Managing your investment property
The question of managing your investment property comes down to whether you want to manage the property yourself or if you would like to retain the services of a real estate agent as your property manager. While managing the investment property yourself will save you the management fee that you would have to pay your real estate agent (usually 5 per cent of the rent), it can be time consuming and requires you to possess knowledge of the local property market and marketing expertise. As most property investors lack these skills, it has become common practice to retain the services of a real estate agent for property management.
A good real estate agent will manage your investment property in these ways:
- Market to, screen and choose tenants
- Understand all tenancy laws and keep up-to-date as new laws and amendments are introduced
- Knowledge of your local market and understanding of what is a reasonable rental income for the property
- Maintain the property and organise repairs where necessary
- Find suitable daytime and after hours tradespeople – eg. plumber, electrician
- Handle tenants’ complaints in an objective manner
- Conduct regular property inspections and complete condition reports on entry, exit and at inspections
- Handle all monetary transactions including rent payments and receipt and lodgement of rental bonds
- Be able to deal with problematic and malicious tenants, and those who pay late or refuse to pay
- Review and renegotiate rent costs
- Produce rental statements for tenants detailing rent paid
Property management fees
The cost of managing your investment property will be split into: management fees and letting fees. Management fees include: regular maintenance costs, routine checks, mailing of statements to tenants. Letting fees include: costs of finding a tenant (advertising costs). Additional property management fees include: costs of conducting inspections, completing reports, mailing statements and placing advertisements.
Prior to selecting your property management company, you should weigh the costs and look into the experience and reputation of the company.
More information or help
For confidential assistance with your home loan or to talk to your local mortgage broker, call us at any time on 13 LOAN or call our direct line on +61 2 9249 3739.
|
