Responsibilities of a property manager

Property Management is the official term for what is essentially looking after an investment property — in order that it delivers rental returns. It is possible to self-manage a rental property or you can use a professional service provider, ie. a property management firm to manage all facets on your behalf. There are some basic duties involved in property management and some which are of extra benefit.

Call an agent or lease on your own?

Managing your own property might seem like a great way to save money. However, there’s a lot that can go into being an effective landlord. This is made even more evident when you don’t have any outside assistance! When considering the overall cost of property management you should also factor in the economic principle of opportunity cost.

That is, what will the time spent in undertaking your numerous landlord duties take you away from? Would that time be better spent in your job, in recreation or in your home/family life? What would you consider that ‘cost’ (in terms of time lost) to be? Of course, there are plenty more considerations.

Advantages and disadvantages

Being your own property manager definitely has its pros and cons. Largely, it will depend on your personal circumstances, preferences and inclinations as to whether you want to take on the task of doing-it-yourself (or hire a property management firm).

Firstly let’s look at the advantages of being an independent landlord:

• No external management fees
• Complete control over all aspects, eg. you can choose your own tenants
• Rental payments paid directly to your account (not a third-party that retains a percentage)

And, naturally, the cons:

• All legal responsibilities and contractual requirements lie solely with you. You need to organise and follow up on maintenance jobs, be available to manage any emergency issues etc.
• You need to be able to handle confrontation, eg. to carry out the eviction process on your own (should the need arise)
• Time and effort involved can be considerable (especially if you already lead a busy life)
• Managing an investment portfolio (if applicable) takes energy, acumen and development/implementation of strategy

What to expect from typical property management firms

Property management companies can be very different, both in terms of fees structure and the services that are actually included. This is why it is important to do your research and perform accurate and objective comparisons.

In terms of management fees, it is useful to understand that they are often charged on a percentage of the total rent monies collected. This means that the amount you pay your management company per term will depend on the rent amount the tenant pays you. Of course, your fees will cover certain management duties, but this is not always an accurate reflection of what you are actually paying for. Therefore, with no enforceable yardstick in place, the quantity and quality of services you receive can vary widely from one property management firm to another.

These duties form the basic level of service you can expect from a property management company (by no means conclusive):

• Rent monies collection/arrears management
• Maintenance arrangements and follow-ups
• Management of water consumption payments and other applicable levies
• Conducting regular inspections/rent reviews
• Liaising with the strata company (if applicable)
• General liaising with insurance companies

Guaranteed service provision from proper management

proper management goes above and beyond the typical to offer a full suite of services, backed by a satisfaction guarantee. We offer all the basic services outlined in the above section, plus much more. This extended level of customer service is not only our point-of-difference, but we also see it as our professional responsibility.

In addition to standard property management services, Proper Management provides:

• Pre Purchase appraisals — pre-purchase appraisals are always the first step in our property management service roll-out.
• Communication portal — as alandlord, you can manage everything that’s important communication-wise in the one convenient place. By logging into your communication portal, you can exchange information directly with our team (saving you the hassle of complicated email threads etc.) This allows you to keep your own finger on the pulse as a property landlord and facilitates smart property investment.
• Creative marketing — professional photography highlights the most desirable features of your investment property but also shows high attention-to-detail. In the digital age, compelling and relevant visual content and other creative forms of online advertising are absolutely essential. Our tech-forward approach is one of the biggest point-of-differences in our service to you.
• Tenant match — we use our tenant match database to optimise the availability of appropriate tenants — in order to best lease your property. There’s no cheesy game-show host, but we do find the perfect match for your property by utilising captured data, algorithms and more!
• Meeting rooms — as an extra luxury to our landlords, we offer our comfortable and stylish meeting rooms for your use. With access to WIFI, our meeting rooms are only 5 mins drive to Brisbane CBD.

We’re confident in our commitment to you. So much so that if you’re unhappy with service at any stage, it’s simply a matter of putting the details of your complaint into writing. These are the terms of our service guarantee: upon receipt, we are prepared to offer any client with a valid concern the next three months of their rental term free.

Upgrade to a more inclusive approach to property management with proper management. Contact us today.