Getting rid of property manager

[newhomebuilder]

Whats the process of getting rid of a old property manager and getting a new one? Does anyone else here change agents often?

Mine has been a bit slack over the time we have had them, for example asking a document to be sent, and then they lose it!!!

Incorrect advertising and

Not finding items that need fixing when doing inspections on a property.

Am I been to picky, and thats standard for an agents, or does it never happen to you?

Should I get a new one??

 

[Xenia]

If you are not happy you are within your rights to change to another agency. Find out what the exit strategy is in your contract. Do they want a 3 month warning etc...

Get the new pm to do all the work of getting the file, canceling the other agency etc. They know the process and if they cant do at least that then you may have the same problems again.

All the best

 

[newhomebuilder]

I had a word with him, and they said is there anything we could to improve our service, and rectify the situation

Do you think I really should be changing over these (I think) small issues of losing documents, and the other issues outlined above?

 

[skater]

Are they good at everything else? Are they the best of a bad bunch in the area they're in? Do they have any other redeeming qualities? Are they understaffed & looking to rectify the problem?

At the end of the day only you can decide if the problem is bad enough to move on, or if they deserve another chance. As Xenia said, if you do want to change, the new agency should look after all the paperwork for you.

 

[newhomebuilder]

Thanks for the assistance so far.

Does anyone else have any opinions?

 

[yo yo ma]

I had a word with him, and they said is there anything we could to improve our service, and rectify the situation

Do you think I really should be changing over these (I think) small issues of losing documents, and the other issues outlined above?

Basically the decision is up to you. If you have let him know what went wrong & he is willing to work on it, you may want to give them one more chance. If you let him know you have spoken to other agents (even just the threat of this), things may improve.

On the bottom of my statements from one agent is,
"Thankyou for choosing us to manage your properties. We realise you have other choices."
Steve

 

[BayView]

Whats the process of getting rid of a old property manager and getting a new one? Does anyone else here change agents often?

Mine has been a bit slack over the time we have had them, for example asking a document to be sent, and then they lose it!!!

Incorrect advertising and

Not finding items that need fixing when doing inspections on a property.

Am I been to picky, and thats standard for an agents, or does it never happen to you?

Should I get a new one??

Unfortunately, the norm is a young girl/guy doing all the legwork, minimal experience, training and supervision, low pay, and too many properties to look after in order to maximise the profit for the rent-roll owner.

I don't mind this so much, but now they are trying to gradually add in these insidious little charges to add dollars to their bottom line, that were traditionally part of the management fee.

One of my PM's is trying to charge me $33 for an annual rental summary - for each property. It's a punch of about 3 keys to produce; maybe 2. Blatant wrought, and I won't pay it, and have told them so with an explanation that all our other PM's don't charge for this (which is true).

They also want payment for condition reports; the first one 6 weeks after the tenants move in (this is after a condition report when they move in), then every 3 months after that, at $55 a go! There is also an hourly rate with this.

On top of that, they have a clause which states that if I terminate their service before the end of the Authority period, I owe them the unpaid management fee monies for the remainder of the un-expired Authority period.

We just sent the new Exclusive Authority Contracts back, with those little gems deleted by yours truly. I'll keep you posted on the reply, and if it gets ugly, I'll be posting their name on here as I'm sure there will be several others using the same crowd.

These Authority Contracts are drafted by the real estate agents, for the real estate agents and it stinks.

How many of you have simply put lines through clauses that are ridiculous like these?

Don't be scared to do it; the whole piece of paper is negotiable, and it's about time these bloody PM's got their act together, and they won't until we all start doing this sort of thing.

 

[redsquash]

LAaussie
If that is how they run there business then they must be very thorough.

I don't see any problem in posting the name of the company and location, to allow other member to take advantage of this fine service.
Its not as though they are doing anytrhing dishonest ........is it.

 

[BayView]

Um...... no.
They're all honest; just that some are more honest than others.

 

[redsquash]

I have now tended to use the smaller mum and dad property managers as they seem to do a more thorough job as they are working for themselves.
Turnover is really high in this industry so how long someone has served as a pm would be high on my list.
Setting a list of demands before entering into a contract will also indicate how professional they are.
I insisted that only a few days notice be required to terminate a relationship and was told that the service they offer was of a high standard and there would be no problem meeting that requirement.
That approach hasn't always been successful , but at least I can asses the reaction of the potential Pm. I certainly don't want someone hanging around for an extra month or two or three if they cant function professionally

 

[knightm]

Have been stung before - have a range of managers (based on geography) ranging from reasonable to expensive. The thing that really costs you is when they stuff up by picking the wrong tenant, neglecting to tell you when they have trashed the place, and waiting too long to start eviction proceedings. One bad situation cost me about 2k in cashflow, plus my carpet is permanently stained and should be replaced at some stage. (another 2.5k or so)
As much as I dislike the extra fees, if the agent is keeping tenants honest, I will pay them, cheaper than the above alternative

 

[skuzy]

hi

Assuming the PM doesnt charge u with ridiculous fees, what are they meant to be doing for u? (ie why are we paying them commission?). Im abit un happy about my PM as they do bugger all (except the odd call when theres a repair that needs to be done).

 

[Modal Harmony]

All posts are good answers - thanks to all for sharing your experiences (more bad than good unfortunately!).

You've got to be happy with the level of service - they do get commission for this task. To answer your fisrt query newhomebuilder, there should be no excuse for loss of documentation. Any PM worth their salt would have made a copy of this document (was it a lease Contract??) before submitting to Australia Post.

We've found the use of a mature aged person to manage our 5 IP's to be a godsend as she is efficient, organised, can manage difficult situations (firmly yet professionally) and is always available to discuss any siuations.

Does your PM exhibit any of these traits?

 

[Gem16]

Whats the process of getting rid of a old property manager and getting a new one? Does anyone else here change agents often?

Mine has been a bit slack over the time we have had them, for example asking a document to be sent, and then they lose it!!!

Incorrect advertising and

Not finding items that need fixing when doing inspections on a property.

Am I been to picky, and thats standard for an agents, or does it never happen to you?

Should I get a new one??

I don't think you are being too picky. We have recently engaged the services of a new PM for our 2 Brisbane properties as we were not receiving (what we thought) a decent level of service from the old PM. Examples include; unreturned phone calls & lack of communication both within their office & with us; lack of delegated authority, ie the PM could make no decisions unless the Managing Director "approved"....this was a major issue when the MD was on hoildays; having to remind the PM when the inspections were due; a "lost" property file; charging for advertising that did not happen.....the list goes on. Unfortunately this was our first experience in utilising the services of a PM. We have recently changed to a new PM & can't believe the difference in the level of service, it's like night & day. It took us a while to decide to change PMs as we had nothing else to compare it to, & thought that maybe "this is how it is", but bottom line was that we were not getting a service that we were paying for. It's the best decision we made as we are much happier with our current PM!

 

[jaycee]

LA Aussie wrote: One of my PM's is trying to charge me $33 for an annual rental summary - for each property. It's a punch of about 3 keys to produce; maybe 2. Blatant wrought, and I won't pay it, and have told them so with an explanation that all our other PM's don't charge for this (which is true).

My property manager advised me of that optin when I signed with her, I said no don't worry about it (after allI would have the mthly statements and I can add up...) but, lo & nehold at tax time, I foudn I didn;t have all the statements... so I rang her& she just emailed me copy of the 12 mthly statements and an annual statement for nothing..... didn't bat an eyelid....