Hi everyone, I am going to be renting out my house in the next 1-2 months. I am still undecided on whether I am going to manage the property privately or have an agent manage the property.
I would be interested to hear of the experiences people have had on the forum with both managing a property privately and also good/bad experiences of having the property managed by an agent (also recomendations if possible)
The property is a 3 x 1 in Marangaroo, (perth, northern suburbs) At the moment I am leaning towards having an agent manage the property as it seems a safer option (albeit more exxy) as I have never done this kind of thing before
Im sure this topic must have been covered before but I haven’t been able to find much, so if you can point me to a previous thread that covers the topic, go ahead.
Thanks for any help,
We have never paid an agent, have had only one really bad experience where we lost about $1000. Tenant damaged some VJ walls, luckily had insurance and the $1000 was insurance excess plus rent not paid in final weeks.
However, we have always owned IPs in the same or nearby suburbs and can be very hands on with vetting prospective tenants and organising plumbers, etc if required, or doing minor repairs ourselves.
However, if you are moving away, it may be best to have an agent.
Wylie
we manage all our properties (except overseas ones). I personally like to have a good relationship with my tenants. also I find that I could rent them out quicker and for a greater amount than an agent!!!!! Never quite figured out why.
agents have cost us too much money in the past, so now we try to aviod them.
our overseas properties managed my property managers are the most underperforming of our portfolios and I personally believe that its because we are not managing them ourselves!!!!
We buy properties in Adelaide. Immediate Cash Settlements, No Real Estate Agents, No Fees.
[email protected]
phone 0412 437 582Thanks for you reply Wylie, its good to hear other peoples experiences.
I will still be living close to my investment (only 5 mins away) so I would be able to keep a close eye on the place.
I suppose I am just a little hesitant as I have never managed a property privately before and tend to think the safest option would be to get a property manager to take on the place. I am very much in 2 minds just at the moment although diving in the deep end and doing it myself may also be the quickest way to learn.
Hi there
If you’re seriously looking at managing your own properties privately, I’d suggest getting the May 2005 back issue of Australian Property Investor. There’s a 5 page article about managing your own properties in that issue which you might find useful.Let’s say I am working overseas and have a property in Perth. I plan to leave the property intenanted for the time being (moving back in a few months).
If I do not want to engage an agent to manage the property, what are my other alternatives in terms of getting someone to drop by to check on the property, collect mail, make arrangements for lawn mowing etc etc?
Is anyone offering their services to do that? The person will be paid of course. [biggrin]
Cheers
Seem to be more popular in Perth to have Lease Agreements with an agent, to source the tenants and look after the lease paper work, bond etc. Then hand it over to you to manage the property yourself, collect rent, attend to any problems, do inspections. Much cheaper option.
Mal
Getting out of your comfort zone, can help you become comfortable
As a owner of a couple of inv props and also used to be a prop manager I always use prop managers.. I found the job to be extremely hard at times for not much money. Interview lots of prop mangers, all terms are negoitiable..from the letting fee to tribunal fees…
If you want a good relationship with your tenants attend prop inspections and talk with them personally – i have found that tenants deem most landlords to be evil, until they actually meet their landlord and find out that the landlord is interested in what they have to say.
I personally would rather spend my time looking for further investments rather than attending to every single detail (paperwork, repairs,etc) of the property.
If your property is nearby and you can check on it regularly I would at the least get a property manager to Let it for you, as they have all the necessary tools to do credit checks & rental checks – some states have a black tenant list..this usually costs around 2 weeks rent + advertising…
More food for thought
Rosey K
Melbourne & BrisbaneHi,
In my experience, I find property managers to be well worth the 5-7% rental fee that they charge. They take the emotion out of the investment, stop the after hours calls and generally have access to tradesman that won’t rip you off and go out of their way to keep the agency happy by offering fast, reliable service. Fast repairs= happy tennant!
Hey Spinsky
Why don’t you give it a try…especially if you are living 5 minutes away? If its not your cup of tea then go through an agent next time.
I manage my own properties but always use direct debits for the weekly rent (which I write up for the prospective tenant with their tenancy agreement), I also make sure I get bond and landlords insurance. A good resource is the “The Landlords Handbook” which can be purchased from most newsagents. Also another tip – make sure your tenancy agreement leaves no room for misinterpretation. Attach an annexure explaining in detail what you expect and have them sign it.good luck
sq
Last week I would have answered this definitely manage it yourself….but this week, having palmed off our block of 6 sheds to a PM I would now say it depends on the prop and your personal circumstances.
The things they eventually swayed me over the top were :
1. The PM is extremely dominant in the area and has probably 85% of the entire suburb
2. Father and son team who know everyone in the suburb for the past 35 years.
3. Wife has trouble on her own when I am not here managing 6 tradesmen who are all pretty rough and ready and don’t really like talking to a woman.I agree with Xenia on being able to attract rents well in excess of what the agents can. Dunno why, but the agent taking over is staggered to read what I have managed to sign them up at.
I’m slowly coming around to the realisation of palming that stuff off and concentrating on the much larger acquisition side of things. Scale and size of your operation once again comes into play.
Good luck with your decision whatever you choose.
Agree, it depends on the circumstances. If the property is close, if you have time, and if you think you’d enjoy managing it yourself, I’d go for it.
But it’s too much trouble to manage a distant property.
Luckily, so far, I am happy with my PM. It’s too far away to manage myself.THis is a link about managing from Office of fair trading:
I also vaguely remember harig or reading about an Australian book written on Managing your own property, but can’t think of the exact title, perhaps someone else knows?
Let us know about your decision, Spinsky, and good luck!
Celivia
If you’re seriously looking at managing your own properties privately, I’d suggest getting the May 2005 back issue of Australian Property Investor. There’s a 5 page article about managing your own properties in that issue which you might find useful.
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