10 Reasons why you should you use a Property Manager?
10 Reasons why you should you use a Property Manager?
21 Jun
21Jun
Legislation How many of you have heard of the Housing Improvement Regulations 1947? How about the Fire Safety & Evacuation of Buildings Regulations 2006? Not to mention the Residential Tenancies Act and all its versions, the Building Act, Privacy Act, Health & Safety at Work Act, Fair Trading Act, Human Rights Act, Unit Titles Act, Fencing of Swimming Pools Act and that doesn’t even include Local Authority By-laws. This is all the legislation you need to be aware of and abide by when you are a landlord. If you get caught not complying you could be landed with a hefty fine and not knowing the legislation existed is not a defence.
Preservation of your asset Life gets busy and as much as you have best intentions to do regular inspections they often get lower down your "To Do" List. You have the perfect tenant with previously good inspections, so you don't need to check up on them as often, am I right? Well that perfect tenant can turn into a bad tenant pretty quickly and a once tidy and well groomed home may regress into a mould laden, hole strewn, carpet stained property with a missing heat pump remote in no time, without regular inspections. Property manager's inspections are usually more thorough and pedantic than the average owner, picking up on potential issues before they arise.
Higher rents This is rental property management 101, increasing your rent increases your bottom-line. Property managers know their market, this is a large part of what they do. In most cases a non managed rental generally sits well below market rate, so bringing it up to market rent, often means you are getting greater returns as well as having the services of a property manager covered by the rent. Property managers schedule rent reviews and work with you to keep the property at market rent offering the best return on your investment.
Lower costs Property managers have relationships with a multitude of tradies, who often do work at a reduce cost due to the regularity of work they send the tradies way. Those unattended repairs not picked up at inspections can progress into a full replacement invoice in the thousands.
Quick resolutions - less weeks without rent Property managers “manage your property”, this is their core business, they have systems and tools in place to manage the rent, tricky tenants, new tenant placements etc, efficiently, to minimise weeks without rent. Once a situation arises the wheels are already in motion to get the situation sorted expediently, no procrastinating, no having to figure out what to do, no can't be bothered dealing with this.
Benefits outweigh the costs The benefits of having a property manager substantially outweigh the cost. The cost of their management fee versus the cost of unattended repairs or unseen damages or rent/damages that are still outstanding because you don't know how to take the tenant to the Tribunal to seek reimbursement, in these situations the management fee is worth its weight in gold.
Cost - not as much as you think The cost of having your property managed is generally not as much as you would think. Management fees range and are usually based on a percentage of the weekly rent, you are looking at about $50 per week on average. There will be time the property manager is working harder (getting new tenants) than other times (collecting rent) but it generally averages out. Some companies charge for extras such as new tenant placements, inspections, administration fees and a commission on repairs and maintenance. RPM don't as we consider this all part of our service. Check out our fees.
Experienced mediators Reached a stalemate with your tenants and in the end just given in as you couldn't stomach going to the Tribunal or feel you are getting nowhere as it has turned into a "he said she said" scenario. Property managers can work as intermediaries between the owner and tenant, taking the emotion out of a situation by acting as a buffer between the parties, presenting a resolution to the parties that enables everyone to move forward. They also have the skills and experience with making a case and taking tenant's to the Tribunal should it get to this stage.
Run your rental property like a business Your rental may have been your home at some stage or you are very emotional about the property. Property managers can help you look at your rental property as a business and assist you with making objective decisions. They are always looking at ways to increase your yield and can make suggestions on how a little investment can improve rent returns.
On call 24/7 Do you really want to be on call 24/7? A property manager is on call for your tenants, so that you don’t have to be.