Seeking Property Manager Kedron , Brisbane
- Thread starter kurnster
- Start date
I use Carolyn Altoft for my property @ Banyo. She is really good. She works for Northside First National @ Nundah. They charge me 8% + GST + 1 weeks rent +GSt for new tennants. And no other charges. It seems about the normal going rate around Brisbane from what I have seen.
I used to have another PM who was slightly cheaper, but totally useless, so I am happy to pay the 8%+GST for someone who is good.
Ben
I used to have another PM who was slightly cheaper, but totally useless, so I am happy to pay the 8%+GST for someone who is good.
Ben
that is a little high - but certainly not out of the ballpark. As you said, pay a bit more for a good PM...unfortunately though the fee does not reflect the quality of service for the most part. There is an agency in town charging towards 10% and they are really quite ordinary.
Hi UC,
How are you mate?
Sorry but have to argue your point there. That's not high, especially for that area. Area's like Albany Ck, Bridgeman Downs etc are predominately new modern brick homes and do not require the maintenance requirements and work as an area like Nundah and Kedron which are mostly Post war, Qldrs and old timber homes.
8% is lower than when I sold the business (it was 8.5%) and also you can get lower but their service, skill and experience will not compare anywhere near Carolyn. The saving of a dollar or 2 per week is poor savings I'd suggest.
You may get cheaper than 8% but that cost to the business has to be made up somewhere and it will effect service, guaranteed, under a traditional real estate Property Management model.
Carolyn or David Leeding at Richardson & Wrench Geebung are the only 2 I could consider recommending.
We have to debate this over another beer or 3 soon UC.
Kev
www.gogecko.com.au
Hi UC,
How are you mate?
Sorry but have to argue your point there. That's not high, especially for that area. Area's like Albany Ck, Bridgeman Downs etc are predominately new modern brick homes and do not require the maintenance requirements and work as an area like Nundah and Kedron which are mostly Post war, Qldrs and old timber homes.
8% is lower than when I sold the business (it was 8.5%) and also you can get lower but their service, skill and experience will not compare anywhere near Carolyn. The saving of a dollar or 2 per week is poor savings I'd suggest.
You may get cheaper than 8% but that cost to the business has to be made up somewhere and it will effect service, guaranteed, under a traditional real estate Property Management model.
Carolyn or David Leeding at Richardson & Wrench Geebung are the only 2 I could consider recommending.
We have to debate this over another beer or 3 soon UC.
Kev
www.gogecko.com.au
G'day Kev!! long time no see mate!! trust you're travelling well?? you know i like a good argument!!
i have to take a bet each way with your response - yes i agree that some of the cheaper agencies around town are pretty ordinary and don't know the first thing about PM, having hired some 18yo straight out of school and thrown them in the deep end...
Saying that - our most expensive rate is 8%+gst, 1 weeks rent for let fee and NO OTHER CHARGES... That said I would rate Rosa, our PM, against any other in town - yes i am biased but i truly believe she is one of the best out there having grown up managing her families extensive portfolio of developments and investments (if i mentioned her maiden name you will know the family). There are several folks on this forum who use her and are VERY happy with her service (yes they have told me so). We also have some significant discounts for owners with multiple properties under management with us.
I will have to introduce her to you sometime to prove the point! hehe
Yes i agree that the creek, Bridgey and the like are mostly inside 15yo and are a lot simpler to manage, but a significant portion of our rent roll is also in older areas like everton park, kedron, stafford, nundah, zillmere and even redcliffe!! Rosa operates from our McDowall office so is only a few minutes from most of those suburbs anyway - especially now Hamo rd has gone through.
sing out when you want that beer mate - love to catch up - been a lot happening in this part of town that i am sure you will be interested to hear.
cheers
UC
!!some intersting coments.
fees in Brisbane are ranging from one Brisbane northside agency offering 4% plus gst and 3 months free of management fees(i can not even understand how they can provide a good quality service & make a profit) to 12% plus gst.
My recomendation is go with a specialist property management company where the directors of the company work in the business and are not out there focused on generating sales like a traditional real estate agency.
When making a decision to choose a property management company to go with it is a hard decision. Especially if you have not had any personal experience with that company or know someone working there or have been given a personal recommendation.
This forum is a great place to get advise from experienced property investors.
Interview a number of agents and if you can not find a company that you feel comfortable with keep interviewing until you do find some.
Ask for a written guarantee of service and if a company is not willing to offer one keep looking.
One other comment made reference to a property manager within there organisation (i have heard great reports about her in the marketplace). The only thing you have to be careful of is a company where there is only one person dealing with the property management side of the business. They do have to have holidays and unfortunately they do have sick leave.(2 things as an employer you hope that your employees do not have to take
Good luck with your search and I have known kevin for a number of years as a competing agent and you can trust his advise.( may see you at Browns Plains tommorrow kevin.)
fees in Brisbane are ranging from one Brisbane northside agency offering 4% plus gst and 3 months free of management fees(i can not even understand how they can provide a good quality service & make a profit) to 12% plus gst.
My recomendation is go with a specialist property management company where the directors of the company work in the business and are not out there focused on generating sales like a traditional real estate agency.
When making a decision to choose a property management company to go with it is a hard decision. Especially if you have not had any personal experience with that company or know someone working there or have been given a personal recommendation.
This forum is a great place to get advise from experienced property investors.
Interview a number of agents and if you can not find a company that you feel comfortable with keep interviewing until you do find some.
Ask for a written guarantee of service and if a company is not willing to offer one keep looking.
One other comment made reference to a property manager within there organisation (i have heard great reports about her in the marketplace). The only thing you have to be careful of is a company where there is only one person dealing with the property management side of the business. They do have to have holidays and unfortunately they do have sick leave.(2 things as an employer you hope that your employees do not have to take
Good luck with your search and I have known kevin for a number of years as a competing agent and you can trust his advise.( may see you at Browns Plains tommorrow kevin.)
HI Jason,
not a bad post, but i need to respond to a couple of points.
the first thing to point out for those following this thread is that yourself, Kevin and I all now come from different perspectives (though originally all of us from franchises- you and i the same one) and will obviously will push barrows.
I agree that many agencies use rent rolls as a cash cow to cover office overheads and generate sales but it's a generalisation that does not apply to everyone. Our company for example never had much of a rent roll until our PM came on board...we didn't bother doing PM - it was only because many of our sales clients asked us to take on their investments and when she joined we decided to make a go of it as a separate business - and a successful business it has been.
My point is probably that just because a company only does PM and not sales does not automatically qualify them as being better than any other agency (though yes there is that inference). There is one northside PM companies that has a terrible track record. Saying that i also know of companies like say that of Xenia's have an awesome following and she is highly respected on this forum and other sites.
I know of (i think) the 4% and 12% agencies to which you refer (i heard that the 3 months is now 6) and would state that based on what i have seen from them - i would be steering clear of both - hence my comment about price not always an indicator of quality. If we are talking about the same 4%'er, one of the reasons they do it is to attract the developers in the area to list exclusively with them on completed product - it works!!
with regards to my comment about hearing a name in the marketplace...She is not the only PM, but she is the PM face of the company, there is support and backups there for hols and sickies. But your point is noted and i completely agree with it. I also agree with and commend you on the recommendation to obtain a written guarantee of service etc.
Perhaps you could join Kev and I for that beer and gosssip session?? you'd be most welcome!!
not a bad post, but i need to respond to a couple of points.
the first thing to point out for those following this thread is that yourself, Kevin and I all now come from different perspectives (though originally all of us from franchises- you and i the same one) and will obviously will push barrows.
I agree that many agencies use rent rolls as a cash cow to cover office overheads and generate sales but it's a generalisation that does not apply to everyone. Our company for example never had much of a rent roll until our PM came on board...we didn't bother doing PM - it was only because many of our sales clients asked us to take on their investments and when she joined we decided to make a go of it as a separate business - and a successful business it has been.
My point is probably that just because a company only does PM and not sales does not automatically qualify them as being better than any other agency (though yes there is that inference). There is one northside PM companies that has a terrible track record. Saying that i also know of companies like say that of Xenia's have an awesome following and she is highly respected on this forum and other sites.
I know of (i think) the 4% and 12% agencies to which you refer (i heard that the 3 months is now 6) and would state that based on what i have seen from them - i would be steering clear of both - hence my comment about price not always an indicator of quality. If we are talking about the same 4%'er, one of the reasons they do it is to attract the developers in the area to list exclusively with them on completed product - it works!!
with regards to my comment about hearing a name in the marketplace...She is not the only PM, but she is the PM face of the company, there is support and backups there for hols and sickies. But your point is noted and i completely agree with it. I also agree with and commend you on the recommendation to obtain a written guarantee of service etc.
Perhaps you could join Kev and I for that beer and gosssip session?? you'd be most welcome!!
G'day UC,
lov to catch up for a beer. but maybe it will need to be a rum after just watching the second bledisloe.
talk soon.
lov to catch up for a beer. but maybe it will need to be a rum after just watching the second bledisloe
.talk soon.
IF a PM is professional, and is going to do a good job, then the ability to terminate an agreement should be immediate from the landlords viewpoint , if the landlord so desires.
Why be stuck with A PM who may be incompetent longer than necessary?
The normal period is 1 month in Brisbane I believe but some state 2 months or longer.
If the PM is Professional then termination should be such that the landlord has sufficinet time to get a new PM
Any comments or observations?
Why be stuck with A PM who may be incompetent longer than necessary?
The normal period is 1 month in Brisbane I believe but some state 2 months or longer.
If the PM is Professional then termination should be such that the landlord has sufficinet time to get a new PM
Any comments or observations?
G'Day Redsquash,
i do know about other states, but here in queensland the Property Agents & Motor Dealers Act states that either party can terminate there agreement by giving notice. this period can be no greater than 90 days and no less than 30 days unless each party agrees. this is in the ageement between agent and owner.
Totally agree if the service is not being provided and the agency can not rectify the issues, then in my opinion you should assist the owner in moving elsewhere. I can not understand why some agencies insist on holding onto a client for 90 days when clearly the client is not happy with the service being provided. How much word of mouth damage will be caused to the agency in this period of time.
We had one client that we manage 5 units in a block of 10. Another agent was managing the other 5. When the owner decided to give us the whole block we sent the appropriate notice (90 days) to the agent. We rang the next day to confirm with the agent that they had received the notice and they acknowledged recieving the notice. The week before the 90 days was up we rang the agency to confirm a time to come in and pick up all the documentation and keys. The same agent then denied the phone call and said that she had never got the required notice.(strange when she had called the owner the day she got the termination to ask why the wonder was leaving.) The agent then told us we would have to wait another 90days. By this time our owner was totally over the agent. The owner wanted us to get solictors involved as well as getting the Office of Fair Trading in. After 1 phone call to the director of the agency he said that the client was a liar and very difficult to deal with and as far as he was concerned the owner could take legal action(strange thing is that in the 12 months that we have had this client we have had no problems what so ever, in fact he has referred us to other clients) any way by the end of the telephone conversation the director agreed for us to come in the next day and get all the files. I just can not understand why this agency even carries on this way. I hope that they continue because in the last 12 months we have had over 1 dozen clients come over to us from this agency.
It works both ways. We have had to terminate owners in the past. Some of these owners do not want to spend money of the upkeep of there investment properties creating potential litigation issues for noth the agency and the owner. Other owners that we have terminiated have just been down right rude to our staff. I don't care who you are we are people after all and no one deserves to be sworn at.
i do know about other states, but here in queensland the Property Agents & Motor Dealers Act states that either party can terminate there agreement by giving notice. this period can be no greater than 90 days and no less than 30 days unless each party agrees. this is in the ageement between agent and owner.
Totally agree if the service is not being provided and the agency can not rectify the issues, then in my opinion you should assist the owner in moving elsewhere. I can not understand why some agencies insist on holding onto a client for 90 days when clearly the client is not happy with the service being provided. How much word of mouth damage will be caused to the agency in this period of time.
We had one client that we manage 5 units in a block of 10. Another agent was managing the other 5. When the owner decided to give us the whole block we sent the appropriate notice (90 days) to the agent. We rang the next day to confirm with the agent that they had received the notice and they acknowledged recieving the notice. The week before the 90 days was up we rang the agency to confirm a time to come in and pick up all the documentation and keys. The same agent then denied the phone call and said that she had never got the required notice.(strange when she had called the owner the day she got the termination to ask why the wonder was leaving.) The agent then told us we would have to wait another 90days. By this time our owner was totally over the agent. The owner wanted us to get solictors involved as well as getting the Office of Fair Trading in. After 1 phone call to the director of the agency he said that the client was a liar and very difficult to deal with and as far as he was concerned the owner could take legal action(strange thing is that in the 12 months that we have had this client we have had no problems what so ever, in fact he has referred us to other clients) any way by the end of the telephone conversation the director agreed for us to come in the next day and get all the files. I just can not understand why this agency even carries on this way. I hope that they continue because in the last 12 months we have had over 1 dozen clients come over to us from this agency.
It works both ways. We have had to terminate owners in the past. Some of these owners do not want to spend money of the upkeep of there investment properties creating potential litigation issues for noth the agency and the owner. Other owners that we have terminiated have just been down right rude to our staff. I don't care who you are we are people after all and no one deserves to be sworn at.