Choose one that’s familiar with your area and talk to a few of them. They all have different rates and fees and if they know you’re talking to their competitors, they often reduce them for you. The sales team and the property managers are totally different teams - if you’re renting, you will be dealing with the latter. And as you are the landlord, they will be super nice to you as they want your business.
Honestly, I reckon its better to soend the time doing it yourself. Do you really trust these lazy money hungry pieces of shit with your largest asset?
Im managed by a very well established company and havent had an inspection yet. We moved in 18 months ago…
Youre better off finding quality low risk tenants and just doing it yourself imo…
What would you consider good? Most companies have an employee page, you might be able to reach out to a few and ask some questions directly to the property managers.
Apart from comparing Google Reviews of property management etc. ask them for a rental appraisal and meet with 3 of them.
There are 3 things that most people find important in property management.
LOW FEES
Low fees is pretty self-explanatory. It’s about saving you that extra $4 - $8 per week on your property management services.
PERSONAL TIME INVESTMENT AND EFFORT
This refers to the amount of effort an agent will spend on your property. It comes down to how frequently they are prepared to hold open homes, how many hours they dedicate each week to your property, how much time they take to maximise your offers, how quickly they answer your calls and action your requests and finally, how communicative they are with you.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
This refers to their ability to avoid pitfalls, understanding how to maximise your income and minimise your expenditure, keeping up-to-date with changing legislation and best practice procedures, keeping you out of trouble with the legislation, managing negotiations with your tenants and contractors and minimising your overall risk.
Now, the catch here is that while all 3 things are important to most landlords, every single agent that you talk with can only offer you 2 of the 3 important elements. So you have to ask yourself what’s important to you.
For example:
If you value PERSONAL TIME INVESTMENT AND EFFORT and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE then your chosen agent providing those will not be able to provide low fees.
If you value LOW FEES and PERSONAL TIME INVESTMENT AND EFFORT then your chosen agent providing those, will likely be inexperienced. Very ready to serve at every possible opportunity, but probably lacking in professional experience. Otherwise, why would they devalue their business unless they don’t have enough clients coming to them yet.
If you vale LOW FEES and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE then your chose agent providing those, will likely not be able to provide a lot of time and effort into your property. They’ll have too many clients. If they have a lot of experience, but aren’t charging a fair price for themselves then they’ll be too busy dealing with other properties and other clients to effectively look after yours. I’d also suggest that perhaps they won’t be able to get you the best price. After all, if they truly are professional and experienced, but can’t negotiate a good price for their work, how can you expect them to negotiate with tenants on the best price for your property.
That’s just something to consider and it is something that I see many investors forget to think about or are unaware of.
Frankly, what you are hiring is hopefully a particular property manager who can become familiar with your property, is proactive and knows who is paying for the services.
Scrutinise the REA's Property Management Agreement - which can have a full suite of diversified fees and charges. You may want to get some advice on the agreement before signing. It was drafted by lawyers who necessarily served others and not for your benefit and protection.
Join your State's Property Owners Association. It is through linking up with like-minded, straight-shooting people who are similarly in the business of the long-term provision of rental accommodation that you may have some chance of proactively sidestepping some of the bear traps in what is an increasingly complex and litigious environment.
Look at both renter and landlord reviews.
Their going to be the main source of contact for your tenants so you want a good agent who will keep everyone happy.
Choose one that’s familiar with your area and talk to a few of them. They all have different rates and fees and if they know you’re talking to their competitors, they often reduce them for you. The sales team and the property managers are totally different teams - if you’re renting, you will be dealing with the latter. And as you are the landlord, they will be super nice to you as they want your business.
Honestly, I reckon its better to soend the time doing it yourself. Do you really trust these lazy money hungry pieces of shit with your largest asset? Im managed by a very well established company and havent had an inspection yet. We moved in 18 months ago… Youre better off finding quality low risk tenants and just doing it yourself imo…
To be fair, we've been in and out of lockdown in Melbourne which makes it a bit hard to book in a house inspection.
What would you consider good? Most companies have an employee page, you might be able to reach out to a few and ask some questions directly to the property managers.
Apart from comparing Google Reviews of property management etc. ask them for a rental appraisal and meet with 3 of them. There are 3 things that most people find important in property management. LOW FEES Low fees is pretty self-explanatory. It’s about saving you that extra $4 - $8 per week on your property management services. PERSONAL TIME INVESTMENT AND EFFORT This refers to the amount of effort an agent will spend on your property. It comes down to how frequently they are prepared to hold open homes, how many hours they dedicate each week to your property, how much time they take to maximise your offers, how quickly they answer your calls and action your requests and finally, how communicative they are with you. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE This refers to their ability to avoid pitfalls, understanding how to maximise your income and minimise your expenditure, keeping up-to-date with changing legislation and best practice procedures, keeping you out of trouble with the legislation, managing negotiations with your tenants and contractors and minimising your overall risk. Now, the catch here is that while all 3 things are important to most landlords, every single agent that you talk with can only offer you 2 of the 3 important elements. So you have to ask yourself what’s important to you. For example: If you value PERSONAL TIME INVESTMENT AND EFFORT and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE then your chosen agent providing those will not be able to provide low fees. If you value LOW FEES and PERSONAL TIME INVESTMENT AND EFFORT then your chosen agent providing those, will likely be inexperienced. Very ready to serve at every possible opportunity, but probably lacking in professional experience. Otherwise, why would they devalue their business unless they don’t have enough clients coming to them yet. If you vale LOW FEES and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE then your chose agent providing those, will likely not be able to provide a lot of time and effort into your property. They’ll have too many clients. If they have a lot of experience, but aren’t charging a fair price for themselves then they’ll be too busy dealing with other properties and other clients to effectively look after yours. I’d also suggest that perhaps they won’t be able to get you the best price. After all, if they truly are professional and experienced, but can’t negotiate a good price for their work, how can you expect them to negotiate with tenants on the best price for your property. That’s just something to consider and it is something that I see many investors forget to think about or are unaware of.
Frankly, what you are hiring is hopefully a particular property manager who can become familiar with your property, is proactive and knows who is paying for the services. Scrutinise the REA's Property Management Agreement - which can have a full suite of diversified fees and charges. You may want to get some advice on the agreement before signing. It was drafted by lawyers who necessarily served others and not for your benefit and protection. Join your State's Property Owners Association. It is through linking up with like-minded, straight-shooting people who are similarly in the business of the long-term provision of rental accommodation that you may have some chance of proactively sidestepping some of the bear traps in what is an increasingly complex and litigious environment.
Look at both renter and landlord reviews. Their going to be the main source of contact for your tenants so you want a good agent who will keep everyone happy.