Managing Your Own Investment Property

meong on 06/01/2025 - 20:44

Just wondering, what are your thoughts of managing your own investment property especially if it's located very close to you?

I had an agent manage my investment property in the past (which i already sold now) and i still had to deal with various issues myself such as:
- noise complaint lodged by another owner via the body corp
- leaking balconies and dealing with strata insurance, insurance disputes, etc
- dealing with fees such as body corp, council, water rates
- organising emergency locksmith for the tenant

it is sort of making me wonder if it's even worth it to go through an agent but i'm happy to be educated.

what are the challenges that you've faced managing your own investment property that you wished you had a property manager?

Financial

Comments

  • Downvoter on 06/01/2025 - 20:47
    +1

    Definitely won’t end in tears. For everyone involved.

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 08:10

      😭

  • dtc on 06/01/2025 - 21:46
    +2

    It’s fine so long as you are available 24/7/365. Not that agents are necessarily, but they will all have emergency contacts and back fill for holidays etc.

    Of course managing a property is not just fixing leaks. You need to ensure the paperwork is in order and legal, deal with finances, accounts and statements, check rent is paid on time every time etc

    Quite a few tenants dislike owner managers; they may not matter if you have an easily rentable property but if it’s higher end or not generic (eg if it’s a 4 bedroom house) then you may be reducing the pool.

    Owning an IP isn’t an invest and go away investment. If you want that, buy ETFs or LICs. All IPs require effort and time; the question is whether you want to pay an agent to do 80% or 90% of the work or you are willing and able to do all of it yourself.

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 07:26

      Oh yeah, this is not my first IP.

      But just curious what are the gotchas of managing it yourself that would be better done by a property manager.

    • samfisher5986 on 07/01/2025 - 10:52
      -1

      It’s fine so long as you are available 24/7/365.

      Agents are not available 24/7.

      they will all have emergency contacts and back fill for holidays etc.

      There is nothing stopping you having preferred contractors as well.

      What a strange thing to say.

      Quite a few tenants dislike owner managers; they may not matter if you have an easily rentable property but if it’s higher end or not generic (eg if it’s a 4 bedroom house) then you may be reducing the pool.

      Plenty of tenants hate property managers.

      the question is whether you want to pay an agent to do 80% or 90% of the work or you are willing and able to do all of it yourself.

      Its worth measuring if the agent is actually putting in 80%.

      Most agents just send email templates and hire contractors, with the only actual work they are doing is visiting the property for inspections and prospective tenants (where they take 2 weeks for that privilege anyway)

      In addition if you have to go to court, you will find your property manager charging you by the hour to do it.

      • dtc on 08/01/2025 - 09:39

        There is nothing stopping you having preferred contractors as well.

        What a strange thing to say.

        yes, there is nothing to stop you doing everything an agent does. which is exactly what I said. No idea why you find that to be a 'strange thing to say', since you are saying exactly the same thing I said. What a weird argument to make, agree with me entirely and then claim you are disagreeing.

        Also sounds like you need to deal with better agents. Good agents do have emergency contact numbers all through holidays and weekends etc

        • samfisher5986 on 08/01/2025 - 09:42
          -2

          Because you said

          It’s fine so long as you are available 24/7/365

          Which is not correct.

          Also sounds like you need to deal with better agents. Good agents do have emergency contact numbers all through holidays and weekends etc

          Which has nothing to do with your claim that agents are available 24/7.

          The whole point here is that agents do very little and if you are going to suggest they do something beyond that, I would maybe mention what you think that is.

          • dtc on 10/01/2025 - 16:19

            @samfisher5986: I repeat, sounds like you need to deal with better agents. Making the same wrong comment over and over to justify your opinion doesnt make your opinion any closer to reality.

            • samfisher5986 on 10/01/2025 - 16:28

              @dtc: You haven't justified why an agent should get $72 per week + $1600 for a new tenant. (as an example if rent was $800 and it was 9%)

  • AndyC1 on 06/01/2025 - 21:47
    +1

    Some of the issues are not applicable for the REA to deal with, but some should have been dealt with by REA. Sounds like you had a REA that took you for a ride.

    This can only end up in a ~great~ ~wonderfull some place if you handle the management of the tenant issues and processes.

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 07:24
      +1

      Ill take your advice for it… I'll see if i can find a better agent.

      • AndyC1 on 07/01/2025 - 20:05
        +1

        Good luck with REA as some suck from being a landlord and now a renter and trying to buy again.

        Make sure you do allot of background checks yourself on the REA you pick and make sure that the contract you sign is okay from your perspective and has what they will so and MAKE sure you keep the B&&Stards honest. REA are not very good, worse than car sales people as you expect car sales to be bad.

  • bin555 on 06/01/2025 - 22:00
    -1

    Looks like you have to do some work anyways. So there is no hurt giving it a try, there isn't much involved. Or spend effort to get better agent where you don't have to do any work. They just contact you to make yes or no decisions. Stuff you mentioned around locksmith is agent job.

    Organising fees is no issue. All of them are direct debits debts nowdays. So you can get dedicated bank account.

    Strata related items don't fall under real estate agent responsibility. That is up to you if you want to be involed in strata committee.

    You are inbetween state where you have agent but they getting you to do some work.

    Either take over it completely or get new agent. You would know what questions to ask when doing the screening now.

    If in new south Wales, fair trading has all the paperwork you need and provides in details all rules and your obligation.

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 07:23
      +1
      • re: DD yeah i want to see if i can organise multiple offset accounts for this.
      • re: Strata noise complaint, it was not committee related thing. It was a complain to the tenant 😅

      I'll check CA in VIC if they have the paperworks for it as well, thanks!

  • May4th on 06/01/2025 - 22:35
    +3

    your conclusion should be I need a better agent, no 'let me do it myself'
    not only can you make costly mistakes if you are not completely across tenancy rules and legislations, the fact your tenant has access to you 24/7 is enough to make your life a living hell if you get unlucky with a problematic tenant

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 07:21

      I think you are right… When i still had that property, i never really switched agents so i never knew better!

  • geekcohen on 07/01/2025 - 07:31
    -1

    You should consider an investment that isn't an apartment/unit with Body Corp. Get a stand-alone house, and most of those headaches will go away. My parents have 3 houses as investments and don't have those issues, just general maintenance items, and all through the same agent.

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 08:09
      +1

      I've sold that as it was initially my PPOR which got converted to an IP.

      But yeah, dealing with no body corp would have been much more straight forward indeed and that's why i posted this as i have a property that i'm interested in just down the road from me.

  • oscargamer on 07/01/2025 - 08:32
    +1

    Some insurance companies won't offer landlords insurance unless you use a REA….

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 08:36

      Interesting point, i missed this fact… I remember RACV also required the lease agreement signed by an REA as well.

  • saltypete on 07/01/2025 - 08:37

    Weve done it and had a great tenant, but i think that we ended up renting the place too cheaply over time. Wouldnt do it now. Having a good agent is really the key - and they are harder to find than good tenants.

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 09:31
      +1

      i should have worded this as "how do I find a good property manager?"

  • dust on 07/01/2025 - 09:18
    -2

    organising emergency locksmith for the tenant

    You didn't pay for this right? If the tenant forgot their key surely this expense is on them?

    • meong on 07/01/2025 - 09:30
      -1

      not caused by the tenant…

      an internal door was failing… so basically door wear and tear which i already noticed when i was still living there, tenant got locked in his room.

      i eventually managed to utilise RACV Home Assist which was free in the end as the other tenant was around to let the RACV person in the house but I had to organise someone to properly fix the door after that which was still cheaper than emergency locksmith callout.

      • dust on 07/01/2025 - 09:32

        Yeah okay makes sense. If that was the case it would be annoying as the landlord to sort it out immediately. (I.e. you're paying the REA a convenience premium.)

        (I hate REA as much as most people but sometimes it's inevitable to use them.)

        • meong on 07/01/2025 - 09:35

          yeah, imagine if the tenant was living by himself i would need to take time off work to attend the property to let the RACV person inside.

          in the end it was tenant->REA->me->RACV.

          however, with WFH hybrid, im contemplating of managing it myself if the property is nearby and can even send my wife if needed on alternate days? hmmm…

  • sneijder on 07/01/2025 - 10:54

    There are something the REA are better at it. like Advertising, arrange viewing, background check, lodge and claim bond, pickup emergency phone call at 3am…..Are they do-able by yourself? Yes but it might take me 10x the time and effort.

    Other decision making stuff like repairing appliance, replacing Furnitures it would be better to handle it yourself because they don't care about your money.

    And their affiliated cleaner usually sucks.

    • samfisher5986 on 07/01/2025 - 10:58

      Advertising

      REA's access the same advertising platform that property owners can access. Its a 10 minute job to list.

      arrange viewing

      The best person to show the house is the owner who knows the house.

      background check

      Agents use the same platforms that property owners can use.

      lodge and claim bond

      You lodge digitally, it takes 10 minutes.

      pickup emergency phone call at 3am

      Agents do not do this.

      Other decision making stuff like repairing appliance, replacing Furnitures it would be better to handle it yourself because they don't care about your money.

      Yes they will generally use expensive contractors.

  • samfisher5986 on 07/01/2025 - 10:56

    Managing your own property means you can do a much better job then a property manager ever will. 90% of their job is sending out email templates to tenants and contractors. They will never understand your property and make good decisions because they have another 100 properties to manage. Property managers will frequently send out contractors for simple things an owner or agent could assist with on site for free.

    Having said that, its not for everyone. There is a category of owner managers who refuse to look up rental laws and think their tenants need to be thankful just for having a roof over their head. Those people need a property manager (who might end up being the same anyway)

  • Porker on 07/01/2025 - 11:01

    It could be that you're not utilising your agent correctly…..

    • noise complaint lodged by another owner via the body corp
    • leaking balconies and dealing with strata insurance, insurance disputes, etc
    • dealing with fees such as body corp, council, water rates
    • organising emergency locksmith for the tenant

    My agent deals with all these and I've experienced these items or similar. I'm not sure if you've done so, but for example with item 3, I've redirected all those invoices/fees to the agent and then they pay them with the rental income. Makes it easier (too) as come tax time, I get a summary of the incomes and payments made through the year.

    For item 1, in one case, I didn't even know that my tenant was causing noise issue with another and the agent resolved it with the parties and owners corporation.

    Is it the case that your agent has these items and still not addressing them or they're not aware of them or not been requested to address them?

  • Wumpus on 07/01/2025 - 13:17
    -1

    A good agent should look after item 1-3 for you. Agent should have the knowledge and capability on those issues.

    Item 4 really depends on what level of service you would like to provide to your tenant. If a tenant call me at the mid of the night, I cant physically go there and do a repair, have to call the tradie anyway. Therefore, I personally draw a clear line to tenant that you won't be able to reach me after hours, contact my recommended tradie for any urgent issue and my tradie will verify the situation before going out as well.

  • jvdv001 on 07/01/2025 - 17:09
    +1

    Managing your own property can be easy - or a nightmare, If you have a good tenant in a non body corp (or owner's corporation) property then it's often fine. On the other hand get a tenant who is always complaining or if it's in a BC with fussy neighbours then better with an agent.

    But here in Victoria there are now an increasing number of compliance regulations plus a hefty land tax slug so many small investors have bailed out of their properties.

  • Meho2026 on 08/01/2025 - 19:42

    It depends how much you value your own time. Remember the property management fees are tax deductible and mean you can avoid advertising, conducting open days, vetting tenants, signing lease, lodging bond, inspection reports and communicating with lots of different people. The agent will organise any repairs, deal with any trades, liaise with strata and act as a filter when dealing with the tenants.
    Obviously half of all property managers are incompetent but it really pays off having them when something goes wrong.
    My neighbour was self managing their property purely to save money. Everything was good for 2 years, then the tenant stopped paying rent. Theres so many new regulations in place to protect tenants, it was challenging navigating the system. It took 3 months to get them out. The tenant trashed the place on the way out, flooded the kitchen. The place has been vacant for 2 months now, so 5 months of no income and a massive cost to make the place habitable.
    They deffo regret not using an agent and having landlords insurance not so much about the $$ but the stress and time involved.

    • samfisher5986 on 08/01/2025 - 19:52
      -1

      Self managing can hurt if you aren't able to actually do the job of managing your property. For example I know someone who didn't keep track of rent, didn't send official notices etc.

      Anyone who wants to put a reasonable amount of effort shouldn't have those issues, for example:

      Theres so many new regulations in place to protect tenants, it was challenging navigating the system.

      Its really not that challenging. You claim bond as soon as possible and then use landlord insurance for the rest.

      There isn't any other reasonable means of recovering the money so its generally not worth your time.

      The tenant trashed the place on the way out, flooded the kitchen.

      This is completely possible but the more likely situation is the place was trashed well before they moved out and inspections hadn't taken place

      The place has been vacant for 2 months now, so 5 months of no income and a massive cost to make the place habitable.

      Landlord insurance should have covered this and the place should be advertised as soon as possible.

      I can see your neighbor didn't have landlord insurance which is a different situation as you need that even with a property manager.

      Remember the property management fees are tax deductible

      You generally don't get that much back compared to how much they cost you.

      The agent will organise any repairs, deal with any trades, liaise with strata and act as a filter when dealing with the tenants.

      Its important to remember that almost 100% of the time the agent will cost you more money because they don't care about being frugal with your money. Yes they will get an electrician out to inspect something that the agent could have done themselves, because they won't get paid for going out.

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