Routine rental inspections have become a cesspit for gross behaviour
A routine rental inspection has taken a X-rated turn and the current rental crisis might be to blame.
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The rental crisis is putting increasing pressure on everyone, leading to an unexpected, explicit discovery during a routine housing inspection.
Shannon, 30, is looking for a place to rent in Sydney and has cast her net wide from the inner west to northern Sydney.
She has been surprised to discover that routine rental inspections have become tense and even x-rated during Australia’s rental crisis.
The eager property hunter went to view one home, only to find a very unhappy current tenant who refused to leave the property for the inspection and made things very uncomfortable.
“I visited an open home where the current tenant refused to leave the house. He proceeded to sit on the bed and stare daggers at everyone,” Shannon told news.com.au
“His body language/demeanour meant no one was brave enough to inspect the bedroom he was in, and it was a one-bedroom place!”
Not only did the current tenant make the experience uncomfortable, he didn’t clean the property and still requested anyone entering to abide by his house hygiene rules.
“He obviously had not cleaned the property but still requested everyone to take their shoes off to enter the property... but there were ants all over the dining/lounge area and kitchen,” Shannon explained.
However, renters are now so desperate to get a placethat they quickly complied with the rogue tenant’s rules.
“Everyone complied despite the ant issue because no one wants to make a bad impression by being confrontational,” Shannon said.
Still, Shannon has considered herself lucky after one of her mates shared that she’d been greeted by dildos strewn around a house during a rental inspection.
“A friend told me they went to a home where the current tenant left their sex toys out on display,” she said.
“Lube, dildos... in multiple rooms across the property. Maybe they’re trying to do the new tenant a favour by discouraging competition.
“Maybe they’re angry at their agent? Maybe it’s their place up until a certain date, and they don’t care what the general public sees,” Shannon said.
Shannon isn’t alone in thinking the standards at inspections have sunk.
Ros Rosli, 29, has found the same thing while looking in Sydney’s inner city for a rental.
“Real estate agents are hosting inspections with properties that are filthy and messy and not even bothering to pick up a piece of rubbish in the middle of a room that is being shown,” she said.
Rosli has found her rental hunt incredibly confronting, she’s even got to see what a hoarder’s kitchen looks like.
“I went to an inspection once and the kitchen had containers and stacked up boxes everywhere, you couldn’t even see into the kitchen,” she said.
However, it’s the general cleanliness that Rosli has found is the most common issue.
“Bathrooms are not even tidied or clean. I viewed a property where it was vacated but there was still stickers on the wall and dirt marks everywhere. Plus, I’ve been to inspections where there’s unmade beds or even just a random wet sock in the toilet,” she explained.
Despite how stressful searching for a rental property has become, Shannon is dedicated to the cause and is even prepared to move into a damaged home.
“We don’t need all the bells and whistles. We’ve viewed places with broken windows and have said we’ll take it! But... there’s so much competition.
“So many people are in the same situation. I don’t think it will die down any time soon,” Shannon explained.
Interestingly, property management business and development executive at Ray White, Nina Navarrete, doesn’t find this behaviour a sign of the rental crisis.
“I’ve been doing this job for over 20 years,” she said. “So for me, these antidotes aren’t a sign of the rental crisis; rather, some people are just happy to stay home during inspections.
“A lot of tenants are comfortable to present their homes as they are!”
Originally published as Routine rental inspections have become a cesspit for gross behaviour
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