Planning to leave home - iiNetmembers.ozemail.com.au/~rdunlop/CoplandMain/CanbCollege/BPMaths/... · Planning to leave home Chapter concepts (*- Weekly, fortnightly, ... A lease is

C H A P T E R 1

Planning toleave home

Chapter concepts(*- Weekly, fortnightly,

monthly and annual timeconversions

*• Calculating rent costs«- Bonds and leases

i«- Using fractions in anaccommodation context

w Researching informationm- Budgeting

ProblemAmna plans to rent an apartment in Brisbane for $290 perweek. How much will she have to pay before she canmove into the apartment?

Real WorldRelevanceThere is a lot of information youneed to consider before yourent a property to live in.

A lease is a binding, legaldocument. Once you havesigned a lease you arecommitted to renting theproperty and paying the rent forthe whole period of the lease.

It is not just the rent thatneeds to be calculated. Rentinginvolves other bills andexpenses.

In this chapter you will belooking at some of thecalculations you will be usingwhen you rent a property.

Problem 2What is the maximum amount of bond that a landlordcan charge for a property rented for

a $210 per week?b $370 per week?

• Renting a propertyThe Residential Tenancies Act, which applies to properties rented inQueensland, specifies the rights and responsibilities of all landlords andtenants. One of the major responsibilities of tenants is to pay their rent ontime. Rent can be paid by cash or cheque directly to the real estate agentmanaging the property, or it can be paid electronically by Bpay or direct debit.

If you pay rent by cheque or cash, make sure that you get a receipt andkeep it in a safe place.

Example 1Justin is looking for a unit to rent.The rent for a two-bedroom studio inBrisbane is $240 per week, payablefortnightly in advance.a Calculate the fortnightly rent.b If Justin rents the property, how

much will he pay annually in rent?

-»HintWeekly rent isNOT monthly rentdivided by 4,because there arenot exactly4 weeks in amonth.To calculateweekly rent, dividethe annual rentby 52.

Solution 1a There are 2 weeks in 1 fortnight.

Fortnightly rent = 2 x weekly rent= 2 X$240= $480

b Annual rent means the rent for I year.There are 52 weeks in a year.

Annual rent = 52 x weekly rent= 52 x $240= $12480

Worksheet 1:1Mirella is renting a property that was advertised as $210 per week. Howmuch is the rent:a per fortnight?b annually?

Majid's rent is $524 per fortnight.a How much is his weekly rent?b Calculate the annual rent.

The monthly rent on a grannyflat is $560.a What is the annual rent?b Calculate the weekly rent.

The annual rent on a home unitis $13 000.a What is the weekly rent?b Calculate the monthly rent.

Access to Prevocational Maths 2

Caleb is trying to decide between two similar units. One unit is advertisedas $275 per week and the other as $ 14 250 annually. Which unit is thecheaper and by how much?

A two-bedroom unit in a security block is being rented for $410 per week.Due to increased expenses the owner is increasing the rent by 15%.a By how much will the weekly rent increase?

Calculate the new annual rent.

Anthony wants to rent a property close to the centre of town in Cleveland.The table summarises the properties advertised for rent in the local paper.

Property in Cleveland Rent per week

House: 4 bedrooms with pool

Split level house: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms,security system

Townhouse: 3 bedrooms, airconditioned

Older style house: centre of town, 3 bedrooms

Townhouse: 2 storeys, 3 bedrooms, lock-up garage,airconditioned

Home unit: 2 bedrooms, lock-up garage

Modern unit: security building, 2 bedrooms, viewsacross harbour, airconditioned

$410

$540

$290

$260

$270

$230

$350

a Calculate the average rent per week of the properties available for rentin Cleveland.Anthony's take-home pay is $465. If he rents the cheapest propertyavailable, how much will he have left from his pay after he pays his rent?

c List three things, other than rent, that Anthony will have to pay for eachweek from his take-home pay.

d Anthony doesn't think that he can afford to rent any of the propertiesadvertised for rent in Cleveland. Suggest some strategies he could useto obtain accommodation he can afford.

Group ICT activityTo complete this activity you will need to log onto the 'Properties for rent'weblink on the Companion Website.

What you have to do1 Use the properties to rent menu to find properties available for rent in

your local area.

2 What is the cheapest and the most expensive property available?

3 Calculate the annual rent for the cheapest property available for rent inyour local area.

4 Estimate the weekly take-home pay you would need to be able to affordto rent the cheapest property in your local area.

Chapter 1 Planning to leave home

know?Landlords cannotincrease the rentduring a lease. If yousign a lease, the rentis fixed until thelease expires.The law limits rentincreases to amaximum of one inevery 12-monthperiod. If the rent isgoing to beincreased,thetenant must receivenotificationin writing at least8 weeks before therise is due to start.If the tenant thinksthat the rentincrease isunreasonable, theycan apply to theResidentialTenancies Tribunalfor a review of thecase.

Did youknow?

The 'Tenants' rights'website has moreinformation aboutrental bonds.

When you rent a property, usually you will be required to pay a bond. Thebond offers some security to the landlord in case you leave with rent owing oryou damage the property.

Landlords are required to pay all bond money to the Office of RentalBonds (ORB) within 2 weeks of receiving the bond. If you don't receive areceipt from the ORB within a few weeks of paying the bond, you shouldcontact them to check that they have received the bond. If the landlord hasn'tpaid the bond to the ORB, contact the Residential Tenancies Tribunal, whichwill issue the landlord with a directive to pay the bond to the ORB.

Did youknow?

Landlords aren'trequired to ask for abond, but they usuallydo.If the weekly rent ona property is $300 orless, the maximumbond is 4 times theweekly rent.If the rent is over$300 per week, thereis no maximum bondlimit.

Example 2Faiz is going to rent a propertyfor $295 per week. What is themaximum bond he can berequired to pay?

Solution 2The maximum bond is 4 timesthe weekly rent.Maximum bond = 4 x $295

= $1180

Worksheet 1:20 The bond on each of these properties is the equivalent of 4 weeks' rent.

Calculate the bond for the following properties.a A townhouse with weekly rent of $246

An apartment with a weekly rent of $205c A studio apartment rented for $ 185 per week

Qj When David rented a small unit his bond was $648. The bond wasequivalent to 4 weeks' rent. How much is David's weekly rent?

Qf The landlord of an expensive waterfront property is planning to rent theproperty for $860 per week. The bond is $5160.a How many weeks' rent is the bond?b Suggest some reasons/why the landlord may have set a high bond.

Q Billy rented a unit for $235 per week and his bond was 4 weeks' rent. WhenBilly left the unit he owed I week's rent. He had damaged the carpet andleft the place dirty. The landlord deducted the rent owing, $280 to fix thecarpet and $136 for cleaning. How much of the bond did Billy receive?

Access to Prevocational Maths 2

A lease is a formal, legal document that sets out the conditions of a rentalagreement. You should never sign a blank lease form nor a form that containssomething you don't understand. When you sign a lease your rent is fixed forthe term of the lease.

Worksheet 1:3Keiran, Matthew and Russell plan to rent a three-bedroom unit in Toowongfor $396 per week. Before they sign a lease they decide to look carefully atthe costs involved. This table shows the initial costs.

Item Cost

4 weeks' rent in advance

Bond: 4 weeks' rent

Agent's letting fee

Cost to connect the telephone

Cost of turning the electricity on

Moving costs and the purchase of essential items

$15

$120

$55

$290

a Complete the missing values in the table.b Determine the total amount the boys will have to pay before they can

move in.How much of the initial costs will each of the boys have to pay if theyshare the costs equally?

d This table shows their estimated fortnightly expenses. Complete thetable and determine their total fortnightly expenses.

Did youknow?

Real estate agents inQueensland have adatabase of poor orbad tenants. If yourname is on thisdatabase, you willfind it very difficult torent a property in thefuture.The law requireslandlords to telltenants if they are atrisk of being put onthe bad tenantsdatabase. However,you should try tosolve all problemsbetween you andyour landlord to avoidbeing listed. If youthink you are beingtreated unfairly,contact the Tenants'Union of Queensland.

Item Cost

Rent

Food and miscellaneous items

Electricity

Phone

$220

$45

$20

e Calculate Keiran's share of the fortnightly expenses.f Keiran's take-home pay is $410 per week. How

much will he have left over each fortnight after hehas paid his share of the expenses?What percentage of his fortnightly take-home paywill Keiran be paying on expenses?

h Do you think that Keiran can afford to move out ofhome to share the unit with his friends? Why orwhy not?

Chapter 1 Planning to leave home

Did youknow?

Tenants can berequired to pay forelectricity and waterusage only if thereare separate metresfor the services onthe property. If, forexample, all the unitsin a block share thesame water metre,tenants are notrequired to pay forwater usage.

Jay, Michael, Andrew and James were students at Gympie State HighSchool. After they finished Year 12 they spent a week in a holidayapartment in Cairns. They shared the costs equally and each boy paid$235 in rent and $250 for a bond.a How much rent did the landlord collect from the boys for the week?

While they were staying in the apartment, Jay accidentally broke the armoff the lounge chair. The repairs to the lounge cost $425. How muchbond refund did each boy receive?

Group discussion questionGisella is looking for some accommodation near her job in Chermside.

CHERMSIDE Fern to share semi-detachedhouse, quiet loc, near transport, furn room,$120 pw all inclusive. Phone 1234 5678

Which of these two places would suit Gisella best? Give reasons for youranswer.

This is a copy of the electricity account Mary received for the unit she isrenting.

Quarterly Electricity Tax Invoice

Location UNIT 3, 49 JESMOND STREET TOOWONG

Total Amount Payable of your last bill dated 22 May 2007Payment Received

Electricity (23/05/2007 to 22/08/2007}Electricity Discount: 4% (23/05/2007 to 22/08/2007)

Reference SHEET 1251 5Energy Fix Service FeeSupply & Replace Water Heater Thermostat 1 1/05/2007

Subtotal of Charges (before GST)Total GST Payable 10%

Total Charges (including GST)

Total Amount Payable

$206.30$206.30

$192.50$7.70 credit

$60.00$53.00

$297.80$29.78

$327.58

$327.58

Tenants are only required to pay for the electricity they use and therelated GST. The landlord is responsible for all other electricity charges.a Calculate the value of the electricity Mary used, including the

4% discount.b GST is charged at 10%. How much GST does Mary have to pay on the

cost of her electricity?c How much of the electricity account does the landlord have to pay?d The electricity account is for approximately 1 2 weeks. How much should

Mary include in her weekly budget to cover electricity?

Access to Prevocational Maths 2