Why do I have a PM??? Just a vent

[beachgurl]

I received a rental statement yesterday for a regional property and saw that the tenant was nearly a month behind. I called the agent and she responded with "oh yes, the tenant is always behind. She's having a hard time of it lately and she pays when she can". I asked her what she was doing about it and she told me that that rental vacancies are high at the moment so if I was serious about terminating the lease that I would struggle to find a new tenant. My response? "So you are advising that I let my tenant live rent free than look for another one"? Stony silence down the line.

Sheeeshh.

 

[Scott No Mates]

The joys of being a country pm. There's a balancing act between keeping a place tenanted vs vacant/vandalised, keeping a good name for the agency in the town, not p!55!ng off tenants (if they find it too hard to lease through the agency they move on) & keeping the owner happy. Obviously the pm doesn't know where the balance lirs.

 

[Lil Skater]

Geeeez!

You got a good one there

Never ceases to amaze me how useless some people are..

Will you be issuing NTV? Anything will rent for the right price, so do a small update or drop the rent slightly and it *should* get a tenant in there. Maybe get a better PM that's committed to getting a tenant, because it sounds like the current agency doesn't deserve the leasing fee!!

 

[TMNT]

this is going to stir a lot of feathers, but I find a lot of the bad PMs are women, they simply dont know any form of dispute resoluation, when things turn to hell, they blame others and get all defensive, often splurting out ridiculous excuses,

eg once I had a property that the agent tell me I could rent this out as a 4 bdr, and a few weeks later when the ad went up as a 3 bdr, I had a big go at her, and then her mother came into the conversation and said "I assure you, I remember that my daughter did not say it was a 4bdr"

to which my response was "ummmm, unless you were there at my house with my tradesperson who also remembers her saying it can be marketed as a 4bdr, dont give me that garbage"

/vent over

 

[MTR]

But this industry/area is dominated by females..... that's it to the gallows/ off with your head.... Seriously though, I have never met or used a male resi property manager, only male pms I have met are in commercial property, perhaps its a Perth thing I don't really know

 

[TMNT]

But this industry/area is dominated by females..... that's it to the gallows/ off with your head.... Seriously though, I have never met or used a male resi property manager, only male pms I have met are in commercial property, perhaps its a Perth thing I don't really know

fair point, however, out of my portfolio, about 25% are male, and 70% female, and the remaining 5% indistinguishable

had one property in a hard to rent area, given to 2 female agents at different agenices, ended up not getting rented for 3 months, no enquires, not a bite, every time it was excuses, excuses, excuses, and even my fault for the sun rising in the morning

I gave it to another male agent, and in the first week had 5 groups through and 2 applications, I was wrapped, but that could have just been pot luck!

 

[beachgurl]

I think there is some merit re men vs women PMs. There are some female PMs who are great at negotiating and taking action but a lot struggle with the tough stuff. That said, I think the females generally have much better relationships with tenants and can more easily knock on the door/get on the phone to have a chat for a gee-up to pay small arrears.

this place is one of the lower demographic areas of Orange. A lot of agents have stopped adding to their books in this area so options are not great for moving to a new agency. Not to mention a lot of the PMs are scared to p$ss off tenants in this demographic.

I haven't instructed to issue a NTV. Still not sure what to do next to be honest, given the lack of confidence or solid recommendation from the agent.

I guess this post can be added to the cash flow positive in bad areas thread

 

[chilliblue]

Speak to Peter Mitchell as we use him and he has been brilliant.

The vacancies are 8% in some parts of Orange but that is no excuse as not to allow you to make the decision as to whether should be followed up.

 

[neK]

this is going to stir a lot of feathers, but I find a lot of the bad PMs are women, they simply dont know any form of dispute resoluation, when things turn to hell, they blame others and get all defensive, often splurting out ridiculous excuses,

/vent over

I've male property managers do the same.
Seriously some PM's are just retards and don't care, they use the PM role as an entry point to sales.

 

[MichaelGilbert]

Interesting read guys.

I"m a male PM but was trained by a female PM (with 20 years exp). She was great, very very thorough (all the owners loved her) but she could not have the hard conversations.

In all honesty if you have not atleast been called to say that your tenants are behind in rent and you are the one that needs to do the calling you need to get a new PM.

In my time I realised there were a many terrible PM's (and some awesome ones). A lot of young girls who have not been trained properly! That's why I started Rent My Estate to give owners the tools to do it themselves (We're still building the full system to handle the whole process from start to finish).

 

[perthguy]

this is going to stir a lot of feathers, but I find a lot of the bad PMs are women, they simply dont know any form of dispute resoluation, when things turn to hell, they blame others and get all defensive, often splurting out ridiculous excuses...

My parents useless property manager was male... let the tenant get behind on the rent, did not do regular rent reviews, claimed there were serious structural problems with the property when there wasn't etc. My Dad demanded a new PM and got a woman. She is brilliant and is worth the money they are paying her. Unlike the previous one. But yeah, in an industry dominated by women it would be easy to get the perception that a lot of the bad PMs are women.

 

[TMNT]

Interesting read guys.

I"m a male PM but was trained by a female PM (with 20 years exp). She was great, very very thorough (all the owners loved her) but she could not have the hard conversations.

In all honesty if you have not atleast been called to say that your tenants are behind in rent and you are the one that needs to do the calling you need to get a new PM.

In my time I realised there were a many terrible PM's (and some awesome ones). A lot of young girls who have not been trained properly! That's why I started Rent My Estate to give owners the tools to do it themselves (We're still building the full system to handle the whole process from start to finish).

Property management isn't rocket science
That being said I think it takes a person with certain qualities to be able to do it
A system/person is only as good as they handle it when **** hits the fan, a perfect tenant is easy, show the house, check application, check references, put them in and you never have to deal them for years

Get a bad one and you have to confront, warn, send nasty letters, follow protocol, tell them no etc etc

I just don't think ladies are as a whole very competent in this area, whether it's physical ie lack of testosterone, or society ie let the man do the hard jobs, I am not sure

That being said, the ladies do naturally neutralise the tension in aggressive situations more. Ie it's harder to get upset at a woman and it's more unlikely that a fight with a man vs woman in is likely to escalate into violence compared to a man vs man

 

[MichaelGilbert]

Yep I agree I don't think PM is Rocket Science at all.

You just need the right systems and the attitude to GET THE JOB DONE.

 

[skater]

I just don't think ladies are as a whole very competent in this area, whether it's physical ie lack of testosterone, or society ie let the man do the hard jobs, I am not sure

I disagree! The worst PM's I've had have been male.

At present all my PM's are women. I've got two Sydney PM's & they handle almost half of my portfolio. One is better than the other, but they are both fantastic. In fact, maybe I'm not being completely fair to the second one of the two, as she's the one that has to handle more of the problems, and she just thrives on it.

I can't comment on one Regional PM, as there's never been an issue in the 10 odd years I've owned in the area. Another Regional PM is, well, pretty useless, but is the best of a bad bunch in the area & we don't really have too many issues.

I think that it's not so much the gender of the PM, more the experience and the dedication to their job. All the bad ones I've met have been young, with no experience, or older & just didn't care or too overworked to give a damn.

 

[MelbGal]

I think that it's not so much the gender of the PM, more the experience and the dedication to their job. All the bad ones I've met have been young, with no experience, or older & just didn't care or too overworked to give a damn.

^^^^ I agree

 

[forbse]

This should never happen, a property manager should have the systems and processes in place to ensure these sorts of issues are picked up immediately.

 

[Salvatore1]

I have found that property managers who have a system or routine on how to handle tenants in arrears - from the tenant that is a few days late to 10 days late or eviction time at 15 days - have lower arrears problems. The other main tool they have is, they communicate with the owners so that the owners are kept in the loop. Ensure systems are in place and keep to them.

 

[datto]

My. two bob

If there a lot of women in property management then I want to get into property management lol. But then on second thoughts...

And its not just country PMs that are woeful, plenty of bad apples in the big smoke also.