Once your property is listed on our books, we will proceed with advertising.

An advert will be listed on reputable advertising platforms indicating the features and benefits of your property.

When a potential tenant contacts us and shows an interest in your property we will engage with the tenant to ensure they are happy with the property details.

If the tenant is confident that the specs are a good match then only will your property be shown to the prospective tenant.

Rest assured, your present tenant will be given fair notice and appointments will be made that suit all parties.

When a tenant is interested in applying for your property, we give the tenant an application form which includes requesting information like:

1. Who will occupy the property (names and ages)
2. ID numbers
3. Salary, occupation and employers contact details for a reference
4. Current rental agent’s name for a reference (if they are tenants elsewhere)
5. Period they would need to rent the property
6. Pets
7. The last 3 months bank statements and the last 3 months payslips

We email detailed monthly statements to Landowners.

These monthly statements are sent in arrears and will include all transactions for the previous calendar month.

Should any maintenance issues arise from time to time we will notify you of the issue.

• For attending to minor repairs and to expedite the process, if agreed with you in advance, we go ahead with costs of R3,500 or under
• Alternatively if you prefer, we can ask for your input on all costs
• If there is a major expense involved, then we will usually go about getting 2 quotes for your approval
• Once costs are agreed, then we will ask our handyman, plumber or electrician to effect repairs and deduct the amount from the next months rental
• In cases where there is an emergency and we are unable to get hold of you, we will need to go ahead and effect repairs
• For example, this is in the case of a
  • burst geyser
  • tripping electricity
  • or a breach of security

If you have existing guarantees on any workmanship, then we will please need to know who the contractors are, and keep this information on file.

If you would like to undertake any renovations to your property, or if there is existing maintenance / repairs that need to be undertaken before a tenant can take occupation, then ideal would be to manage this process yourself.

Alternatively, City Living Rentals could offer an additional service and manage this for you at a nominal fee of 10% (excl VAT) on the renovations / repairs cost price.

After reviewing an application we can easily see who qualifies.

1.  Affordability and cash flows. We want to see a combined salary of at least 3 times the rental amount before we even proceed. Bank statements are inspected to ensure cash flows can fund the rentals each month along with the other costs, such as utilities

2.  Employment. We request payslips and look at length of service, and then confirm the salary with the employer

3. References. We call any existing rental agent or landlord and get a report on how tenants conducted themselves with regards to taking care of the property they are renting, and whether rental payments are made timeously and in full

4. Credit checks. We subscribe to the Tenant Profile Network (TPN) and we run the ID numbers through the system to establish whether a potential tenant has any negative financial history

5. Tenant behaviour. Other aspects like whether a tenant arrives on time for an appointment, whether they are neat in person, whether they can supply supporting paperwork quickly, all help to give a feel about the tenant profile and whether they will be a reliable tenant

6. Final decision. Once we are happy to recommend an applicant to you, then the final decision is yours as to whether you will accept the tenant or if you would prefer to look further

On request, City Living Rentals can pay the bills for you, for example:

1. municipal bills (for a small additional fee)
2. levies (in the case of sectional title units) and this can be paid for no additional fee
3. electricity (if you don’t have a prepaid electricity meter we can also ensure tenants are paying the electricity regularly so you don’t get a surprise bill once they have left)
4. insurance (for a small additional fee)

For municipal bills, the rates are debited to your rental income account in our books and the water, sewerage and refuse is debited to the tenants account.

Our preference is to receive the accounts monthly, so that we can ensure that the bills are paid regularly and that you are reimbursed by the tenants.

A security deposit from the tenant is always required on signing of the lease, and this must be paid by the tenant before the keys are handed over initially to the tenant.

We require a deposit equal to a minimum of one month’s rent, however our standard, and recommendation, is 1.5 x the rent for unfurnished, and 2 x the rent for furnished.

Condition reports are completed and photographs taken of the property when a tenant moves in to identify any maintenance and repairs required, and scratches, cracks, marks etc. are noted.

When a tenant vacates, then this ingoing condition report is checked against the current state of the property and any changes are noted.

In the event that at the end of the lease there are damages to the property or monies owed, then this security deposit is used to offset these costs.