Property Management – What are owners/landlords looking for in a Property Manager?

Have you heard the saying: Good work isn’t cheap, Cheap work isn’t good?

Basically you get what you pay for.

Communication:

Find out what communication you’re going to receive, will it be regular, will it not be at all? Our office have great communication with our clients; we regularly email them so they know what is happening with their property. Ask, how often will they reply after an email has been sent? We strive to reply to emails that same day even if we need to follow up again, our owners and tenants know we have acknowledged their email.

Advertising:

Ask the question – where will my property be advertised? Our office advertises in many places including Facebook and Instagram. Our website, Realestate.com.au, REIWA and 10 other portals linked to our website including Domain etc. The more exposure you obtain for your property the better chance you have of getting it leased.

Routine Inspections:

Is your property manager actually doing them? Our office most definitely does. We don’t just sit out the front of the property and say inspection completed. We go through the property with our program loaded onto our phone and write descriptions of the rooms and take photos of any maintenance if required. We don’t just check for owner maintenance, we also check for tenant damage. This inspection is then done up in a pdf version for our owners.

Maintenance:

Are you going to be informed when maintenance arises? Our office reports maintenance to owners even if it’s an emergency. A quick email to inform owners that something has happened, and we have taken care of it. Some owners don’t want to be bothered that’s fine, but a lot like to be kept up to date so they know how much their monthly monies are going to be, so they can act on it their end. Maintenance is done efficiently and as it comes to our attention. Tenants are entitled to have hot water, no leaking taps, ovens, heating, cooling etc. They are paying rent they are entitled to the property being maintained.

Not heard from your property manager?

This doesn’t mean your house is running without problems. Are you being informed when maintenance arises or when new leases are required to be negotiated? You should be in regular contact with your property manager, if you haven’t seen any accounts or heard from your property manager, ring them and ask the question! It’s quite possible your property manager is not reporting what they should be.

Fees:

Our management fee is standard across Perth, if you are getting a huge discount on your fees are you still going to be receiving the same amount of service? That is something you need to keep in the back of your mind when you do ask for fees to be negotiated. We do discount fees when owners have multiple properties otherwise the management fee applies. We work hard for our management fees and we believe reducing our fees is just reducing our value. We have a after hours plan available on our website for all tenants 24 hours 7 days a week. On a standard $300.00 per week our management fee is $28.05 per week or $112.20 per month. That is $3.74 per day….. It’s not even a cup of coffee to give you peace of mind. Who wants to worry.

Let us take care and worry about rent arrears, arranging inspections, emailing maintenance and the list goes on.

Experience:

Ask how long has your property manager been in the industry? Are they new in the field? If they are that’s fine but are they being supported by an experienced property manager? I have been in the industry for over 23 years with the majority of those in property management. Our office has a full time property manager who is registered and always has the directors support as we manage the same portfolio.

Court Experience:

Being in the industry for many years has given me great experience in court procedures.  If you ask the question and the property manager says they never go to court then I would be wondering why they don’t go…. In a perfect world all property managers would love to have no tenants in arrears and never have to evict tenants. Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect world and I don’t believe a property manager when they say they have no tenants in arrears and all tenants are perfect. What our office can say is that we do evict tenants if they are not abiding by their lease terms of paying their rent or maintaining the property.

Our office would love to hear from you.

Our job is to make your life easier. Let us help.

If you have a property and would like our office to manage it please do not hesitate to give our office a call on 0419 984 356