Wear and tear or damage decides who pays
When a tenant moves out and the walls need work, the property manager's first question isn't the price but who pays for it. Every state's tenancy law says the tenant must leave the property as they found it apart from fair wear and tear, so a wall that has faded or cracked with age is the owner's cost and a wall the tenant marked or holed is the tenant's, usually out of the bond. The Queensland RTA and Consumer Affairs Victoria both publish examples, and the paint ones are worth knowing by heart.
| Usually fair wear and tear (owner pays) | Usually damage (tenant pays) |
|---|---|
| Paint faded by sunlight (RTA) | Paint discoloured by candle smoke (RTA) |
| Plaster cracks as the building settles (RTA) | Plaster chipped by nails being hammered in (RTA) |
| Minor marks or scuffs on a wall (CAV) | Holes or missing paint from hooks, nails or shelves the renter put up (CAV) |
| Cracks from building movement (CAV) | Claw or bite marks on walls or skirting boards (CAV) |
Victoria adds two wrinkles a painter should understand. A renter there can put in picture hooks or screws for wall mounts on any surface except exposed brick or concrete without asking, but before the agreement ends they must restore the wall or pay the reasonable cost of restoring it, so filling and touching up those holes is a legitimate bond item even though the hooks were allowed. And when VCAT decides how much a renter pays for damage, it must consider a depreciation scale for fixtures and fittings, which is why the director's guideline says the owner isn't entitled to compensation just because things wear out. A tenant who leaves after many years is rarely going to pay for a whole repaint, while a patch and touch-up on two walls they damaged is easy to justify.
Your quote is the bond evidence
This is the part of the work most painters don't think about, and it's what makes a manager come back. If the agency claims part of the bond for painting, the quote or invoice you wrote is the document the tenant and possibly the tribunal will read. In NSW, a landlord or agent claiming without the tenant's agreement has to give the tenant the end-of-tenancy condition report and copies of the estimates, quotes, invoices or receipts for the work within 7 days. In Queensland, the manager has to give the tenant supporting evidence within 14 days of the claim or dispute, and failing to do so is an offence. In Victoria, from 13 October 2026, the rental provider has to tell the renter about a bond claim in advance and give them the evidence for it.
So write the quote the way an adjudicator would want to read it. Split it by room and wall, put tenant damage (filling and painting the holes in the second bedroom, covering smoke staining in the lounge) on separate lines from general repainting, and say which items match a note on the exit condition report. Take dated photos before you start and after you finish, close enough to show the marks. The condition report is the manager's main evidence, and Queensland's RTA recommends photos as further evidence, so a quote that lines up with both is the easiest one for the manager to defend. A single figure for "repaint the house" forces the manager to guess which part the tenant owes, and the guess usually goes the tenant's way.
Working in the gap between tenants
Most of the painting a property manager buys happens in a few days between one tenant's exit inspection and the next tenant's move-in, and every day the property sits empty costs the owner rent. That makes speed the selling point, and the jobs are mostly patch and paint rather than full repaints. Tell an agency how quickly you can attend after a vacate, whether you can work while the cleaner and the carpet cleaner are in, and whether you keep a record of the colour, brand and sheen used on each property so the next patch matches without a trip to the paint shop. A colour record per property is a small thing that saves the manager a second visit when a touch-up flashes in the light.
Keep an eye on Victoria's minimum standards when you're in an older rental, since mould and damp caused by the building has to be fixed before a property is let there, and painting over it hides a problem the manager is responsible for. Tell the manager what you saw rather than covering it, because a stain that comes back in the new tenant's first winter turns into an urgent repair and a complaint.
Older rentals and lead paint
A lot of rental stock is older housing, and the Australian Government's lead paint guide says paint with as much as 50 per cent lead was used inside and outside homes built before 1950, and paint with more than 1 per cent lead was still in use until the late 1960s. Homes built before 1970 are most at risk. The guide warns against dry sanding and dry abrasive blasting, and it suggests putting off work on lead paint in good condition until the home can be vacant if young children or pregnant women live there. For a rental, the gap between tenancies is that chance.
That gives a painter a useful thing to raise with a manager. When you quote on a pre-1970 rental, say you'll test before preparing old surfaces such as window sills, architraves and skirting boards, and explain the options (covering sound paint or removing it with wet methods) in a line the owner can follow. The property managers page covers how agencies keep their approved tradie lists, and the painters page covers strata and the other buyers worth writing to. If you'd rather not send the first emails yourself, Curlew writes to agencies near you in your business name.
A first email you could send
Hi Rachel, I run a small painting business in Adamstown and a lot of our work is rentals around Newcastle. We can usually attend within a couple of days of a vacate, and our quotes split tenant damage from general wear room by room, with dated photos, so they’re ready to attach to a bond claim. We also keep a colour record for each property so touch-ups match. If you’ve got an older place coming up, we test for lead before we sand anything. Would a quote on your next vacate be worth a try? Danny If this isn’t for you, just let me know and I’ll leave it there.
An example only. The business is made up.
For a version with every line explained, see email to a property manager.