Your dream Property Management team

[ErikTyler]

Good evening everyone!

The real estate industry, in general, has a fairly bad reputation.

As the Principal of a boutique agency in Canberra (we specialise in Property Management), I aim to give the best possible experience to our landlords AND tenants.

As you are all investors yourselves, I would be very, very interested to hear what your dream team would comprise of?

What's most important to you? What would make you truly happy within your management team?

 

[matto_]

Pro activity. When coming with suggestion of rent increase, justifying the increase including understanding of what the local market is doing, comparable rents etc.

 

[Scott No Mates]

Why is it that the best pms are those who are recommending rent increases (ie returns) rather than those who recommend tenant retention strategies? Other than generating fees when the tenant ups & leaves at short notice.

The likes of commercial property owners realise that churn & burn strategies result in lower returns for investors due to vacancies (& incentives for commercial assets). In order to retain tenants it is vital to continually maintain the premises ie you claim for depreciating assets but do you replace them when they near their life expectancy or wait until they fail?

Acknowledging that the tenant pays rent by carrying out maintenance rather than being reactive goes a long way toward 'customer satisfaction' & tenants are the owner's customer. Now how many times have you been told by your employer to look after your customers (internal or external)?

There may be low vacancy rates however tenants move because they may have out grown, changed circumstances or aren't satisfied that the place they're living in is going backwards compared to when they moved in & the rents that they're paying.

 

[redwing]

Good evening everyone!

The real estate industry, in general, has a fairly bad reputation.

As the Principal of a boutique agency in Canberra (we specialise in Property Management), I aim to give the best possible experience to our landlords AND tenants.

As you are all investors yourselves, I would be very, very interested to hear what your dream team would comprise of?

What's most important to you? What would make you truly happy within your management team?

Somone who throws the "we must all have a pleasant experience" kumbuya perspective out the window, if they have to go in to bat for me with the adminstrative tribunal, should they do a poor job of tenant selection for me

By Dream Team, do you mean helpers such as;

Accountant
Mortgage Broker
Bank Manager
Solicitor
Quantity Surveyor
Property Manager

 

[Belbo]

Why is it that the best pms are those who are recommending rent increases (ie returns) rather than those who recommend tenant retention strategies? Other than generating fees when the tenant ups & leaves at short notice.

The likes of commercial property owners realise that churn & burn strategies result in lower returns for investors due to vacancies (& incentives for commercial assets). In order to retain tenants it is vital to continually maintain the premises ie you claim for depreciating assets but do you replace them when they near their life expectancy or wait until they fail?

Acknowledging that the tenant pays rent by carrying out maintenance rather than being reactive goes a long way toward 'customer satisfaction' & tenants are the owner's customer. Now how many times have you been told by your employer to look after your customers (internal or external)?

There may be low vacancy rates however tenants move because they may have out grown, changed circumstances or aren't satisfied that the place they're living in is going backwards compared to when they moved in & the rents that they're paying.

I like what you're saying here. A lot. It's a completely different paradigm to what we generally encounter. Deserving of systematic elaboration I think, Scott. Good one!

 

[RachelBurke]

Very interesting question Erik (I love your website by the way!)

I work in PM in Melbourne and have puzzled over the same thing,
ie. do landlords want just low fees and bare bones service?
Or fair fees but excellent service?
Or are they willing to pay more for an exceptional service, guaranteed communication and latest technology?

And what is the main aim of most investors - long term tenants at perhaps a slightly reduced rental, or maximised return understanding that this can lead to shorter term tenancies, and consequently more wear and tear on their property so more frequent updating?

And if there was ONE thing that would make a property manager stand out from the crowd, or that got you on board with your current property management company, what was it?

 

[tobe]

Very interesting question Erik (I love your website by the way!)

I work in PM in Melbourne and have puzzled over the same thing,
ie. do landlords want just low fees and bare bones service?
Or fair fees but excellent service?
Or are they willing to pay more for an exceptional service, guaranteed communication and latest technology?

And what is the main aim of most investors - long term tenants at perhaps a slightly reduced rental, or maximised return understanding that this can lead to shorter term tenancies, and consequently more wear and tear on their property so more frequent updating?

And if there was ONE thing that would make a property manager stand out from the crowd, or that got you on board with your current property management company, what was it?

Obviously every landlord will have diferent wants and expectations, however most long term landlords would lean towards the third option I think.

I dont agree higher returns means higher turnover. Regular small rent increases is what land lords want, regular inspections and communication.
Managing agents that let leases lapse, or suggest not increasing rent just because 'the tenants are good' are the sort of managing agents to avoid.
There is only one reason not to increase the rent, and thats when the market rent for the area, ie that listed for similar vacant properties is the same as the rent being paid.

 

[propertyVIC]

If I had a PM who actually was a property expert and investor themselves, that would be great... discuss total portfolio, bounce ideas, remind me to get depreciation done, recommend the best of the best for accountants, price out total costs of a suggested upgrade in terms of extra rent and depreciation vs initial cost etc.

Given the lack of above, I usually shop on price. However, when recently seeking an estimate of rent for a property being extended that the PM did not manage... it was the higher-priced PM who got back to me within 24 hours, so I'm giving some kudos to that.

 

[ErikTyler]

If I had a PM who actually was a property expert and investor themselves, that would be great... discuss total portfolio, bounce ideas, remind me to get depreciation done, recommend the best of the best for accountants, price out total costs of a suggested upgrade in terms of extra rent and depreciation vs initial cost etc.

Given the lack of above, I usually shop on price. However, when recently seeking an estimate of rent for a property being extended that the PM did not manage... it was the higher-priced PM who got back to me within 24 hours, so I'm giving some kudos to that.

Great feedback - it's something I've always struggled with.

I am an investor myself (I own 10 IP's), so am fairly knowledgeable - however, does it come across as arrogant if I highlight this point?

I regularly send out emails to our 600+ landlords offering free consultancy if they are looking to purchase additional properties, I also have an alliance (non profit) with a leading boutique mortgage brokerage and also an accountant.

Landlords seem to like this, but I would have thought most agencies would offer the above.

Great discussion tho, and definitely some points that I will look at implementing.

Thanks again

 

[Andrew_A]

600 landlords? Who is calling you a boutique agency!? (thinking boutique = an element of small in there)

 

[Jamie M]

600 landlords? Who is calling you a boutique agency!? (thinking boutique = an element of small in there)

He's being modest. There's plenty of Canberran's using them - and I have no worries referring my Canberra customers to Erik and his team.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Bigtone]

Good evening everyone!

The real estate industry, in general, has a fairly bad reputation.

As the Principal of a boutique agency in Canberra (we specialise in Property Management), I aim to give the best possible experience to our landlords AND tenants.

As you are all investors yourselves, I would be very, very interested to hear what your dream team would comprise of?

What's most important to you? What would make you truly happy within your management team?

my ideal PM is one that does everything and i never hear from them.

i hate when the lease is up and they email

'what do u want to do with the rent, leave the same or increase'

firstly i would rather u didn't contact me at all and just managed it professional and made a decision make on your expert knowledge of the area and the market, if you r going to contact me what about making a suggestion

' lease is up , market rent is now around $40pw higher , tenant is excellent and never makes any maintenance calls and always pays on time so you may consider a smaller increase of $20pw to reward that behavior'

now that would be helpful

others things that would help:

* number one is good tenant selection
*a PM that stays longer than 3 months
* proactive maintenance ( lil skator apparently the best in the business at this)
*online access to all documents (lease, condition report, statements etc)
* quick at organizing access for valautions, depreciation reports , reno's etc

 

[BayView]

I'm with Big Tone; don't ask me if we should increase the rent; that's like asking the barber if you need a haircut. Just do it.

I want a PM who appears to be on the side of the Tenant, but is really on the side of the Landlord;

Working hard for me to make sure the tenants pay their rent, pay on time and look after the property, and try to increase the rent whenever it is possible.

 

[Scott No Mates]

The role of the agent is to take direction from the owner NOT to act on their own initiative hence they can suggest or recommend actions but cannot do so without permission.

Being the devil's advocate, what if the property was well under market & the agent increased the rent causing you to have a vacancy whilst you were unemployed & couldn't meet repayments causing you to lose the ip & undue stress resulting in marriage breakdown etc?

No worries just go ahead......

 

[ErikTyler]

my ideal PM is one that does everything and i never hear from them.

i hate when the lease is up and they email

'what do u want to do with the rent, leave the same or increase'

firstly i would rather u didn't contact me at all and just managed it professional and made a decision make on your expert knowledge of the area and the market, if you r going to contact me what about making a suggestion

' lease is up , market rent is now around $40pw higher , tenant is excellent and never makes any maintenance calls and always pays on time so you may consider a smaller increase of $20pw to reward that behavior'

now that would be helpful

others things that would help:

* number one is good tenant selection
*a PM that stays longer than 3 months
* proactive maintenance ( lil skator apparently the best in the business at this)
*online access to all documents (lease, condition report, statements etc)
* quick at organizing access for valautions, depreciation reports , reno's etc

It is a two edged sword - but I think it's about taking an individual approach with each rent review, instead of the time saving blanket approach.

Too many PM's will just add a rough amount relative to the current price (ie if the property is at $400, they will suggest an increase to $420).

Lease renewals / rent increases are one of the things I have my team spend the most time on, because as an investor myself I know how important the ROI is - and, let's be honest, it's one of the core parts of the service a PM offers; so a relative amount of time should be spent.

It's also all about wording - the PM needs to advise what the current market rent is, and then it's the owners option to increase or not to increase, we cannot legally make that decision for you (as much as we would love to!)

 

[ErikTyler]

He's being modest. There's plenty of Canberran's using them - and I have no worries referring my Canberra customers to Erik and his team.

Cheers

Jamie

To me, boutique = not part of a chain, family owned, personal service.

There are plenty of "small" franchise agencies here in Canberra, and they are definitely not boutique.

Jamie - thank you, very kind words as always

 

[luckyone]

I would like my property manager to arrange quotes for maintenance quickly. My current one (who I won't name me) contacted me a couple of weeks ago saying there was a problem with the property and what did I want to do. I of course said fix it and gave her a limit to spend on getting it fixed. I would have expected they'd come to me with some quotes, but nope, mine never does that.

2 or 3 weeks later (will have to check email trail) and I still haven't heard back as to whether the problem is fixed. I think lack of communication is the biggest problem where my property manager is concerned.

The other thing that gets to me is sometimes other people (who I've never spoken to) will contact me about things going on with the property. It makes it hard to know who to then speak to about issues I'm having if I'm dealing with 5 different people all the time. I find it very frustrating!!

 

[ErikTyler]

I would like my property manager to arrange quotes for maintenance quickly. My current one (who I won't name me) contacted me a couple of weeks ago saying there was a problem with the property and what did I want to do. I of course said fix it and gave her a limit to spend on getting it fixed. I would have expected they'd come to me with some quotes, but nope, mine never does that.

2 or 3 weeks later (will have to check email trail) and I still haven't heard back as to whether the problem is fixed. I think lack of communication is the biggest problem where my property manager is concerned.

The other thing that gets to me is sometimes other people (who I've never spoken to) will contact me about things going on with the property. It makes it hard to know who to then speak to about issues I'm having if I'm dealing with 5 different people all the time. I find it very frustrating!!

I would suggest raising any issue with your PM's manager, or the principal of the agency.

It's fair to say that no agency is perfect, but it is through feedback from clients / tenants that hopefully things will improve.

Worst case, hand in your 30 days notice period, and find a new PM! Sometimes change is the best option.

 

[BayView]

The role of the agent is to take direction from the owner NOT to act on their own initiative hence they can suggest or recommend actions but cannot do so without permission.

Being the devil's advocate, what if the property was well under market & the agent increased the rent causing you to have a vacancy whilst you were unemployed & couldn't meet repayments causing you to lose the ip & undue stress resulting in marriage breakdown etc?

No worries just go ahead......

I think a good PM will have the experience and resources to know what the correct market rent figures are for various property types, and advise their Landlords accordingly.

We have a PM for an interstate property who does this for us, and they are so far spot on. They usually suggest an increase of some degree.

I always ask if we can get more , but they respond with the scenario of possibly losing the tenant

 

[Bigtone]

The role of the agent is to take direction from the owner NOT to act on their own initiative hence they can suggest or recommend actions but cannot do so without permission.

Being the devil's advocate, what if the property was well under market & the agent increased the rent causing you to have a vacancy whilst you were unemployed & couldn't meet repayments causing you to lose the ip & undue stress resulting in marriage breakdown etc?

No worries just go ahead......

what if the direction is to show initiative?

it's about tailoring the service to meet the requests of the landlord, some want to know every time the tenant farts, personally i want the person i pay to MANAGE the property to leave me alone and manage it

if i was a PM i would much rather not have to deal with the landlords every 5 min and concentrate on doing the job properly

as for increasing rent and causing a vacancy, firstly i wold hope you would know the market well enough to make a accurate assessment of the situation but if a vacancy occurs that is what a buffer is for.

anyway each to their own but the question was what is your dream PM, and i described what mine is.