Everyone knows that we now have our own property management company [biggrin]
We have had a great deal of grief with property managers in the past and as a result have always managed our own properties. The problem was that we wanted one that thinks like an investor not one that lives pay cheque to pay cheque and just has no idea! That was almost impossible to find, in SA anyway!
Anyway, we have just put together what we thought was a much needed service in the industry [biggrin]
We are now building up our website, so I’m after some ideas.
what specific qualities do people look for in a manager? What is important?
For people that have great property managers what attracted you to them?
For people that are managing their own properties, what specifically would make you switch to a manager? What is it that you think they are lacking?
Keen to see some ideas [biggrin]
Investment Property Management
http://www.adprop.com.auOk ill start:
1. When the property requires attention the agent acts on it.
2. When there is trouble with the tenant and rent stops the agent is on it immediately. No nonsense.
3. When I have questions about reno work or ways to improve the property or rent the agent makes those recommendations promtly and offers indicative pricing.
4. The agent has excellent trades people
5. When Im looking for another property in the area, the agent is willing to inspect (even if competitor selling agent) to ensure its right for a rental.
6. The agent shows a very clear understanding of price movements in property value and rental values as well as vacancy movements and tenant quality (or quality of location).
7. The agent collects a fair fee and does not have a schedule of fees 100 pages long.
8. The agent acts with integrity (ie discloses kickbacks, does not do mates rates for known tenants, etc)
9. The agent is trying to continually improve their business. They seek recognition by industry awards, feedback from customers, etc.And I actually do have 1 agent who does this!
Dr X,
I browsed at your website yesterday.
Very impressive to be honest.
Can you handle properties outside Adelaide, about 230km away, at the momement?Cheers,
Hi Dr. X,
Our last property manager caused us a lot of stress even though nothing ever went seriously wrong. She rarely contacted us and when we tried contacting her, she was always so busy and slow in replying to emails. Many of her emails were single sentences like “I’m on it”. That was so frustrating!
We didn’t like being treated like a number so we changed to a new manager. We chose her because she provided a personal service and treated us like we’re her only client. She emails me with anything realating to my property just to keep me in the loop. I think she is great, and would stay with her even if she increases her fee.
I hope that helps,
LenaHi Dr X,
As all my properties are interstate, I simply can’t attend to quotes or perform required work myself. I pay a property manager to do this. I also have a PPOR with a mortgage, i.e. personal debt.
What frustrates me is that even after talking to the property manager requesting that I be billed directly for works, that they deduct it from rent received.They simply do not understand the benefit to me to borrow the cost of expenses as apposed to having it deducted from the rent. Say my Management and other expenses that are deducted from rent is totals $5000 pa. , If I we to borrow this expense then there would be $5000 in my mortgage and as I could borrow the expense I’d have the interest on the $5000 as a deduction. at 7.5% that is a $375 decuction that I cannot claim. It may not sound like much but after say 5 years if this expense stayed the same, then the deductible debt would now be $25000 and the decuction would be $1875. pa.
I would ultimately have the same debt, just that the % of Deductible investment debt to Total debt would be increased and non deductible personal debt decreased. How many people on this forum have asked how can they legitimately move personal debt to investment debt ? heaps, and this is an effective, although slow, way of doing it, but the compounding effect achieves the outcome if it’s implemented early on.
At worst have in place a policy that as client can specify a dollar value of an invoice that should be billed to them directly, rather than taken from rent. This obviously does not apply to many investors, however those with significant personal debt, it would.
Make is a policy to include a recommended rent value at the same time as periodic inspections done by the property manager. This will highlight any material variance to yourselves the owner. It’s in both parties interest that rent be kept at market value.
Good luck with it.
Mal
Getting out of your comfort zone, can help you become comfortable
hi drx,
reading the thread makes me ponder how different all the property managers we have are. some probably are not cutting it which means we have some work to do to fix a few things.
I have a serious question. how much would a property manager in a hypothetical franchise suburban re office get paid? and what size rental role would they be expected to handle for that .
cheers
Sourcing Positive Cashflow Investment Property http://www.cashflowproperties.co.nz/properties-5.html
Experienced spotters wanted Napier & Rotorua!!WOW!!! It certainly was worth asking this question, I thought we had it down packed but obviously continuously learning and improving is the best strategy to have [biggrin]
I have a serious question. how much would a property manager in a hypothetical franchise suburban re office get paid? and what size rental role would they be expected to handle for that .DLPP I would be cautious of PMs managing over 150 properties, they simply wont have enough time to do a good job. Salaries range from $30,000 to $70,000 in SA depending on how employment contracts are structured.
They simply do not understand the benefit to me to borrow the cost of expenses as apposed to having it deducted from the rent. Say my Management and other expenses that are deducted from rent is totals $5000 pa. , If I we to borrow this expense then there would be $5000 in my mortgage and as I could borrow the expense I’d have the interest on the $5000 as a deduction. at 7.5% that is a $375 decuction that I cannot claim. It may not sound like much but after say 5 years if this expense stayed the same, then the deductible debt would now be $25000 and the decuction would be $1875. pa.Great point Shwing and I honestly have never thought of it that way. How do you think a PM can take care of this. Have trades people bill the landlord directly?
Our last property manager caused us a lot of stress even though nothing ever went seriously wrong. She rarely contacted us and when we tried contacting her, she was always so busy and slow in replying to emails. Many of her emails were single sentences like “I’m on it”. That was so frustrating!alotti, I like this one, it makes us look good [biggrin], glad you found a great one this time!
Hi L&S
Can you handle properties outside Adelaide, about 230km away, at the momement?Maybe in a few years we’ll branch out to other areas, but at the moment we are just focusing on Adelaide and suburbs.
What area are you talking aboutMatthew, thanks for your comments. We’re on track with all those! [biggrin]
Investment Property Management
http://www.adprop.com.auWhen comparing PM fees, what do people look for?
Do they look at % of rent that the PM charges or the overal package of professional fees.
I have seen PMs offering a very low % to manage properties but they just charge a ridicoulous amount of money for everything they do. It seems like every time they pick up a pen or the phone relating to a landlord’s property, they get charged!!!!!
Do investors look at all costs when deciding on a PM?
Investment Property Management
http://www.adprop.com.au
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