Agents keep on doing unauthorised services

Ok. This is not supposed to be a rant . But probably turn into one

Every month I roll my eyes when statements come in. Because every month I have unauthorised costs that are not approved, some not discussed .
Sure some come under emergency repairs but $1900 for a garden water leak is excessive. And should have been consulted prior to doing it.

It's got en to a point where some agents I've threatened tribunal.

This month I've got
850 for a termite treatment that the agent told me. The tenant has reported termites to which I replied. Where? And no response

400 bathroom exhaust fan
500 for a pilot relight plus tap replacement

The agency trades are good but fan expensive but they all claim they're reasonably priced .....
It's a constant headbanging exercise

 

If an agent charged me with those unauthorised bills I would be having very strong words with them asap. If they do it again its adieus amigos. No ifs no buts.

For the most part in this investment game, PMs are by far the least impressive component imo. Yes some good ones out there and when you DO get a good one, hold onto them for dear life and treat them well.

 

hmm, I didnt knowthat you can withdraw your authority, I know for emergencises they have a $2k limit or whatever, im assumign this isnt changeable,

so you can say, non emergencies, dont touch my account?
im sure agents can and wil start saying that a broken bathroom fan they dertermined it to be a emergency

 

I have had strong words with a few of them, in fact I think I was a bit soft
I ended up getting accused of being a tight ass, and that I dont do anthing
I replied "this is a business, not a charity, if I make a decision not to do something, its my decision, if it bites me in the backside later, its my problem, I dont just go and repair or do every request that the tenant has to make them feel warm and fuzzy"
harsh? probably... but straight to the point

 

To be honest I think there are times you just need to say NO its not happening. I have had tenants ask all sorts of things which were unreasonable and they try their luck. The latest one wanted some new electrical work done to a ceiling fan that has 2 settings , either too fast or too slow though my PM said its perfect. I **** you not.

A big generalisation but the best demographic group I've had overall as tenants are probably Asians and other ethnic groups. I found they don't whine and whinge as much about nonsense and are willing to be more reasonable and fair than certain other cultures. TBH when I screen for tenants now its a factor I definitely take into account.

Just been my experience and 2 cents.

 

There is a limit that you can authorise for non emergency. Set it to $0 or $100 and they will need your authority

The list of actual emergency fixes is well defined so you should be pretty safe

 

I agree with what the others have mentioned. If my managing agent did that to me, it's not just strong words, it'll go to the owner of the agency who is a friend now. How do you know the managing agent is not receiving a kickback from the tradies?

 

This is a good point. Usually 90% of the time the quotes I get from tradies when compared to the quotes given by my PMs ranges from 25%-60% less! I really think most PMs just use the same tradies and they don't care how competitive the quotes are.

 

Totally agreed and that was my experience as well. I always ask for an additional quotes and 90% of the time, the second quote were cheaper than the original quote or if it was pretty good, I just ask for a discount which the tradies were happy to give.

 

Recently spoke with a few trades who confirmed, anytime they receive jobs from PMs they will mark up the price.
Said it was a bit of an unwritten rule for tradies that they all do it.
Make sense when I was asking the PM for multiple quotes they were all coming back around the same price, but all higher than my expectations.
These properties are interstate, so heavily rely on the PM.
If it was local could be a lot easier fix.

 

They are smart, they know PMs won't bother to negotiate or poke to get a better deal and most landlords are not savvy investors and will just pay whatever the PM says.

 

"850 for a termite treatment that the agent told me. The tenant has reported termites to which I replied. Where? And no response"

Speaking as a landlord myself, this is concerning. I'd be wanting a lot more details in addition to where were the termites. I'd want to know extent of damage, treatment used, who did the treatment, are the termites gone, is there a follow up to confirm the termites are gone, where's the report by the person who did the treatment showing extent and method of treatment, what warranty is provided by those who did the treatment, where did the termites come from (i.e. is there a water leak/moisture that also needs to be rectified), if you have a termite barrier was it breached, is there a claim under warranty against those who installed the original termite barrier???

 

Really need a sharp agent who's not afraid to ask for a better price.
Bit had to organise by yourself interstate, as you rely on the agent to show them the work that needs to be done.
Which just leads back to square one having higher quote once they sniff agent about.

My local agent trades have been really good, I cross checked a few of the quotes to see if I could get better deal.
What she could get what cheaper than I was able to achieve.
Which is exactly what you want and expect from an agent given they're providing a lot of repeat business to these trades.

 

I agree... The problem I think is just because someone is a PM doesn't necessarily mean they are good businesspeople and most often they are not, especially many of the really young ones these days. And then there is the 'care' factor...no one is going to care about our investments but us. As depressing as it sounds... these days if my PMs can collect rent on time, communicate to me most things in a reasonable timeframe and be able to execute my wishes reasonably well then they pass the benchmark. Anything above that and I'll be doing triple pirouettes.

 

and add to that the number of invoices that have been incorretly charged too
eg there are times when im short on time or cant find people or the tradies price is quite reasoanble,

we agree on a fixed price, and then the ivnoiec comes with GST or materials added onto it, or even a call out fee

yuck

 

There is nothing in life more easy than leaving your real estate agent for someone competent.

 

Oh great . Another invoice for $200 came through at $230 additional materials even though the agent said he will install it for $200


The agents reply. Oh your a high scale invesotor you would be registered for gst so you got it cheaper. The materials we extra.

Here **** I hate that kind of attitude.

I should just change my management fee as extra too

 

Who's working for who?

 

Use Jims, I find their costs are somewhat normal. And change your emergency limit authorisation, and get new management.