risks involved in self managing a property?

Go through the proper channels.

It might sound like you are saving a penny but you are costing yourself a pound.

A lot of times the tenant will look ok .. and then you'll find out he's done something bad in the past.

Sub-letting … trashing a place .. the property manager VETS against these sort of disasters.

Getting work done on the property and co-ordinating handymen .. and making sure the rents actually get paid.

I dont have time or WANT to have time to chase tenancies on rent .. or complaints on leaky faucets. Thats what a property manager is there for.

Bypassing the agent is like not taking insurance. You take the extra risk component .. and the liability if something goes awry.

If you do so, I suggest a thorough familiarisation with knowing your rights as a landlord. The REIV (and probably in other states too) used to put out a booklet KNOW YOUR RIGHTS with all the details about what you can and cant do. See if they still produce it.

Hi Michael

further to all  of the above responses some Landlord insuance policies will not cover a private landlord which is leaving you really wide open in a worst case scenario.  I am a licensed property manager with two invesment properties that I dont even manage myself…..

I find it alarming that a potential tenant would say this, it could be because they have been black listed on a tenancy database,

I agree with the others go the property managment route,
 
however if you are keen on self management I would at the least get a leasing agreement with a local agency as they can then vet the person then they hand everything over to you (as aposed to a management agreement where they continue to manage) 

I've actually gone the opposite direction and self manage (well my wife does – I can't take any of the credit for it).

We don't do this to save a dollar, we just found it frustrating trying to deal with the property managers we had looking after the properties initially.

My wife has been managing the IPs close to home for a few years now and we haven't had too many issues.

I agree that a good PM is worth their weight in gold and I have since met a couple of PMs in the area that I know would do a great job. But we're now at a point where we've got decent tenants in place, communication is open and things are going smoothly (touch wood).

Cheers

Jamie

Hi Michael

My wife prepared a fairly comprehensive application form. We have a chat with all of the tenants, then narrow it down to a few.

From there, we look a little further into their recent rental history and ability to afford the repayments – including calls to previous landlords/property managers. At this point, a reference from a registered property manager is extremely helpful (which sounds biased given that I've got some excellent tentants via private rentals at present).

We also have a good understanding of ACT/NSW tenancy legislation and follow every rule closely.

Cheers

Jamie

Hi Michael

For ACT we use this – http://www.ors.act.gov.au/publication/view/1666/title/the-renting-book-a

A quick google search will come up with heaps of info for NSW.

Cheers

Jamie

Hi Michael.
The fact that you had to post this question means you don’t have the necessary experience to self manage at the moment.
If you would like to gain that knowledge first hand, then self managing is the way to go, but be prepared for hell tenants and heavenly ones and everything in between because that’s what you risk until you have enough experience in vetting tenants and later handling tenancy issues as they arise.
If your intention is to save on agent fees, better to let a professional PM do the job for you otherwise the risk and possible costs from hell tenants are higher than agent fees.

Cheers
thecrest

You need to ensure your policy covers self managing. But I get the point – there are certainly risks involved.

Cheers

Jamie