I Need some advice.

perhaps I am missing something, but if the tenant contacted your property manager, it is they who should have arranged for a plumber to fix it. And in doing so, if there was reason for a second call out, they would have known and got the plumber who attended to go back out and sort the blockage, saving you the headache, and the extra cost.

So, maybe let this one slide, but change the process for next time.

Cheers

Rant mode on….[angry2]

Ahhh, yet another little quirky residential story, one of many that we as investors used to put up with before they all mounted up and broke our camel’s back.

The money side of things is irrevelant – isn’t it kessud….you are only concerned about the due process of it all, and how best to serve your loyal tenants ??

No….the problem stems from the fact that it’s extremely easy for the PM (I prefer to call them phone call takers) to simply take a phone call…say “I’ll be right onto it”…and then pick up the phone and call the plumber out as many times as they like at your expense….no skin off their nose – right ?? Their obligation is over….phew, that took all of 2 minutes sitting behind a computer….professionally managed that is.

Call the plumber out 8 times, 12 times, who cares….not them – only the poor sucker footing the bill. Hence why you are writing about it now. I don’t see too many PM’s writing in to complain about calling out plumbers….they don’t pay for it – so no biggy. They always turn around and say it’s tax deductable…., I’m sure you take great comfort from this.

Of course, to get to the root of the cause, this enters one of those inevitably murky and nasty areas where we refuse to go now – what exactly is blocking up the drain ?? Ahhh, now we need to wade into the private lives of complete strangers – economically linked to your wealth creation process….a heady mix indeed. Who’s comfortable with questioning the private habits of strangers to reduce your costs…..hmmmm – see what I mean ??

Have the tenants got 4 teenage daughters, all with long hair, and all who shower and wash their hair every day…..combined with soap accumulations and natural body fats….a constant barrage of a clogging concoction that will test the best of plumbing. But that’s reasonable, they are allowed to, your plumbing system will just need to cope with that mate – if it can’t – boy – look out, it’s gonna get expense.

“How dare you question the private habits of my family”….screams the tenant before slamming the phone down and starts a vitriolic flurry of letters to the PM complaining about the rude Landlord asking personal questions. And the tenants are absolutely right of course, how dare you pal….just pay up and fix it when we call you….and be snappy about it.

Hope the capital gain you are getting is worth the cost and time and stress impost…..that’s how most people justify it to themselves…..I know we did for the first 8 years. What else can you do ??

With the tenants and properties we deal with now, we have the luxury of saying to them – “You clogged it up – you fix it”….and sure enough they do – no whinging – at their time and expense.

Unfortunately, you do not have this luxury with the asset you own, and the law is squarely against you…..they cause the problem – you must pay to fix it – every time – regardless of how many times it takes. How many times will it take before you confront them with their personal habits and get to the source of the problem – what is your limit ??

As I said before, just a small straw, and nothing to get into a tizz over….but imagine if you will…multiply this by many properties, and then let the plumber join his electrician mate, and the roof guy and get a plasterer involved, and the local handy man, and the pest control guy, and suddenly you’re employing an army of callout kings constantly. Believe me, the matrix of time and expense and headaches and whinging gets large, compounded by the constant nose wiping you need to perform on bleating tenants who refuse to lift a finger. See where I’m going ??

So far in the last year on this forum we’ve had extremely similar issues posted, discussing what hapless ressy Landlords have brought up, with the accompanying frustrated questions about how to wriggle out of the cost or stem the outflow of cash and time, covering ;

Flyscreens
Blocked drains
Ants
White ants
Overhanging trees
Strange smells
HWS’s bursting
Pilot light on HWS went out
Fence fell over and my cat may get out [blink]
Leaking rooves
TV Aerials
Security doors
Locks
Leaking taps
Tiles lifting
Whizz bang electrical connections not working
Cracked shower screens
Changing light bulbs….no….seriously
The list is by no means exhaustive….

Any of the above, anything goes wrong, tenant snaps fingers…PM and Landlord come running via the army of tradespersons….open up the cashbook….job sorted, until the next time the tenant snaps fingers.

No responsibility on their part….”Hey pal – I pay good rent and I want it sorted now”. just one little bleat and one phone call is all it takes to start a chain reaction that usually costs a week or two of gross rents to sort out….per phone call….what a game !!!

Oh dear, the tenant who is paying 3.5% gross yield (only about 2.5% nett yield), reckons he’s paying top flight rent and wants the red carpet treatment ??

But we must keep the tenant happy….at all costs….or so the mantra goes. I simply don’t want any fighting or confrontation, just pay to have it fixed and move on, they won’t call again – surely ??

I see my father and sisters play this game over and over…..it’s absolute complete madness….but they really like it.

Rant mode off. [hmm]

kessud….just pay up, and keep paying up whenever they have a whinge….it’s just your lot in life as a residential Landlord.

Oh, and to answer your second question, ummm, as the investor, you don’t decide what you pay for and what you don’t….your PM has 100% discretion over that. What they strip out before handing you the remainder is up to the agreement between yourselves, and you’ll probably find calling out a $ 180 plumber, they are well within their rights and you’ve got Buckleys mate. Since they hold the cash – not you, you’ll have to plead your case with them….that’s simply the way the principals of the agencies set their business models up….to reduce their cashflow risk, they simply impinge upon yours – simple. [whistle]

I would try to not pay for the second plumber. I agree that you don’t have much weight in the matter because the PM is holding the money, but I’d be giving it a try.

I manage our IPs myself, have done for about 25 years. My parents have managed their own IPs for 30 years. I could count on the fingers of one hand the problems we have had over that many years.

I have never wiped a tenant’s nose. We give each tenant our list of trusted electrician, plumber but ask them to call us first, in case it is something we can fix. While many people advise against getting to know tenants, we have to because we manage them ourselves, and have had good relationships with most of them. The people in one of my parents houses are in the arts and give them free tickets fairly regularly. It is a two way street, we treat them well and they respect our houses.

I think, Dazzling, you need to take a chill pill. I find managing our IPs a breeze, mostly. Sure, we have had occasional problems, but I find tenants are people just like me and most are reasonable. Of course, it helps that we live very near our IPs and are happy to spend half an hour if it saves us $180.

I admire your posts and success, but personally, give me residential tenants all the days of the week. I want a simple life, and while I really enjoy reading about your trials and tribulations and huge successes, I do not want to experience any of it personally. I read about your clean ups and dealing with bikie riff raff, and thank goodness for the residential tenant. You can leave them all to me, the more the better.

Wylie.

You’re absolutely correct Wylie – fully agreed. My different frame of reference is unfairly being applied back to residential tenants….it simply doesn’t work does it ?? Hey, you reckon this one is big enough, will it do the trick…. [chill]

Cheers Wylie. No worries….horses for different courses hey !! Everyone has their own cup of tea.

Yep, done the clean ups but never dealt with bikies ?? I reckon they’d be OK to deal with, but never had to as yet…..being an ex-Harley rider myself, alot of their principles I agree with.

Anyway, if you want my ressy tenants, you are quite welcome to the lot of them….would love to be rid of them all…..now that would be bliss !!! Sorry, they are in fact very very good, and worth heaps and heaps…..are you willing to stump up the cash required to inherit them ?? They are like little chicks…..going cheap cheap…. [biggrin]

That’s a pretty interesting comment dazzling – suppose there are the teddy bear delivering type and the other type. ie organised criminal networks. You probably mean the teddy bear bunch?[blink]

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