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.