The vast majority of property managers work for real estate companies and franchises. These businesses make their money buying and selling family homes, not managing valuable investments and property portfolios for the long-term. And it takes a vastly different skillset to manage your investment property – properly! Find out how a good property manager can not only help save you time, but also help grow your property portfolio.
THE BENEFIT OF WORKING WITH A BOUTIQUE AGENCY: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
It may seem obvious, however a key measure of how much time a property manager will have to dedicate to you as a rental provider, your tenant and the overall upkeep and income generated by your investment property … is how many other properties they are looking after!
In a traditional property management model, one property manager would typically look after around 150 properties, end to end, on their own. If you compare that to a boutique service, where the manager may be responsible for 50 to 100 properties, that can make a vast difference to their ability to provide a correct and comprehensive service. Rachel Smith, Assistant Property Manager with The Property Mentors, elaborates:
"If you do the math, you can immediately see that the ratio of properties to managers can make an incredible difference to the level of service and communication provided."FINDING TENANTS: THE RIGHT TIME AND THE RIGHT PLACE
Commonly, investors become disillusioned with poor property managers due to bad experiences they‘ve had with tenants. And again, this is a crucial area where a thorough property manager can make all the difference to your long-term success. After all, the best result will see you renting your property to the highest quality tenant, as soon as possible.
Luckily, Rachel Smith also has a key strategy that can see a top-notch manager finding just the right tenant with next to no downtime … and no cost at all.
“Again, this comes down to building meaningful relationships with both rental providers and renters. We know the prospective tenants who may have missed out on a property they desired, and we want to save our landlords money if we can."But this doesn’t mean taking shortcuts. There are still detailed procedures such as reference checks and formal application processes that must be followed. Including some less obvious tips and tricks your average renter (or landlord) may not be aware of – Rachel explains.
“We’re looking at applications all the time and quickly pick up on who makes a good renter … and who doesn’t. In addition, with the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, we can easily make additional and less formal background checks.”
SO IS BEING A “DIY” LANDLORD WORTH THE RISK?
It’s not uncommon for investors to daydream about managing their property themselves to try and save a few dollars. But with mandatory compliance and changing legislation to keep up with – outside of the standard range of procedures around finding and checking tenants, collecting the bond and rent, and completing regular inspections – a landlord really needs to invest a huge amount of time to manage a property properly.
And when you have a half million dollar asset, or more, why would you DIY or shop around based on fees alone?
“As professional property managers, we’re completing these tasks, day in and day out. Changing legislation? That’s part of our job. We’re the first to know and we have to be all over it. Your average landlord can’t be on top of everything, and it’s something they may not be aware of, or even think to check,” says Rachel.
“This is when incidents occur. Anything can go wrong and so many things do go wrong. And if a landlord managing their own property misses something, it could be dangerous for the tenant, damaging to the property, and could end up costing them significantly more. That’s what we’re there for. We deal with the unexpected every single day.”
Given the risk and the work involved, most property management rates are quite affordable, especially when you take into account the time, what the manager has to do, and the skills and experience they need – all to manage what is often your most valuable, income generating asset!
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT BY INVESTORS, FOR INVESTORS
As highly active professional property investors ourselves, here at The Property Mentors we’ve learned first-hand exactly what kind of management your property needs to perform well. The difference between a good and a bad property manager can mean the difference between a hassle-free and easy to achieve income stream versus poor service and unforeseen and urgent issues.
That’s why, in addition to guiding our members to invest and build wealth successfully, another key service we offer is top quality property management.
Our dedicated team ensure you stay on top of your rights and responsibilities, take care of all the things you don’t have time to do, find and secure the best tenants, organise maintenance and repairs, conduct routine inspections and ensure you keep pace with the market to maximise the return on your investment.
In addition, our premium service doesn’t rely on traditional concepts, instead it’s designed to lay down solid foundations, protect your property portfolio and ensure your long-term financial security. So book in for a free rental appraisal on your property today!
You have nothing to lose in the short-term and everything to gain in the long-term.
LIKE TO LEARN MORE?
Check out our Investor Intelligence podcasts on property management here:
