Hi OzB comms,
So, my property's been under the care of a real estate/property manager, and it's only 3 years old. But what's got me scratching my head is the constant stream of repair requests – electrical, antennas, plumbing, you name it.
I'm thinking about taking the reins and managing it myself. What do you think? Any advice on self-managing? And if you've got any sweet online tools you know about, I'm all ears. Any recommendations would be awesome.
Thanks a lot!
Yeah I wouldn't stand for that. If its a 3 year old house surely the tenants are treating like crap.
I'd change PM and get rid of the tenants
Houses built in the last few years are just awful quality, my FIL moved into a new build 2 years ago and has had to spend close to $20k completely redoing the plumbing and fixing stuff.
"Investor grade" construction.
I self managed a property and used Cubbi (2% management fee) to handle the rent payments and associated paperwork.
Hint: if you allow the tenant to have a small dog, check that there is a kennel for dog, otherwise it might be sleeping and peeing indoors.
Self managing won't make the repair requests go away though.
Unless you are going to start denying them, which can be anything from unethical to illegal to do.
Other complexity you may run into is that if the tenant decides to leave, you will need to find a new one. How are you going to do that process?
Self managing means you'll have $50-100 per week extra to spend on repairs and you'll also be able to inspect issues and likely solve some issues yourself or save 50% because you are hiring someone specifically to fix the issue, rather then to troubleshoot.
Other complexity you may run into is that if the tenant decides to leave, you will need to find a new one. How are you going to do that process?
Thats a ridiculously easy process, there are online platforms that do all of that for you, including the entire rental application process, ID etc.
We had quite a few rentals over the years and generally speaking only ever had one agent who was half decent. We were about to switch to self management but due to workload in our main jobs, insane law changes in victoria, and other investment opportunities we sold down all the rentals.
My plan was;
- Use one of those software packs you are seeking. excel and email is fine when its all working but when it goes wrong you need to do things in a certain order and in a certain way, whoever follows the process the best has the best chance of winning.
- i was planning on scheduling myself as a handyman with them once every 6 months to act as both inspection and repair. Its easier to fix door handles, hinges, etc… before it gets worse. If the kitchen door is lose it might just be tightening a screw but if you lose it the hinge my rip the cabinet which is more time/cost.
- for emergency was planning on getting RACV https://www.racv.com.au/in-your-home/trades/emergency-home-a… and giving the tenant the policy info, i figured this way they had a 24/7 make good/safe option so there was reduced risk to injury/safety, the problem wouldn't get worse, and if its bigger than the included fix i would have a quote.
It wasn't primarily about saving money it was about being proactive
Don't
Just tell your property manager that all repairs regardless of the dollar amount need to be approved by you, and if you want to cut costs you can either attempt them yourself or find your own tradespeople for the agent to schedule in.
Some tradies will charge more if they know it's a rental, by the way. Ask them for a quote before revealing it's a rental property.
Start by talking to the agent and tell them their tradies fees are a ripoff and you dont want them used unless necessary.
You want repair requests forwarded to you and you will evaluate them first.
Just a few points of self managing vs property manager
if you're a DIY handyman type, then self-managing can save you the 5% commission or whatever and remove you from the hassles of advertising and reletting - self-managers are more likely targets for scammers like I just heard about - agreeing to sign the lease, then suing for some made-up damage, or moving in then never paying rent and effectively squatting for 6 months for free until you can get the sherrif to remove them
if you have no experience, you can make all the mistakes and go the common way - 'never again!'
if you're keen, you can gain lots of experience, which can be rewarding, or will cost you
if the OP is like most young people with a first investment property, I'd suggest to change your rental agent as it sounds like they're ripping you off.
This post is scaremongering.
can save you the 5%
Self managing will save you $50-100 per week, 2 weeks of your rent ($1000-$2000, $200-300 in advertising/listing fees as well as a huge discount on tradies by simply hiring your own tradies or an even bigger discount if you DIY or at least troubleshoot the issues first.
self-managers are more likely targets for scammers like I just heard about - agreeing to sign the lease, then suing for some made-up damage
Thats what Landlord Insurance is for, something you need with a property manager anyway.
And I would say most of those scammers are targeting people old school landlords who aren't interested in rental contracts, bond, laws, checking if they are legitmate etc.
I love the gate keeping and making it seem like property managers are magicians, you only have to read about bad tenant stories and you realise most of them have property managers anyway.
or moving in then never paying rent and effectively squatting for 6 months for free until you can get the sherrif to remove them
A property manager can't help you with that, or most things. Their job is to hire someone to help you and send some automated template emails via a platform.
if you have no experience, you can make all the mistakes and go the common way - 'never again!'
Or simply, don't do things unless you have researched them first. If you don't want to research/learn anything, then hire a property manager.
I now self manage, but wouldn't do it if I wasn't living nearby. Had a bad experience with a PM in my last property that I let while overseas. Came back to find they let the property out to their criminal relatives that trashed the place, rat infestation, holes in the walls, etc and terrorised the neighbours. Thought I could access the bond then found out they refunded it to them in full. Luckily the agency forked out and fixed everything.
I have rented to a friend . But have done everything by the book. Pretty simple . Lodge the bond and attend to needs of needed. I get my tenant to get any available handy man to directly do the job after running it past me and that way there isn’t a seperate call out fee and then repair fee and so and so. I have been direct and told my friend if I rented through an agent this would be extra rent to cover the fees but if you want to by pass then , this is the rent. Working out quite well . If it was anyone else and I lived a little far away, I would weigh my options with the realestate agent !
Just because theres a maintenance request, doesnt mean you have to accept it
Even if it is managed by an agent you can still go and take care of these issues yourself if you want, just tell the agent what you want to do.
Important to remember though that getting the tradies in for a repair is tax-deductible, whereas your own time is not.
What is the point of PM when you have to go and take care of these issues yourself. That's the whole idea to invest some time in property management to save PM cost
The PM does other tasks too. If you don't think they are worth the money then don't use a PM.
Unfortunately it's not unusual for new builds to have a lot of cheap Chinese junk installed to cut costs during the fit out.
So a lot of that starts to fail only a couple of years in.
I self manage. My old agent would just call me whenever anything went wrong. I'm also the DIY type.
I thought the paperwork would be difficult but you can just download the PDFs online.
I use Cubby platform and it has been great
I started self managing a few years ago after dealing with quite a number of incompetent property managers. I still use real estate agents for the letting process, but then take over. I'm not sure if it due to a lack of time or just supitidy, but all the property managers lqcked the attention to detail, even the ones that were highly recommended.
A few of the issues have been:
- Listing the wrong owner on the lease agreement.
- Failing to record the ingoing water meter reading
- Taking appalling entry condition report photos. I had just replaced the carpets, painted all surfaces, and the photos they took made it look run down and dinghy.
- Reusing the outgoing condition report remarks for the incoming condition report. Several items had been taken care of between tenants e.g marks on wall, dirty rangehood etc.
- Organising an elecrician to inspect the oven when the tenant moved in and they reported that it wasnt working. Turned out that the tenant had not set the clock. All appliances were tested before the property was leased, so the PM shouldve known better and troubleshooted with the tenant before organsising a trade to attend. I dont blame the tenant for this. This was a basic thing.
- Forgetting to instruct the tenant to complete their version of the ingoing condiiton report.
Many more examples, but your experience may vary.
Given all of this, a property manager might be better for the majority of IP owners. You still need to dedicate time and effort in managing your property and keeping your tenants happy. Dont be a slumlord. They are a paying customer and you need to remain professional and remove any emotional attchement from your property.
I used tenantcloud.com for the book keeping side of things, which is ok, but i think there are loads more options these days. For lase renewals, notices etc I have my own templates. Familiarise yourself with the tenancy laws for your state and do things by the book. Insurance will try and find any excuse not to pay out, especially if you are not dilligent in sending out notices.
Hope this helps.
If you're in Toowoomba, maybe don't use this guy.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/queensland-real-…
Or you could use your own software, have your own reasonably priced tradies and use ChatGPT to write the letters to your tenants.