{"id":10699,"date":"2017-03-14T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=10699"},"modified":"2017-03-14T07:00:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-13T20:00:12","slug":"making-rental-bonds-easier-michael-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/making-rental-bonds-easier-michael-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"Making rental bonds easier – Michael Wood"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have some news about a new product called BONDSURE that will ease the rental bond burden for tenants and offers great protection for tenants, investors and agents.\u00a0 It is proving to be very popular.
\nTranscripts:<\/strong>
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Queensland entrepreneur and lawyer Michael Wood launched an innovative new property-focused business late last year. We told you about it on the show. It aims to take some of the hassle out of renting.
\nThe company is called BondSure. It\u2019s been progressing really well in the very short period of time since it\u2019s been launched. Over 100 real estate officers around Australia have signed up, and according to Michael Wood, they\u2019re adding quite a few each and every week. Michael joins us.
\nGood morning, Michael.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes. Good morning, Kevin.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>What a great business this is. Firstly, tell us how it works. How does BondSure work?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Basically, rather than paying their bond up front, it offers renters the choice to pay that off in installments over 6 to 12 months, and then the money is deposited by us with the Residential Tenancy Authority. It\u2019s all the same for the landlord there.
\nBut also what we\u2019ve done is go a bit further. Not only the choice of installments rather than upfront cash, but we\u2019ve introduced a new \u2013 rather revolutionary, I think \u2013 insurance product that protects that bond whilst it\u2019s sitting there with the government.
\nOf course, the landlord still has priority if there\u2019s any rent default, but what we\u2019re trying to do here is introduce a product that protects the bond against increased cost of cleaning and accidental damage, two issues that often erode the bond for the tenant at the end of the lease.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, we\u2019ll talk in a moment about how many people don\u2019t get their bond back or get absolutely get nothing at all back or even part of it. But just before we do that, why did you do this? Did you perceive there was a need for this to happen?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes. My main business is insurance, and my Lloyds broker in London introduced the concept of actually having a landlord waive the right to a bond and just have an insurance policy. It\u2019s being done in a very small way over in America.
\nThe situation over in America with strata title is very different, so they approached me and said, \u201cLook, Michael, could this work in Australia?\u201d I looked into it, and I decided that given that we can have a couple of hundred different owners in one building \u2013 rather than like in America where often one person owns the whole building, all the units \u2013 what I thought was that rather than do away with the bond, let\u2019s help the tenants and protect the landlord by still having that bond but then protecting it with an insurance policy.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>That\u2019s interesting, Michael. Could it work in a single house situation where the owner would be happy with an insurance policy over a bond?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Most definitely. We offer it both for units and houses. The only difference there is another extra product that we have is a contents policy. There is a slight differential between units and houses, but otherwise, the pricing is all pretty much the same.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>I said in the intro that about a hundred offices around Australia have picked it up. What sort of reaction are you getting from them? Because I would have thought that this would be fairly popular with agents.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes. We\u2019ve been really, really pleased by the support they\u2019ve shown. The first thing is is the landlord still protected? Which of course, the landlord is. The money is sitting there with the RTA, and as I said, the landlord always has priority if there\u2019s a rent default.
\nBut the big thing is there are often disputes, and I\u2019m sure landlords agree that it\u2019s a bit of a hassle at the end of a lease to be arguing with a tenant over what is damage and what isn\u2019t. That\u2019s one of the main reasons that not only did we introduce a product that is to protect against damage \u2013 such as damaged carpet, damaged curtains, damaged fittings \u2013 but also the increased cost of cleaning, because we didn\u2019t want arguments about what is damage and what is cleaning.
\nYes, we\u2019ve been very pleased, and also it helps them with their rollover of leases. We can be notified, and as an insurer, we pay it. It\u2019s above a small excess, just to ensure that they do still do maintain the premises as they should.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>I\u2019m keen to talk to you about how many people don\u2019t actually get their bond back. I read with interest a New South Wales story, of course, that based on the Rental Bond Annual Report there, they suggested that 35% of tenants received some of their bond back, while one in ten received absolutely nothing.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>It\u2019s anywhere between 35 and 50%, but generally in the 40%s.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>It\u2019s a great product. If you want to know a little bit more about it, BondSure is the name. Is the website just BondSure.com.au?
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>That\u2019s right. It only takes a few minutes, and you don\u2019t have to hand over your bank statement because we do a full credit check, which again helps the landlord. But it\u2019s only taking a couple of minutes.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Good on you, Michael. Lovely talking to you, and thank you very much for your time. Congratulations on what you\u2019re doing, as well.
\nMichael:\u00a0 <\/b>Thank you very much, Kevin.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Michael Wood there from BondSure. That website again is BondSure.com.au.
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have some news about a new product called BONDSURE that will ease the rental bond burden for tenants and offers great protection for tenants, investors and agents.\u00a0 It is proving to be very popular. Transcripts: Kevin:\u00a0 Queensland entrepreneur and lawyer Michael Wood launched an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":10700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,34,10,11,13,36,22],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-10699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies-topic","category-finance-topic","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-kevin-update","category-latest-story","category-property-investment-topic","category-research-topic","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking rental bonds easier - Michael Wood - Realty Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/making-rental-bonds-easier-michael-wood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making rental bonds easier - Michael Wood - Realty Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We have some news about a new product called BONDSURE that will ease the rental bond burden for tenants and offers great protection for tenants, investors and agents.\u00a0 It is proving to be very popular. 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