Stop! Don’t sell your investment property until you read this:

Do you have a tenant that is:

• Paying rent late every month?
• Requesting an abnormal number of repairs?
• Not maintaining the property to a high standard?
• Complaining about things that should NOT be your problem?
• Does your property manager seem to be on your mobile phone call log every few weeks?

The problem might not be your tenant; it most likely lies with your property manger.

Remember, You’ve Worked Hard To Get Your Property

Don’t let a bad experience cloud your judgment. An investment property is one of the best assets you can own. Over the years of owning a property, the rental income increases while you pay off the mortgage on the property.

The property usually grows in value while always offering income tax benefits.

You have taken large risks to purchase the property, paid a large amount of government taxes and monthly interest repayments.

You’ve also sacrificed a few luxuries to gain the property, possibly a holiday or a new car.

So if you’re considering selling, make sure it’s for the right reasons.

3 Problems With Property Mangers.

Many big branded real estate agencies work the same way as a ‘no frills’ agency. Except, they have a brand that well publicised and turned property management into a production-line process.

These companies are trained to run their rental business like a fast food chain. As you know, fast food providers do a great job at solving an immediate problem – with average results.

The cause and effect of three of the main problems in property management:

1. Leasing is done by a leasing officer, property management is carried out by another person and accounts payable is completed by another = Usually, each person is so busy they don’t communicate important information that avoids problems down the track. Normal issues that arise with every investment property are not managed, rather, swept under the carpet for someone else to deal with.

2. Their portfolio of properties each employee are managing are too large = Their property managers have more work than hours in a day and their quality of work is low.
3. Their staff have very little life experience = This translates in large expenses to the landlord. 

Things like, knowing what a good quality tenant looks like, considering if a repair quote is reasonable or managing a bad tenant out of the property.

Due to the above issues, staff turn over is usually quite high, hence new staff have no idea about your property’s history.

So how do you fix the problem?

Start with staying away from the big brand real estate agents. Below are 10 questions to ask a property management company prior to hiring them:

1. How large is your rent roll?
2. How many staff manage your rent roll?
3. Will my property manager look for tenants or is that someone else?
4. Who manages property repairs, my property manager or someone else?
5. Do you manage difficult tenants out of properties? If so, how many tenants in the past 3 months?
6. If a tenant is consistently late with rent, what is your process to fix the issue?
7. Can I contact my property manager directly?
8. How many properties does my property manager look after?
9. How do you qualify potential tenants? What about a credit check? Do they provide bank statements? Verified rental history with a tenant ledger demonstrating what date the tenant pays rent?
10. With your 3 and 6-month inspections, do you provide digital photos that can be accessed online?

Property Mangers Melb is a small boutique real estate agency that only specialise in property management. We do not sell real estate and our property managers are property owners and investors that understand what it means to own real estate.

Our company mission statement: To deliver a unique and unmatched property management service, and provide our clients with dedicated support in order to assist them in achieving prosperity and success in property investment.

For a complementary conversation, please leave your details for one of our property experts to get in touch.

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