Landlords: How to protect your North Lakes Investment Property from costly damage during Storm Season and meet your compliance obligations. Tenants: Do your part to be Storm Ready this season and know your rights.

Whether you live or invest in Queensland, storms are a fact of life. There have been quite a few harsh ones right here in North Lakes and Mango Hill causing damage to homes in just the last couple of years. So are you as a landlord prepared for storm season? More specifically, are you meeting your moral obligations as well as minimizing potential damage to your investment?

Preventative steps should be taken by the landlord to first ensure the house and yard are safe for tenants to live in, and secondly avoid costly repairs – think roof or fence replacement costs.

According to the QLD State Emergency Services website, the main things to do are;

• Trim trees and branches close to the house
• Clear gutters, down pipes and drains
• Get the roof checked for damage or corrosion
• Make sure all shades, sails and awnings are properly fitted
• Get your insurance up-to-date

Although written with home dwellers in mind, you can find further helpful suggestions in the Storm Ready Checklist here, or all you need to know to Get Prepared Now at this website.

While some of these items can be picked up at the regular property inspections performed by your property manager, we recommend you engage a trades person to clear out gutters and check the roof before storm season hits.

Although it is usually the responsibility of the tenants to carry out basic yard work – unless otherwise arranged in the contract– it is the owners responsibility to keep the property in good repair. If your property manager has alerted you to needed repairs, be sure to approve of them in a timely manner so as not to put the safety of your tenants at risk.

Tenants can play a part in ensuring their home is storm safe by securing loose items that could cause damage such as play equipment and outdoor furniture.  These can include trampolines, gazebos, swing sets, large pool toys, etc. Many a trampoline and gasebo have caught flight in storms local to North Lakes and Mango Hill over the years.

We encourage all tenants to alert their property manager immediately of any fallen trees or other potential risks during a storm outlined in the points above so that these can be tended to promptly.

Should you be unlucky enough to have incurred damage to your investment property during a storm, Aura Rental Management can guide you through the process of repairs, insurance and any tenancy matters that may arise.

Stay safe everyone!

Got more questions? Ask our Principal Property Manager now.