Do you manage your own property?

[BMan]

if you self manage how did you get your lease made up?
the ones in my town sound similar to alot of these as 'phone message relay service'
and fees of....
management fee: 9.9%
letting fee of: 1.1 weeks rent
lease renewals: $27.50
periodic inspections: $22
monthly statement: $3.30
annual statement: $14.50

 

[Aaron_C]

if you self manage how did you get your lease made up?

Usually the leases are in a 'standard form' so you don't actually have to draft up your own one. You can annex other conditions to it (as long as it's legal) through attaching another piece of paper to it. But given how annoying the residential tenancy laws are I would just leave it to a PM. The 5.5% I pay has been well spent imo.

 

[BMan]

if i only had 2 pay 5.5 it wouldnt bother me but working it out at 9.9 it eats into the profits a fair bit
so would either raise the rent to cover it or self manager and have alot lower

 

[Aaron_C]

Not sure about SA but 9.9% sounds really high unless it is a high-maintenance property like student accommodation...

 

[BMan]

nope thats there std fees

 

[petalop]

Yes you can definitely self manage. I do. Make sure you have a good lease in place, and that all the extra conditions you want to add are written into the lease. do a check on your tenants. Get references, and make sure you check them out. Call and speak to previous renting agents. Make sure your bond is the maximum amount allowable, and then do regular inspections, making sure you give the tenants the correct entry notice each time. Keep a very ordered and complete record of ever transaction, including a copy of the lease, all notices to tenants, a rent register that shows what they have paid, dates etc. Take a complete set of photos of every single part of the property, and store them on a printout, or disk in your file. Photo/photograph copy all of the keys that you give to the tenants and keep that in your file. If you ever need to go to the tribunal, you will have everything in order. Which you should have anyway.

 

[ForwardThinker]

Diy

Hello fellow Landlords,
I too am a DIY and have been self-mananging for the past 10 years.
With resources such as www.landlordspecialists.com.au and www.rentalpropertyinspections.com.au why would anyone want to complicate things utilising a third party.
Help and support is a clickaway.......

 

[Marti]

We have been lucky with our tenants, to date never having any kind our serious issue. This is regarding a mixture of self managed properties and also managed by real estate managers. We have in particular one excellent manager looking after our rental property in the Pilbara region and recently one where we terminated their agreement.

One of our issues in looking after several properties, managed and self-managed is looking after the paper trial. Over time I’ve found the more accurate information that I can pass to my accountant the less time he spends on our investment rental properties. To manage our properties, like most investors I suspect, I used an excel spreadsheet. Recently I have found an online solution call www.myprop.com.au which allows owners to manage all their properties including tax deductions and also depreciation of Division 40 and 43 items. Very valuable.

I agree with Peterw’s comments in managing rental properties for the right reasons. That is; because you want to. Also you are not treating your valuable investment properties as a hobby, but as a business to build wealth creation.

It would be interesting to know, from the approximate 1.8 million rental investment owners in Australia, who manages their own properties and who employ a managing agent.

 

[Peter 14.7]

Sounds like someone is using Facebook for good. Pinch me!

Great Idea

On , topic, NO I don't and never will. TOO MANY RULES, I predict you will learn painfully by experience. A good PM experience includes the tenants, repairers AND the insurance company when you claim and you try to screw you.

Peter 14.7

 

[Dazz]

when you claim and you try to screw you.

Che ?? Is that some sort of self-flagellation thing ??

 

[jaycee]

Great Idea

On , topic, NO I don't and never will. TOO MANY RULES, I predict you will learn painfully by experience. A good PM experience includes the tenants, repairers AND the insurance company when you claim and you try to screw you.

Peter 14.7

Too many rules for self managing Peter ?

So you reckon the better option is to get a PM, who knows and all the rules and how to work with them & the tenant & insurance for the best outcome for you.

Agree, that would be nice...

Unfortunately personally, I have found it very difficult to identify this actually existing.

 

[theperthurbanist]

Jaggannath

http://forsaleforlease.com.au/residential-lease-splash/ Is one company i am aware of offering this no frills management service.

Michael, it's been said before, but I think you should really disclose your affiliation with this site. It looks to me like it is a good service, but being 'sprung' for self promotion wont do you any favours.

Stick your affiliations in a tagline/footer as others do on the site.