Shocking vs Competent Property Managers

[MsAli]

Hi all,

I've been curious about this for sometime and hence putting this out there.

Often people say you need a PM whose on your side and choosing the right tenants for you and keeping up with maintenance requests etc.

I'm keen to know what you describe as:
1. A great PM
2. A shocking PM

Further, does it matter the type of tenant is chosen if you have an IP in a more affluent area? Or IS it possible to go wrong and have a PM be negligent in a well off area and not do the service you are paying for?

Can their be good and bad PM's in all areas?

How do you choose your PM?

Thanks,

Sana.

 

[BeYourOwnAgent]

I think it's very important to know whether your Property Manager is an investor themselves.

There are too many PM's who don't know what it's like to be a landlord, and I think this doens't give them the perspective into what is important.

Check the amount of properties they are managing - most PM's sit on around 150 properties. Add on to that new business and other non related PM tasks, and they start to get very, very pressed for time.

On average, a PM can allocate a maximum of 1 hour per month for each individual property.

Check what systems they use, and how they handle their workload and what processes they incorporate within their business.

Ask for referrals - try and get a couple of names and numbers so you can call current clients and see how they are performing.

A good idea is to also contact the PM as a tenant - see how they respond to your enquiry regarding one of the properties they are currently managing.

Obviously a PM will put their best foot forward when trying to secure your business, but see how they interact with prospective tenants, it will give you a good view on how they operate.

 

[HD_ACE]

It helps if they have an assistant to take care of all the little and time consuming tasks then the pm has more time to focus on the management of your property. Also if the pm is away then you have someone else in the office that knows whats going on.

I think a 100 properties per pm is a good ratio to give good service to each. This is without an assistant. The more they they have the less efficient they will be.

Another key attribute I have found is experience and therefore knowing what to do in every situation and all the legislation.

Cheers

 

[MsAli]

Thanks guys.

Have you found any differences between property managers between a well off area versus a property manager in a low socio economic area?

Do more affluent areas make being a PM an easy job?

 

[BeYourOwnAgent]

Thanks guys.

Have you find any differences between property managers between a well off area versus a property manager in a low socio economic area?

Do more affluent areas make being a PM an easy job?

I definitely think problem tenants cause majority of workload for a PM.

Hate to say it, but the cheapest properties generally pose the most issues.

It's not a hard and fast rule, but I do think it makes a difference.

 

[MsAli]

Thanks Erik...

So how important is it to get a good PM in for example Killara?

 

[Kevin Hockey]

Excellent question. I work with PM's and Property Management every day and here are the attributes I see of a great Property Management business.
1. Systems. They know exactly what they have to do and when to do it. Check this by asking questions like "what do you do when a property goes in arrears" "what is your process when a property becomes available for rent" "how do you monitor lease renewals" "are all your inspections up to date"
Ask do you have these processes in writing to follow.
2. Organised. Good PM's are organised and love to work to structure. If their presentation when you sign up is ad hoc then so will there business be.
3. Excellent communicators. Unless they are great at getting their message across they will struggle. Clear, direct, knowledgable and friendly.
4. Mature. They don't have to be mature in age but mature in personality is vital.
5. Training and support. The best businesses with the best people regularly attend training and have the support of their Principals. Unfortunately in the vast majority of offices the Principal is sales focused and PM's don't attend any training or if they do its wasted because when they get back to the office the Principal has no idea what they learnt and doesn't implement any changes to improve the business because they didn't attend themselves.

The best thing you can do is learn the vital questions you need to ask. Instead most Landlords are focused on how cheap they can get the fees. The best agents don't come cheap, they are great at what they do and charge fair market value. Anything under 7% and its costing the business to manage your property and that's when they start cutting corners to generate profit.

Cheers Kev
www.reas.com.au

 

[wylie]

I'd like to make a comment about a sales agents I dealt with recently. For a few months my brother was called probably every second week about a house in his area... did we want to sell, did we want an appraisal etc.

I took over and actually called the agent to get an appraisal. He came and looked and... nothing... haven't heard a peep.

I'm gobsmacked. I thought things were tough and agents would sell their souls for a listing.

I've emailed him tonight saying I'd really like my appraisal. He knows we won't be selling right now, but may do so in six or twelve months. I just don't understand why I'm chasing him up? Does he think I'd list with him after this (lack of) service?

 

[westminster]

I think my PM is pretty good - well it's not one - kind of a team and they work well together.

Some of the best things they do for me:
- do insurance claims for me
- give advice to the tenants, i.e. on one of the inspections they found a mark on the garage door and they told the tenant to use eucalyptus oil to get it off and voila it worked. They are mature ladies and have a wealth of knowledge my young tenants just don't have.
- keep the tenants on a short leash. One of my tenants weren't quite up to their standards of cleanliness at the last inspection so they got a list of things to improve on and charged for a reinspection. I'm sure they won't do that again

 

[MsAli]

Thanks Kevin. That's great tips.....I tend to rely on word of mouth most times. But it does make it challenging at times when you get no responses for certain areas.

 

[esh]

We do Property management in the Inner West Sydney area and the people I meet are mostly happy with their Pm's. But the funny thing is, I have so many friends who have Ip's in the Glendenning, Mount Druitt and Plumpton areas and they all HATE their pm's. Its crazy. I don't know why but I am finding most people in Sydney's West have more trouble with Pm's?

 

[OmegaMan]

What I want from a PM

In short, a good PM is one that protects the value of my investment.

I don't want my property to go to rack and ruin, and I don't want it damaged.
That means the PM should 1) find a good tenant, and 2) keep the tenant (and me) happy by attending to maintenance issues.

A bad PM is one that fails at either of the above, or who rips me off.