Thread: Rents North WA

im a sparky and work in the shiploading departnment we are currently having massive upgrades to our port with another 2 births being built and births for more tugs. What gets me is BHP subcontracts most of its electrical services out. I assume that it is financely cheeper to do this and also as a limited libaliaty if someone dies (blame the contractor) but the skills of tradesman suffer, also the lack of plant knowledge is another massive issue. this then leades to a more unsafer site. Dont know if Mangement see it like that.

I was a Houshbasher sparky before comming up there.
When I applyed I thaught that there is no way that i would get into the mining indrustry being only a housebasher but i was shocked at the skills of some tradesman and the lack of long term members.

I love the town now but it takes a bit of time getting used to it. but its the people you meet not the town and have made a lot of long term friends.

I live in Karratha and pay the ridicilous prices for everything
Its not just the cost of rent everything else is priced to match and few local businesses dont charge the Pilbara Tax (I guess they have to if they need to pay staff).
I think FIFO is a socially irresponsible thing personally, I have FIFO staff that work for me and they are young and happy doing it they seem to be fine.
When wives and families get involved its a different ballgame.
FIFO workers nearly always treat the local community with contempt and are usually unpopular as a result.
Its hard to get mechanics and the like why would they work for a small business and get paid $60 K a year when you can work in the mines and get paid $150 K a year. Trust me $2500 a week for a house is not the only issue in these places

So where do your "young" guys FIFO from?




Bali i guess
Seems the norm

Four weeks on 1 week gettin off

Originally Posted by BigJon

At what price point does rent change from reasonable to exhorbitant?...

And who gets to decide?...

Certainly not the landlord...they have already proven that they could not care less and keep on charging usuary rates and put them up year after year.
Don't worry mate it's also here in Queensland in the coal fields.The high rents were the cause of many being killed on the roads as when there shifts finished they tried to drive back to Rocky and Mackay and fell asleep at the wheel.It got so bad that the mine companies suddenly supplied accomodation and made it a stipulation of employment that employees had to have certain hours rest before driving home.The reason ..employees could not afford the "usuary" rent and house prices charged so they shifted their families to more affordable places like Rockhampton & Mackay and in the meantime were killing themselves going home to their family.Supply and demand indeed, more like what I said in my original post.
John ( disco 44 )

"What broke the UK and the US plus a lot of other countries around the world..GREED."

No. It wasn't. That's a convenient lie made up by bolshie journos, pollies etc because it will resonate with their customers.

It's not settled and people are still trying to work it out but it's looking very much like the bubble in the US caused by encouraging people to buy into real estate who couldn't really afford it. It's a policy I probably agreed with at the time. Also the way the mortgages were being passed around from financial bodies to one another reduced transparency in the market.

Much as they give me the irrits and it gives everyone the irrrits it was not the obscene amounts of money being made by executives.

If we weren't greedy we'd still be slugs in the mud.

Two things you are wasting your time trying to stop, nooky and profit, they are both why we're here.

Originally Posted by JamesH

"What broke the UK and the US plus a lot of other countries around the world..GREED."

No. It wasn't. That's a convenient lie made up by bolshie journos, pollies etc because it will resonate with their customers.

It's not settled and people are still trying to work it out but it's looking very much like the bubble in the US caused by encouraging people to buy into real estate who couldn't really afford it. It's a policy I probably agreed with at the time. Also the way the mortgages were being passed around from financial bodies to one another reduced transparency in the market.

Much as they give me the irrits and it gives everyone the irrrits it was not the obscene amounts of money being made by executives.

If we weren't greedy we'd still be slugs in the mud.

Two things you are wasting your time trying to stop, nooky and profit, they are both why we're here.

O I say Ol' chap real estate caused the Bank of Scotland and other banks and societies in the UK to go bust and the government having to bail them out with billions of taxpayer funds.Test pilot on a moon rocket I'd say. Hang on while I check under my bed for bolshies and commo's.Senator McCarthy where are you when I need you?

Originally Posted by Disco44

Certainly not the landlord...they have already proven that they could not care less and keep on charging usuary rates and put them up year after year.
Don't worry mate it's also here in Queensland in the coal fields.The high rents were the cause of many being killed on the roads as when there shifts finished they tried to drive back to Rocky and Mackay and fell asleep at the wheel.It got so bad that the mine companies suddenly supplied accomodation and made it a stipulation of employment that employees had to have certain hours rest before driving home.The reason ..employees could not afford the "usuary" rent and house prices charged so they shifted their families to more affordable places like Rockhampton & Mackay and in the meantime were killing themselves going home to their family.Supply and demand indeed, more like what I said in my original post.
John ( disco 44 )

It is still supply and demand.

If people weren't paying the high rents charged, then the rents would be lower. It is very simple economics.

As a landlord, why would I rent my property out for any less than the fair market rental?

For example, one of our Alice Springs properties was recently vacated by the tenant for personal reasons. We had to find a new tenant, so we advertised the property for rent.
We included a weekly rental price in the advertisement. We got that price by ringing an agent in town to see where the market was for similar houses.
During the open inspection (the opportunity for prospective tenants to inspect the house) we had several offers in excess of the advertised rent.
After doing our due diligence (reference checks, etc) we selected our new tenant. She was one who had offered the higher amount.

If no one had offered above what we had advertised at, then the rent would have been lower. How is that us deciding the rental price?

We would be fools to charge significantly below the market price for rent. Low rents often give low rent tenants.
We do have another house being rented in Alice Springs at the moment that I feel is slightly below market value, but I have a good tenant in there (long term) and I am happy to take slightly less $$ for the peace of mind a good tenant gives.

I don't understand why you think the rents being asked are the fault of the landlord. It is market forces at work.

Market forces are fine in a normal urban situation. In the case of the remote areas such as the Pilbara where a large number of workers are moved into what were almost derelict small outback towns, where almost nobody wanted to go to live, this really is not a fair indication of market forces, rather an example of holding to ransom.

I believe the mining companies and their contractors have an obligation to provide acceptable accommodation for their workforce. They should have to build towns. These may well be hauled away after a period but make this a condition of mining the people's mineral wealth.

The recent furore over "motelling" is another example of penny-pinching by the mining companies. What next? Hot beds like the notorious boarding houses of Newcastle and Wollongong that catered to the migrant workers of the steelworks during the fifties and sixties.

If I was again a young skilled tradesman contemplating jobs in these areas, I would insist on free suitable and acceptable accommodation for myself and my family. To hell with fly in, fly out. I hate flying. I don't fit in aeroplanes. Their owners cater for dwarfs and flights are very uncomfortable.