Does you PM pay your bills?

[travelbug]

Hi, when I started I ticked that I'd pay the council rates, water, strata. But every 3 months it's a big job to pay them all now and I'm over it.

Plus I travel a lot and have to orgainse it if I'm away when they arrive.

How many people get there's paid by their PM? Do they charge for that?

I ready one thread from a while ago with people auguing about each monthly payments being up and down due to bills going out at different times but that doesn't worry me. I just want less work.

But also worry about reliability. I suppose after the first lot go through I won't worry. I'm a bit of a control freak (but getting better)

But then again the paperwork is the reason (I give my hubby) as to why I'm going parttime next year.

He doesn't read this so I'm safe. SIL shhh!!!

 

[jenni_nextplace]

I pay rates, water and strata as these are bills I like to keep an eye on. Also because they can be large sometimes there is not enough money sitting in the trust account to allow the PM to pay them. I want to make sure I receive the early payment discount.

I also like to put on credit card, and sit there a month before I have to pay.

People I know have the agent pay them all for them and haven't had a problem, I suppose you need a good PM though to stay on top of it and make sure its paid on time.

 

[annmak]

I prefer to have the Agent to pay all the bills for me. If saves me time and automatically keeps records in the monthly statement.

 

[MelbGal]

I get my PM to pay most of my regular bills. When I receive the monthly statement, the bills are scanned and attached.

No extra cost, this is part of the service they provide, and less work for me.

 

[S.T]

I pay as much as I can on credit card for frequent flyer points, you can set up auto pay for a lot of regular bills too, especially rates where you know how much they will be.

 

[skater]

I get the Agents to do it all for me. Always have done! I couldn't imagine having all those rates notices coming to me all the time. It would drive me batty.

 

[DaveM]

I get the Agents to do it all for me. Always have done! I couldn't imagine having all those rates notices coming to me all the time. It would drive me batty.

You own so many properties, you would need a letter box the size of a mini skip to hold all the rates notices

My PM's pay water rates and on charge usage to tenants, I pay council rates and insurance myself.

 

[skater]

You own so many properties, you would need a letter box the size of a mini skip to hold all the rates notices

My PM's pay water rates and on charge usage to tenants, I pay council rates and insurance myself.

LOL! I don't quite have that many, you know. I do the insurance. Everything else goes to the agents.

 

[travelbug]

Thanks.

For those that pay on credit card- is it worth it paying the extra to get the points? I know when I used to pay council rates on credit card it was an extra 1% or was it 1.5%?

 

[Terry_w]

I suggest you pay yourself for a few reasons

1. I court a court judgment against my name, many years ago, because the agent never paid the rates on a property

2. You can get points by using your credit cards to pay for things

3. You can improve your financial and tax position by borrowing (from a LOC) to pay for expenses.

 

[Edmond Dantes]

I used to pay with credit card, but I'm not willing to pay extra, even if it is 0.1%. I pay 1 or 2 days before the due date using BPAY. Google calendar reminders are very handy.

 

[Mooze]

We pay all ourselves (or rather I do - hubby just hands any paperwork over ). Have them all set up on BPay so no matter where in the world we are I can monitor and pay them (and literally have out the back of Borneo or rather middle of Borneo).
It means I know they're paid, and can also adjust tax year if needed (ie bill in early July I might pay end of June if it will be of benefit)

 

[Edmond Dantes]

By the way, I recently signed up for Australia Post Digital mailbox. Although i haven't used it yet, it appears to be a good way to eliminate those receipts that sometimes get lost at home

https://beta.digitalmailbox.auspost.com.au/content/marketing/en/overview.html

 

[beachside]

I pay my own bills, and would look after any insurance matter myself. Considering I spend 5 times as much time chasing agents and sorting out stuff ups as it would take to do it myself there is no way I would rely on an agent to do something which is so simple but can cause problems if not paid. I keep a spread sheets of every cent I have paid on my property and split between different categories.

If you want something done properly ....do it yourself!

P.S. So many bills can be paid by automatic credit or D/D, you don't even have to try and remember them. One problem with auto credit payment is that if you lose you cc and have to replace it you have to try and remember which bills have been set up to be paid by cc. Some are monthly and easily found by looking at monthly statement, some are only occasionally and easily overlooked (ie, bridge/road toll account top up) One of the last things you want to overlook is insurance monthly payment by cc which occurred to me when I had to get a new cc when on holidays and overlooked one policy. Obviously I was not at home to get letters from insurance company advising auto payment not successful ... luckily nothing happened in that time. I now keep a spreadsheet of all payments and how they are paid for easy reference.

 

[jkat]

We use the agents to pay the bills like council, water, strata. If the tenants have been behind in rent or there isn't enough money to pay the agent lets me know and then I can arrange to pay it myself.

Otherwise I find it a hassle free way of doing it. In the past when I've done it myself it was fine but sometimes life/work got very busy and I have had times where I have almost forgotten to pay the bill because I've had more important things on my mind.

I think in the end what it comes down to is what works for you. Our property managers are excellent and always keep on top of it so we never have to worry and it is documented in the monthly report they send me

 

[s0805]

we also use the PM to pay all our bills...but pay the insurance ourselves...

new to IP journey...just wondering how PM pays for these costs....e.g water rates is due on 20th and rent will not be received till the 1st of following month....are they gona pay for the water rates from their money first and deduct it from rent later on....

 

[MelbGal]

we also use the PM to pay all our bills...but pay the insurance ourselves...

new to IP journey...just wondering how PM pays for these costs....e.g water rates is due on 20th and rent will not be received till the 1st of following month....are they gona pay for the water rates from their money first and deduct it from rent later on....

They pay only once they have funds. This could mean that invoice is paid a few days late but usually not as I have all bills sent directly to my pm's office, never been an issue. I pay myself any bills that I want to keep control of like the insurance bill.

 

[s0805]

They pay only once they have funds. This could mean that invoice is paid a few days late but usually not as I have all bills sent directly to my pm's office, never been an issue. I pay myself any bills that I want to keep control of like the insurance bill.

This might not be right thing to do i think....coz it means bills could be paid late (after due date) just because rent is not received before the due date of bills...

 

[Sez]

We need to have clear funds for your property before we can pay any bills. We prioritise by due date and often you will find that the bill is issued an extra rent cycle early so that the bills aren't late.

Keep in mind that a reminder notice will also be sent prior to any penalties applying to the account. I can't speak for all Property Managers but on the odd occasion where I receive a reminder notice for a bill I will contact the organisation and advise of the date & method of payment (if they get paid by cheque the payment may not yet have cleared) if payment has been made.

If payment hasn't been made then I advise of the date payment can be expected, due to the rent cycle.

I've always found all organisations to be very happy to extend the due date by a few days to fit in with the rent cycle, no problem!

In the event that it is something like the insurance that won't be paid on time I contact the landlord and suggest that they pay it directly for what ever the reason may be!

I hope it puts you a little more at ease using your PM to pay the bills (though I can't be confident that all PM's will put in that effort I like to think that there are a lot of good ones out there that will!)

 

[s0805]

thanks Sez....it's very clear that PM will not pay for the bills before rent is received...not from their trust account or something...which is understandable....

We need to have clear funds for your property before we can pay any bills. We prioritise by due date and often you will find that the bill is issued an extra rent cycle early so that the bills aren't late.

as here, in my case what has happened is some of the bills/costs (with invoice date/due date) before Jun 30 has been paid in July 1st week (they might have negotiated with relevant organisations i guess)....hence they are not listed in annual statement given by PM.... I am concerned that this is not right as all costs occurred in Fin year should be claimed in that year only or you will lose it.....