News & Tips

Managing your investment property should be easy. If you’re spending more than five minutes a month managing your investment property then it’s time to review your property manager.

It's no secret that owners are happier when their property is easy to manage. Here are six tips for easy property management.

Get a well-researched rental market appraisal

Why spend weeks getting a rental appraisal when you can spend minutes? Most agents need time to investigate the market, look at properties in the area and find comparable rental prices, this is typically called a Comparative Rental Analysis. They’ll usually compile the analysis with a list of these properties and develop a marketing plan with the owner. 

If you have the luxury of time, and value the insights, then taking the time to get involved in the marketing plan can be an informative exercise.  A good property manager can save you time and energy by recommending a fair rental fee to take to market, all backed by industry leading market research. They’ll can also share this research and insights on request.

Follow your property statement on a mobile or tablet app

As far as a comprehensive app to see all of your investment property activities, the PropertyMe app has it covered. Some of the things that you can see is:

• - the current financial status of all your properties
• - all historical statements and copies of attached bills
• - all general scanned documents attached to the owners folio
• - photos and details for the property and tenancy
• - financial activity graph

Your property manager will need to have purchased a licence, which is free for you as the owner to use. If your property manager does not give you access to PropertyMe, ask them for it.

Review your rental

Ask your property manager to handle the rental review discussions with the tenant. Prior to the lease expiring, the Property Manager can contact you to discuss potential for rental increases, relative to the current market prices. If interest in the rental market in the area is high, then rental increases are normally justified.

Before deciding on any increases, the property manager needs to speak to the tenant about their intensions. Knowing whether they are willing to stay might. If they’re a good tenant, and take care of your property, they can save you maintenance costs long term. Sometimes the cost of replacing a good tenant is higher than the yield from the rental increase. Your property manager should give the most comprehensive advise for you to make an easy decision.

Find credible tenants

Avoiding any tenants with a history defaulting on rent or damaging your property is a risk that your property manager should be well equipped to manage.  The National Tenancy database, Tenancy Information Centre of Australia and other databases are used by most property managers as comprehensive tools for screening tenants before they sign a lease agreement.

They have a host of features primarily designed to identify any applicants listed on a national tenancy blacklist, or anyone with a history of bad credit or bankruptcy. From years of experience, your property management team should intuitively know when something isn’t right with a prospective tenant – you can only get this with experienced well-trained staff.

Outsource property maintenance management

You can also ask your property manager whether they can provide a service to manage other repairs, maintenance and gardening.  The convenience of having one team managing tenants and property maintenance is an invaluable time-saver. Ask your property manager how these services can either be built in to your rental agreement or charged for a tax deductible fee. The ATO website has a full list of other tax-deductible building, borrowing and maintenance related expenses.

Ask for bi-annual inspection reports

The property manager will regularly inspect your property. It’s important to check that the tenant is cleaning and maintaining the property in a way that doesn’t do any long-term damage to any of the features and fittings. They’ll usually carry out entry and exit inspections. 

After the inspection, your property manager should provide a written report with details of any obvious defects plus any of the tenant’s maintenance concerns. In most cases, the property manager should request the landlord’s instructions in writing to authorise any non-routine maintenance is required. The property manager can usually organise a contractor and make sure the works are completed to the highest standard.

Find an experienced property manager

Not many property managers have the experience or credentials to allow you to manage your property for five minutes a month. Finding an experience property manager, with a track record of building trust with lots of clients is the key. 

Find out more about Oliver Hume Property Management