self managing

Hi all,

I just purchased my first investment property, a unit in Magill SA

& I was going to have a go at self managing the property.

To others that self manage:

1. what applications forms do you give to prospective tenants to fill out?

&

2. how do you collect rent? by direct debit (if so how)

thank you.

Hi Roxy,

I self manage and the main problem I have had is advertising the property for rent as realestate.com don't allow private landlords to advertise and the news paper gets a shocking response and those that do respond are those specifically looking for private landlords as they have a bad record and know that they will not be able to rent through an agent. But the good news is there is now a company called landlordschoice.com.au who will advertise on re.com and domain for $199 and also conduct tenant checks for you.

The other thing is to learn the laws in regards to what you can and can't do as a landlord and your obligations, WEA in Adelaide run a 4 hour workshop on property management which is well worth it and I think the OCBA also do free courses. Read all the forms and fact sheets on the OCBA website and don't be afraid to call their help line.

Also don't get caught up doing the repairs/ maintenance yourself, I do the little stuff but if anything is going to take over 4 hours then I call someone in as I invest to make my life better not be stuck doing repairs every weekend.

Here is a copy of the application sheet that I have made up. Please feel free to use it. I don't know how good the legal jargon on the last page is but it sounds good.

Over all I'm with Rob, managing my properties isn't much trouble and I actually enjoy it.

Edit- Sorry Spos didn't notice you had already reffered landlords choice. just goes to show how good they are.
 

Attachments

  • Application 1.pdf
    83.6 KB · Views: 175
Sounds like something specific to your area. Across quite a number of PMs in Sydney and the Gold Coast I pay between 5% and 6% plus GST, a week’s rent to find a new tenant and then some minor incidentals. Most of these I’ve had for many years and they’ve been excellent bar one exception which was swiftly ousted when they dropped the ball. At the end of the day, I’m paying somewhere around $600 or $700 net PM fees annually on an average apartment which in my view, is money very well spent. Work that out at an hourly rate (remember this includes finding new tenants) and it’s a pittance. I’d much rather use the time to get on with the next deal rather than deal with activities which can be cheaply outsourced to professionals.



Saying "horror story" and "professionally managed" together is the contradiction. Professional managers shouldn't let a situation deteriorate to that point and if they do, I suggest they’re not professional.
I think you're just splitting hairs now Troy.
 
I would have to argue that there are plenty of horror stories on this forum about properties that are "professionally" managed. I would HATE to be paying a PM and have some of the poor service and issues that I have read about on here.

Maybe we are reading different stories.

I second this.

If Roxy does her homework on how to self manage, the chances are she'll do the job right, and have very few problems.

Roxy,

As a backup join the Landlords Association in Adelaide - around $70 to join, then $35 dollars a year approx. They are really helpful, and can pretty well answer any Q's you have.

What I found helps,

Get an application form and get as much info on the applicant inc. rent reciepts, employer name (ring the employer via the ph. book, not the no. they give you), previous landlord etc. current address (do a drive by to get a feel)

Advertise in the advertiser over 4 days, Wed to Sat, as well as the local paper. You'll be flooded with calls. Just Sat. and you'll only get a few.

Follow the correct process - don't fall for any suggestions to deviate from this, and be firm and confident ie. collect bond and 2 weeks rent at signing of lease (ie. not after or in dribs and drabs)

Listen for any alarm bells (they're real ;))

Get all this right and there is very little work to put in.
 
Congrats on your purchase.
Most on this forum would strongly advise using a property manager, but if you're really keen to self manage, then why not give it a go.
I manage 8 properties and find that it impacts on my time very little.
You will need an application form for prospective tenants.
Once you select your tenant, you will need a lease agreement and bond form. Both of which are available from the OCBA site
http://www.ocba.sa.gov.au/tenancies/res/forms.html
Here, you will also find other valuable information and details of tenant/landlord obligations.
Rent should always be paid by direct debit. I have all my rents paid on the same day of the fortnight so I only have to check if payments have come through twice a month.
Hope that helps.

do you know were i can get the same information for Victoria?
 
Self managing is not so hard, you might get a few phone calls a year but I think it's worth the $700-800 you will save.

We usually get the PM to find us the tenants, pay the 2 weeks letting fee and manage it ourselves after that.

I think every dollar counts, putting the money back into the property is much better than wasting it on annual PM fees.
 
Here is a copy of the application sheet that I have made up. Please feel free to use it. I don't know how good the legal jargon on the last page is but it sounds good.

Nearly choked on my darjeeling reading this part on your form:

This application is accepted subject to the availability of the property on the due date and no action shall be taken by the applicant(s) against the landlord(s) should any circumstances arise whereby the property is not available for occupation on the due date


So here are some tenants arrived with a moving truck and suddenly the property is not ready on the day you said it is - and they have no recourse??

As a tenant I'd cross that out prestissimo.
 
I've had my tenants in over 4 months now and really need to do an inspection this week. Guess I'll find out if they've managed to trash the place or not - they sell drugs, dunno if they are growing there or not. There's really not much you can do to that house besides ruining the carpet, taking an axe to the walls (solid plaster over stone) and gutting the kitchen, but doing those things would make it hard to actually live in there - and that's what insurance is for. They didn't do anything to their last house.

Wish someone would buy the house already, I'd rather a lump sum on sale than a trickle of rent.
 
Find the right tennant

Self managing a property is easy, however finding the right tenant is the key. I had a property on the market for 3 months and was willing to accept any tenant. The one the agent eventually chose for me could not afford the property and ended up owing me thousands.

The property was managed by an agent at the time, however they were poor with following up the late rent and I had to remind them a lot of the time.
 
My tenants owed their previous landlord thousands too - built up by late paying over several years. The agents let it happen. And their rent was a reasonable amount for their income too, they just spent their money on 'other' things first.

I aquired them because they were being evicted ... not a good start, eh?
 
my sister in law had a unit in Adelaide that was managed by a PM, the tenants (a middle aged couple) were occasionally late paying the rent, then their adult son got divorced and moved in with the parents bringing his kids with him, so there were 3 adults & 2 kids living in this teeny 2 bedroom unit & the rent was sporadic, sister-in-law decided to sell unit - tenants stopped paying rent altogether - they said they couldn't afford to pay rent as they had to save up a bond for the next place (& they wouldn't be getting a bond back from my sister in law because they were so far behind in the rent) i thought they should be evicted, PM kept saying don't serve them with notices, don't take them to the Tribunal because then they wont let anyone through for open inspections & they'll get angry & trash the place - anyway the PM ended up shifting these "tenants from hell" to another property on his books at Smithfield - I pity the poor landlord who ended up with them..... & I guess this is one of the reasons why I figure I can do a better job myself than some PMs
 
my sister in law had a unit in Adelaide that was managed by a PM, the tenants (a middle aged couple) were occasionally late paying the rent, then their adult son got divorced and moved in with the parents bringing his kids with him, so there were 3 adults & 2 kids living in this teeny 2 bedroom unit & the rent was sporadic, sister-in-law decided to sell unit - tenants stopped paying rent altogether - they said they couldn't afford to pay rent as they had to save up a bond for the next place (& they wouldn't be getting a bond back from my sister in law because they were so far behind in the rent) i thought they should be evicted, PM kept saying don't serve them with notices, don't take them to the Tribunal because then they wont let anyone through for open inspections & they'll get angry & trash the place - anyway the PM ended up shifting these "tenants from hell" to another property on his books at Smithfield - I pity the poor landlord who ended up with them..... & I guess this is one of the reasons why I figure I can do a better job myself than some PMs
This is why we need tougher laws on tenants who damage properties. I don't understand why this is not considered to be a sever form of criminal damage.
 
my sister in law had a unit in Adelaide that was managed by a PM, the tenants (a middle aged couple) were occasionally late paying the rent, then their adult son got divorced and moved in with the parents bringing his kids with him, so there were 3 adults & 2 kids living in this teeny 2 bedroom unit & the rent was sporadic, sister-in-law decided to sell unit - tenants stopped paying rent altogether - they said they couldn't afford to pay rent as they had to save up a bond for the next place (& they wouldn't be getting a bond back from my sister in law because they were so far behind in the rent) i thought they should be evicted, PM kept saying don't serve them with notices, don't take them to the Tribunal because then they wont let anyone through for open inspections & they'll get angry & trash the place - anyway the PM ended up shifting these "tenants from hell" to another property on his books at Smithfield - I pity the poor landlord who ended up with them..... & I guess this is one of the reasons why I figure I can do a better job myself than some PMs

Unfortunately inexperienced and incompetent PM's do exist, although that one does sound particularly bad.

You're at least on the right track in educating yourself regardless of whether you self manage or go with a PM.

Where is your IP? Someone here may recommend one, then if self managing doesn't work out, or you decide it's not for you, you can pass the job on to them.

With only one IP, I'd give self managing a try. A PM will not worry about your property and rental income stream (or lack of) quite like you will.
 
we were unsure of whether to self-manage or go with a PM for a property purchased mid last year so we decided to go with a PM for 12 months and try and learn more over this period to make a better decision.

since then our PM has been fantastic with issues that have come up (nothing wrong with the tenants she found, in fact they are also good, just normal wear, oven broke, tree fell down, etc) and we will be staying with a managed property, the amount of work she has put in has been far greater than what we could do with us both working. After tax, i think its 4% well spent.

this is in the lower blue mountains, anyone wanting the agents name, feel free to message me.
 
What is 4% of the annual rent ?

Dont tell me that is all a property manager is charging you ?

ACTUALLY, what am I tlaking about, DO TELL ME PLEASE !
 
Back
Top