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From: David Robinson
Hi Paul,
To manage the properties from Sydney for the 2.5 years I was there, I did the following:
1. Gave all tenants the name of an emergency contact in Perth and my home number in Sydney.
2. To find tenants (twice), I engaged the services of a property manager and paid them 1 week's rent as a letting fee and all advertising.
3. My father in law had a spare set of keys.
4. Repairs (once) were organised by a tradesman that I had organised to do some reno work prior to my departure. Quality properties (size not important) are soooo easy to let and then manage as they don't need repairs very often. Once I had ascertained that repairs were necessary, I called the tradesman to make him aware of the issue and give him:
a: Tenant's name
b: Tenant's address
c: Tenant's home and work phone numbers
d: My address so he can send the bill
The tradesman is then requested to call the tenant as soon as possible to let them know that they have been contacted in relation to their query (regardless of whether or not they can schedule a time for the repair). From the tradesman I get his/her bank account details for direct funds transfer (I don't operate a cheque account and hate going into branches) to pay the bill when it arrives. The next day, I call the tenant to make sure the tradesman has contacted them.
5. Never arrange a lease without a direct debit form for rent payment and be upfront about this one - it is not negotiable. If the rent is late by more than 12 hours, get on the phone to let the tenant know that there is a problem - quick confident communication heads off a lot of problems, eg..Bob, it looks as though your bank (easy 3rd party target to not make it look like you are accusing them of not paying rent) has stuffed things up with the rent payment, so I have emailed you a copy of my bank details and if you could make a manual deposit by tomorrow that would be great!
I am by no means one of the gurus here and I am a long way from making the first million but by applying some basic customer service skills and knowledge garnered from many books and this site, managing my own properties has proved to be less than onerous and resulted in good savings.
Later this year I would like to attend the introductory course in Property Management offered by REIWA and would like feedback from anyone that has completed this type of course.
Dave
Hi Paul,
To manage the properties from Sydney for the 2.5 years I was there, I did the following:
1. Gave all tenants the name of an emergency contact in Perth and my home number in Sydney.
2. To find tenants (twice), I engaged the services of a property manager and paid them 1 week's rent as a letting fee and all advertising.
3. My father in law had a spare set of keys.
4. Repairs (once) were organised by a tradesman that I had organised to do some reno work prior to my departure. Quality properties (size not important) are soooo easy to let and then manage as they don't need repairs very often. Once I had ascertained that repairs were necessary, I called the tradesman to make him aware of the issue and give him:
a: Tenant's name
b: Tenant's address
c: Tenant's home and work phone numbers
d: My address so he can send the bill
The tradesman is then requested to call the tenant as soon as possible to let them know that they have been contacted in relation to their query (regardless of whether or not they can schedule a time for the repair). From the tradesman I get his/her bank account details for direct funds transfer (I don't operate a cheque account and hate going into branches) to pay the bill when it arrives. The next day, I call the tenant to make sure the tradesman has contacted them.
5. Never arrange a lease without a direct debit form for rent payment and be upfront about this one - it is not negotiable. If the rent is late by more than 12 hours, get on the phone to let the tenant know that there is a problem - quick confident communication heads off a lot of problems, eg..Bob, it looks as though your bank (easy 3rd party target to not make it look like you are accusing them of not paying rent) has stuffed things up with the rent payment, so I have emailed you a copy of my bank details and if you could make a manual deposit by tomorrow that would be great!
I am by no means one of the gurus here and I am a long way from making the first million but by applying some basic customer service skills and knowledge garnered from many books and this site, managing my own properties has proved to be less than onerous and resulted in good savings.
Later this year I would like to attend the introductory course in Property Management offered by REIWA and would like feedback from anyone that has completed this type of course.
Dave
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