hi guys
my recommendation is that if you have one or just a few I.P’s is to fire your agent. They have no emotional involvement in the selection process of tenants or in the Return on investment
Usually the most junior person in the office manages your properties and they earn them a grand total of $20-$30 so no wonder they are vacant gum chewing morons!!arrange a lease yourself, you get to personally screen the applicants, and most of all you get to set the rental yourself, this is great when the agent assured us that we couldn’t get more than $360 a week, and we ended up settling a 3 year lease for $420 a week….oh yeah and you also save the 8% agency fee as well
Hi Implementor, well done on your lease. It must be great to have 3 years at a higher rent than your agent thought he could get.
I’d do the same if i had the time, but i’d rather pay my 4% commission and save my precious time for better things.
I agree that most PM’s are pretty slack, but most will try and do the right thing if they’re in it for the money (which they are). You have to remember the value of an agency as a business is based on it’s rent roll, plus the higher the rent, the greater their commission.
Hi Implementor,
I can’t believe that the best you can do with a management fee is 8%. You should be able to negotiate down to a 6% for one property and at least 4% or 5% if you have more than one property with the same agency. This is in Victoria.
I personally don’t think it is my worthwhile to manage my own properties as I cannot possibly be able to look after them properly, and yes I do agree with you that the Property Manager will probably do just as much, however they are much more closer to my properties since they are spread in different suburbs away from me.
I think the yearly management cost is not that substancial in having someone look after my properties and not having to deal with tenants.
Having a busy working life which extends into weekends doesnt help either.But well done on your lease, sounds very good indeed.
Good Luck,
Mannie.“It’s too late to go back and make a brand new start, but from today you make a brand new end”.
HI Implementor!
Welcome to the forum. You have a valid point if you are managing as you say only one or a few (generally no more than 3 houses). What was the cost of your advertising fees?
Cheers
Sooshie [
]There are no problems, only solutions
it was just the cost of advertising it in The Age…..around $60 I think, and when we rented out our first property, the ad was still in so we are using any response to that to sell the rental on our other property which is about a kilometre away…..so we are getting twice the value out of our advert
Hi Everyone,
Those management fees in Victoria are nice and low. I’m in Perth and so far the fees are around 8% to 9% which seems high. Is there anyone out there in Perth who is getting a lower rate and who’s your agent?
Regards
Jeanne []Implementor has a point. It’s not just management fees that you save. There’s inspection & leasing costs. The biggest savings are in repairs & maintenance. I’ve noticed managed properties tend to have more repairs done to them.
Sure, time is a constraint. However, once you find the right tenant, they can be there for a long time.
I am also from Perth and the fees are about 10% and then there is additional fees for everything else. eg inspections. The other thing I find is that the agents are often not “on task” and dont do what they are supposed to do and take no responsibility for the outcome. I manage my 8 properties and admittedly they are all in one area and not far from my home. what I have found is that I screen my tenants well (mainly gut feeling) amd then work a bit at keeping them there. It took me a while to develop a system but now I find that I spend little time in management. My tenants are mainly women or mature men….no young guys at all..they may be alright to a degree but their mates aren’t. Rent is paid into my internet linked account and I can check payment. I have a team of tradesmen I can trust and am prepared to put in a little time when necessary. Also I maintain the properties well and so maitenance is minimal. the other thing is that the money I save really adds to the cash flow.
ThanksThanks Darryl.
How often do you do inspections? The saving in costs sounds great but i’m not sure if i can do a good job of managing the property and how much time that’ll take me. I work full-time and would prefer to leave the management of the property to someone else. Then again if they don’t do a good job…Regards
Jeanne
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