I am in Perth and manage a property in Melbourne.
I always use an agent to find tenants, prepare the lease, prepare the ingoing property condition report and lodge the bond.
I have had very few issues in 8 years. First issue was a tenant that was personally reccomended by the agent who sold the house. Big mistake. She damaged the property and fought us for the bond. I got 50% of the bond at the tribunal, so that was a win. I did that one by phone, so I didn't even have to fly to Melbourne.
New agent for the next three tenants and they were all fantastic. I give them my contact details and they just text if there is an issue. There have been maintenance issues over the years but I have not had any problems organising contractors remotely.
Unfortunately, my good agent quit and I have had trouble finding another good agent to secure tenants. That's the only issue I have had but that is nothing to do with being remote.
At the end of each tenancy, my investment partner and myself take it in turns to fly to Melbourne, clean, touch up any wear and tear and get the property ready for the next tenant. It's not very expensive to fly there now and because we take it in turns, its 3 or 4 years between visits.
The primary reason I don't have an agent managing the property is response times to faults. For example, my tenant in Melbourne texted me that the plumbing blocked up. I had a plumber resolve the issue by close of business the same day. The risk with an agent is the tenant calls the agent, misses them, leaves a message, waits for them to get back. Agent calls me, misses me, leaves a message, I call back but they have gone home for the day. I call back the next day and authorise the repairs. They organise a plumber for maybe that day or maybe the next day. I have seen it happen. It's not really the response time I want for my tenants.
