Who reckons they can solve this!

Most property managers take one week’s rent as a ‘finders fee’ for sourcing new tenants – even if the property is currently tenanted, they also deduct fees for cost of drawing up a new lease, and a monthly administration charge. What you receive each month is the net amount – i.e the amount of rent less fees & charges. Best advice is to read your contract/paperwork you would have signed on purchase.

Best of luck

Hiya Nathan,

Just go back to your PM and ask them to clarify your statement, he will either have a logical response and give you a breakdown of this figure or squirm like hell!

Cheers

Jenny1

Nathan,

First thing I’d establish by reading the lease is exactly what the lease says the rent shall be.

Normally the standard REI lease has three different blank spots. The PM fills in one and scratches out the other two. One for weekly rent, one for fortnightly and one for monthly.

Before you go in there all guns blazing, just double check that indeed your lease does say $ 260 per week. It may very well say $ 1,040 per month, in which case you’d look like a goose and the PM doesn’t owe you a thing.

You may have asked for $ 260 p.w. to be the rent and some little 18 yr old office girl has stuffed up the calculation, converted it to monthly incorrectly and the tenant has signed the lower amount of $ 1,040 per month and away you go. If that has happened, you’d better has some written documentation you asked for $ 260 p.w., or you’re hooped again.

If the signed lease indeed says $ 260 per week, a stern chat face to face would rectify things…..well in most cases it does with me.

Good luck, but double check the paperwork first.

Nathan,
Another idea is to get quotes/estimates from other PM’s around the area and compare. Colate this info with the things that others, like Dazzling, Derek & The Crest, have put forward and go from there.

Cheers & good luck,

Forklift.

I’d like to think it’s a mathematical error because they’d have too much to lose by ripping you off for such a small but noticable amount. Ask them to provide details of their calcs to explain how they arrived at their result. Remember that barging in like a bull at a gate may make things difficult further down the track & a good working relationship with your PM is important.

Methematically, if they are working on 4 weeks per month: $260 x 4wks x 12 mths = $12,480 gross. The difference is the missing 4 wks @ $260 = $1,040. If ths is presumed to be the management fee their rate is 8.33%. As this is an odd rate the $1,040 may include statement fees, etc.