was and it still costs nothing. :D

[journeyman Mick]

I was renting a house about ten years ago and being the good tenant that I am I cleaned all the gutters when I moved in. One of the downpipes was blocked and as it ran straight into the ground and out to the road there was nothing I could do about it. Rang the real estate and told them the gutter was overflowing and splashing up on the laundry door, that there was a rotten rafter in the pergola over the front door and that there must be a water leak as there was a soggy spot in the garden and the meter ran (slowly) when all the taps were off. They weren't all that keen to do anything about any of it, asking me if it was really important. I told them that in time the laundry door would need to be replaced (which I estimated at about $450 replaced and painted), that I wouldn't pay any excess water bills and that if the pergola fell on me I would be suing big time but as long as none of that was a problem for them then it wasn't a problem for me. Obviously she didn't understand sarcasm. When I moved out they tried to hit me with an excess water bill, ranted and raved because the laundry door was decomposing and asked me why I hadn't told them about the pergola which had started falling down. I hadn't really cared about the aesthitics of the place as it was just somewhere to sleep, I was working long days and paid someone to clean and mow. I produced a follow up fax that I had sent them after the initial call (without the sarcasm) and told them that I had fulfilled my obligations and obviously the person who had done the regular inspections didn't know what they were doing. If they wanted me to do their inspection work for them they would have to pay me. I didn't need to go to the rental board to get my bond back. Oh, and they tried to make a fuss about the condition of the paintwork. I told them I could get my mate who lived next door who is one of the biggest painting contractors around to sign a stat.dec.to the effect that that's what two coats of cheap acrylic look like after 20 years in the tropics. Agents have a duty to look after a property for their clients but most of the ones I have dealt with haven't a clue.
I also rented another place for about 4 years, big hillside job with a 3M deep pool, ocean views etc etc. Told them that there were termites in the pool deck. They sent out a pest controller who assured me that they weren't the sort of termites that were a worry to structures. I told the RE that I disagreed with his diagnosis. Their reply was a thinly veiled sneer of "what do you know, you yobbo tradesman type?" Just before I moved out they had a new pest controller come out (the other one came out every six months and still refused to believe that the termites were doing any damage). He absolutely freaked :eek: "Yur deck is full of termites, it's completely riddled with them". The RE tried to blame me! I told them I'd warned them about the termites in the first place but they had chose not to believe me. Then they tried to make out I should have told them the pest controller was wrong. I pointed out that I had in fact done so, but after all I was a layman and the pest controller was an expert. So then the (unlicensed) (un)handyman came out and started measuring up the deck. I rang the RE and asked them if they wanted a price for the repairs. "Oh no" said the property manager the owners want Bill to do the work. I found it hard to believe that the customer wouldn't want a second price, especially when I found at that Bill was the property manager's husband. Anyway he did an absolutely woeful job! Layed the decking wrong way up and shot it down with 2" nails out of a framing gun. Of course every board split. Then because the deck was an iregular shape the boards all ran off the edges at an angle. Poor bill couldn't work out how to do this properly and ended up nailing another board on top of the edge to cover up the ragged, crooked edge. When I pointed out that this would prevent me sweeping the leaves off the deck the reply was that that's how the owners wanted it - yeah right. When I moved out 6 months later the deck was already starting to decompose due to the composting leaves and trapped water on the reeded boards. I sent a letter to the owners after I moved out advising them to talk to the QBSA about the standard of the work on the deck. I'm not a dobber but the RE really shafted these poor folks.

Mick

[AlexS]

OK, good news story. Soon after we built our 1st house I took a job OS, so naturally we were very worried about renting the house out. Rented to a young couple+ 1 small child, him in RAAF, and father in law used to collect the rent every month. Always good reports. Tennants asked could they use some spare bricks we had to build a BBQ. No problems Could they do some painting if we bought the paint. No problems. Dropped in after a year, tennants had done so much work around the place - gardens etc - and BBQ was more hi-tech than a Hercules (come to think of it, lots of it looked like they were off a Hercules..hmmmm). Gave them their bond back rather than have the worry of it, and they spent the next six years there keeping the place spotless and looking after it.

Unfortunately, the next tennants weren't quite so good.

[Sturdee]

The advantage of digital cameras. Take 10,000 pictures of EXACTLY what the condition of the place was and it still costs nothing. :D

A few years ago my daughter upon renting a flat got a friend, who was a camara addict, to video the condition of the flat. He made a 3 hour video slowly panning over every wall and ceiling and carpet, he even filmed the inside of every cupboard. He also filmed it on leaving.

On leaving the agent tried the keep the bond trick claiming damage. He was adament, so we took it straight away to the Tribunal. Boy was his face red when after cross examination by our lawyer he tendered the two video tapes to the Tribunal.


Peter.

[Caliban]

Peter
I like you so don't take offense, but this has to be said.
Anyone who can afford a lawyer like you obviously can, is laughing. ;) Pity about the other poor slobs who rely on the integrity of the human race.
What does this mean for us as a species, trust no one? :cool:
I think it sucks.
Digital cameras as a form of insurance! Stop this planet, I want to get off! :mad:
No I'm not threatening to leave these forums, it's nowhere near that serious, only the planet. :D

[q9]

Marc,

You kind of just proved my point. Cheers.

Your last paragraph was basically suggesting I'd said something along the lines that landlords deserved to be ripped off? Err...

FYI my last landlord positively begged me to stay, rent always paid, unit always tidy, nothing ever for them to whinge about. Perhaps that's why I always get away with refusing rental increases...and for that matter I only ever sign one lease and just stay on after that...I wonder why I keep getting away with it...?

To be fair, my last RE agent wasn't too bad. They have been the glaring exception, rather than the rule. But it is still important to put them in their place and remind them that tenants are actually quite critical to their business. Most seem to forget this, while they're off on some power trip.

And further FYI - I have no sympathy for anyone that invests their money blindly in anything that barely makes it above inflation. That's their choice.

Sorry Marc, it looks like we aren't destined to be friends.

[Sturdee]

Anyone who can afford a lawyer like you obviously can, is laughing. ;) Pity about the other poor slobs who rely on the integrity of the human race.
What does this mean for us as a species, trust no one? :cool:
I think it sucks.


Jim, I can't afford a laywer.

But in my previous life, when according to Christopha I was a low life :D , and in my then professional capacity I regularly used this struggling young barrister who now is a good friend and an SC ( but then a QC :) ).

He was slumming it at the Residential Tribunal for me on a pro bono basis. Amazing how polite and helpfull the Tribunal was when the fully gowned and wigged QC walked in to appear on our behalf. The stupid agent was representing himself, no doubt done it and got away with it many times in withholding bond moneys, but not this time. :D BTW cost and interest on the withheld bond money were awarded against the agent.

No offense taken Jim, I wont even give you a red dot. :D


Peter.

[Eastie]

Did she not remonstrate with you? Or did she maybe think "mmm here's two rednecks, one of them's got a gun, maybe I'll just get back in the Range Rover and POQ" ? :DWe never actually spoke to the lady, who as Craig rightly guessed soon got back in the tractor and took off – I guess she realised we saved her $80 the vet would’ve charged for the big green dream injection - or perhaps she thought she might be next :eek: . I suggested to my brother he should pick it up and give it back to her – he told me to get –censored-. As it came out of a cardboard box my thoughts were that it was a one way trip for the cat.

Anyhow year to date there's been 6 cats trapped/shot on the property compared to 47 wild dogs including mongrel cross alsatians, ridgebacks, rotweilers, and whippet looking things. That doesn’t include the twenty three 1080 baits that have been taken. Sort of makes cat owners look half respectable compared to some of the dog owners out there. Anyone who decides to walk through the alpine national park these days without breaking the laws and carrying a firearm is either very brave or very stupid - potentially both.

Eastie the redneck :D

[Guy]

As for real estate agents ripping off landlords, i know do it to both of them. they treat tenants badly so i always over inflate my prices, the last one for instance the landlord rang me and asked how much to fix the decking in one of his rentals, get the to have a look and it was rooten to hell. Materails price to fix was $2000 total quote was $9470 i got the job, another one of his houses had 12 rooms excluding lounge and kitchen, bathrooms every other room was numbered 1 to12 and each had a student paying $600 per month and there he is telling me he cant afford to fix the tiles on the shower wall for $1000.
I have many client whom are landlords and there all the same. (tight asses)

[Driver]

I have manfully resisted joining in this thread because I didn't want to just add to the litany of complaints about real estate agents. My own experience with them has been mixed. I can recall at least two whom I reckon did a good job (one sold a house for me - one represented a landlord from whom I rented a property some years ago). However, Mick's comment reminded me of a relatively recent experience:-


Agents have a duty to look after a property for their clients but most of the ones I have dealt with haven't a clue.

We returned to live in a house that had been rented out while on an assignment elsewhere. The RE agent did a final inspection and signed off that the tenant's bond should be returned. A day or two later and just prior to moving back in, I did my own inspection. I found a few issues. Nothing horrendous but a couple of things that needed to be fixed. I invited the RE agent to join me at the property to confirm my thoughts. On being shown the one or two issues, the young lady in question proceeded to lecture me in a loud voice and very patronising tone on the vicissitudes of life as a property owner. I recall her saying: "You have to expect this sort of thing" - at least three times. I let her go on for a bit and she obviously thought she had me convinced.

When she paused for breath I explained to her that she had made a mistake. The fact that I had been polite to her was simply an indication that I am well-mannered, not an indication of weakness of mind or spirit. I then (politely) threw her out, telling her to send her boss round and advising her that the word "agent" in her job title meant that her company was acting for someone. In this case me - not the tenant. Her boss rang me about 15 minutes later. I told him that his company owed me the bond money or free repairs. He had better make sure the bond was paid or the repairs effected or else I would go straight to the Small Claims Tribunal. Must have been convincing because the agent's handyperson arrived that afternoon and fixed the place up. Did quite a good job, too.

Col

[Ian007]

Man where do i start

have rented from both the good and the downright evil.

the bad one said he would not/could not get a broken water pipe fixed for 3 days which meant we would have no water. So I dug up the pipe & found the he had tied a rubber bike tube around the pipe previously to seal a water leak (talk about dumb) so i fixed the pipework then when he wanted the rent i said i was taking the cost of material out of the rent money ( no labour) he tells me no way is he paying for the materials ( about $30) my wife came out to see what was all the carry on was about and had to tell me to leave the driveway , she knew i was about to kill this bloke.

and working for myself fixing aircons have had lots of work in the past for RE agents.
some good, most not so good, lots of wasted time with quotes and unpaid invoices
I now in general tell them i'm not interested in there work.
and dealing with most of the owners isnt much better as most want work done for nix and want 90 days to pay for it.

had one lady who wanted me to put in a full evap system in her rental property and pay me in 12 months, told her my forehead didnt have a sign on it which advertised me as the commonwealth bank, and if she wants finance then get it herself. but she insisted that i do it for her as she couldnt afford to do it now and needed it put in no matter what. Why? there was a very mean and nasty bikie renting her rental property and he was hot, she was scared.
very funny for me!! not so for her.

thats a big enough winge on my part I could tell you a hundred more stories as they seem to happen to me on a weekly basis with LL RE and rentals in general

Ian

[Kris.Parker1]

I really hate some farmers who just seem to collect old machinery and let it go to waste and rust away on the property. What a god damn eye sore! Talking about giving me the irates!!!!!

[kiwigeo]

I really hate some farmers who just seem to collect old machinery and let it go to waste and rust away on the property. What a god damn eye sore! Talking about giving me the irates!!!!!
We in the oil business take a very responsible approach when it comes to where we leave our rusting old rigs.....rather than have them creating an eyesore out in the beautiful Timor Sea we leave ém parked in Darwin Harbour.

[dazzler]

Hey


I remember as a kid we had an old caravan that dad wanted to build into a trailer. So we smashed it down and buried it in the backyard. Cant remember why we buried it?????? but I still get a chuckle even after 25 years.

"Hi love where do you think we should plant the new lemon tree....over here looks good"

Mattock swings then PTTTWANGGGGGGG!!

he he he:D :D :D

dazzleer