Do you self manage your IP?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Carlin, 16th Jul, 2015.

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  1. Carlin

    Carlin Member

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    Do you self manage your IP, and why or why not? I've self managed my IP for the past year after not being happy with the attitude and lever of care of the former managing agent.

    So far i've found it much better communicating directly with the tenants and i'm able to get things such as maintenance and repairs taken care of much faster then an agent. I'm also saving quite a lot on management fees.
     
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  2. joel

    joel Well-Known Member

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    What are the negatives that you've experienced so far? (don't own property yet so can't comment)
     
  3. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Not all like that, some show plenty of care and aptitude for the role, particularly if they're multi property investors themselves.

    That isn't really agent specific expertise - just inability to use phone / email effectively which seems a little common unfortunately.

    If you're enjoying it and the rent is rolling in every week, then keep doing what you're doing. If tenant were to turn nasty or of rent dried up, would you be able to calmly and correctly deal with that?
     
  4. Teddy

    Teddy Well-Known Member

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    I was, they are family, I've had it with them not doing the right thing, taking advantage and not looking after the gardens and the houses are not being looked after that well, so they are all going across to my agent. She is brilliant. Currently in hospital on a drip but still sending me messages about the IPs.
    Hope she pulls through ;) , she's a keeper
     
  5. Rugrat

    Rugrat Well-Known Member

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    We self manage, but our tenant is my sister and nephew, and they are extremely good tenants, so its all very hands off. We used a pm before she became our tenant though. We generally like to keep an arms length if possible, keeps everything simple and business like, having everything go through a pm.
     
  6. legallyblonde

    legallyblonde Well-Known Member

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    I self manage.. I have on IP, it is local and I have the time =) Easier at this stage than having a middle man. My tenants are excellent so it is a very hands off process. No negatives at the moment!
     
  7. Chilliblue

    Chilliblue Well-Known Member

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    No and do not intend to
     
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  8. fullylucky

    fullylucky Well-Known Member

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    i do it myself.

    PM can be useful if you value your time and less stressful. if you are lucky to get a good PM.
     
  9. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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    Have.
    It was ****.
    Don't.
     
  10. GreenGoblin

    GreenGoblin Well-Known Member

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    We self-manage our properties, two somewhat locally and two interstate. My wife isn't keen on engaging property managers, as she doesn't see the value in them. No offence to any property managers on the forum (or out there) - I know there are a number of investors who have great PMs, though there are also stories of poor levels of service. Perhaps it's because we both like being in control and don't want to have to have to manage PMs - we may as well manage the tenants. We do use PMs to find, vet and place our tenants, then take over management during the lease.

    So far we've been fairly lucky with our tenants. Had some issues with late payment of rent, and one set of tenants we had to chase every week for rent (very painful). No damage or real issues, though dealing with the more difficult tenants can be stressful. We're looking for new tenants in Brissie at present, so debated having a PM manage the property fully, but were put off by the high costs quoted. What is it about Brisbane that PM costs are so high there?

    Anyway, it does take up time and effort on our part, and can be stressful, but we've been fairly lucky so far - long may it continue!
     
  11. JenW

    JenW Well-Known Member

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    We self manage our properties, and have done since we got into it (early 2008). Our situation is a little different to the norm, as our properties are completely self contained. I hate to think what the cost of a PM would be to manage self contained properties in Perth.

    We have had problem tenants, but so far nothing we haven't been able to manage, fortunately.
     
  12. Travelbug

    Travelbug Well-Known Member

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    We self managed 2 (1 now as i sold 1). ! was because someone bought the rent roll and I weasn't happy with the new buyer. The tenants had been there for 2 years and I rarely heard from them and they always paid on time.
    The other one (which I still own) had a tenant in place but the agent was hopeless. After a while I asked her to pay me directly and I wouldn't put the rent up for 12 months. It had just gone up anyway. I rarely hear from her.
    When it's going well it is easy, but it can get ugly. Personally I wouldn't want to find new tenants. You do't have access to data bases and bad tenants target people that rent without an agent.
    I see investors just starting out that decide to self manage without even knowing the rules and the processes involved if there is an issue. This can be devastating. Not lodging the bond for example is a $10,000 fine. I think you need to really do your research before doing it.
    I know of people that get attached and won't put the rent up because "she's really nice and is struggling with 2 kids" type stuff. It's a business. Don't get attached.
     
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  13. rhinsor

    rhinsor Well-Known Member

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    I self manage three in Perth.
    I will get a PM if I get a few more in Perth or if I buy interstate.
     
  14. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    That's was my dad's paid "professional" property manager. Oh, the market rent has gone up but she's really struggling, blah, blah. He asked for the PM to be removed and replaced with another one. New one would not put up the rent because of 'structural issues'. There was some minor cracking in the plaster, certainly not structural. I could not convince him to self manage, but he finally fired that firm and got a decent one. No issues with the new PM but he has lost thousands in rent because of slack PMs in the past. So sure, hire a PM if you want but keep on top of them or it could cost you a lot.
     
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  15. QbiK Evolution

    QbiK Evolution Well-Known Member

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    I do all 4 of mine as I didn't see the value in paying out 200per week for someone to call me. I have all my own contractors so my last property manager was purely a middle man. My mind might change if something goes wrong but so far I have kept my properties on the top of my local market which has in turn allowed me to be selective with who I let lease my places.
     
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  16. Fargo

    Fargo Well-Known Member

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    I agree Carlin, I self manage a couple of commercial properties and 5 residential properties. I find it is much easier dealing directly with the tenants than a PM, and maintence is easier and cheaper. You can select better quality tenants who are grateful to have somewhere to call home, as they get rejected by PMs, who are lazy, who put in demanding, entitled , whinging, property alterating tenants just because they are older, white and have a rental history. Some do need a little friendly education on what is expected as some are clueless but with personal interaction they a willing to learn and try to oblige. Usaully a long term lease isn't signed until they have been there for at least 2 months. I have gotten rents of $330/week for houses PMs said would only get $270. don't have vacancies and don't have to pay letting fees. You do have to have specific types of property in specific locations targeting specific tenants to ensure there is demand for your property. Wether you self manage would depend on who your target tenants where when you bought. I find PMs and agents are ignorant of who wants what property where and who is prepared to pay a premium and why.
     
  17. HUGH72

    HUGH72 Well-Known Member

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    I think it works if you own properties locally, have the time, have the right personality, enjoy it and most importantly you know what your doing.
    For any one else it can be a PITA, as mentioned previously bad tenants and those blacklisted look for inexperienced and gullible LLs IMO.
     
  18. JenW

    JenW Well-Known Member

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    Thanks Hugh72, you've mentioned a key aspect for us - location of properties. Our properties are in Osborne Park, Glendalough and Balcatta - all close to us (we're in Gwelup, near Karrinyup).

    This also impacted on where we were looking to buy for our next PPoR - Wembley isn't too far away from any of the properties, so it's still manageable for us in a practical sense. (Keep in mind as well that for us, this includes taking all linen home at the end of each tenancy and washing it, etc due to our properties being fully furnished, so this is really important.)
     
  19. Johnny Cashflow

    Johnny Cashflow Well-Known Member

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    I self manage my 3 after having a lazy useless property management team who were not doing anything other than collect their % each week.

    They are however all close by. If I owned something in other side of town I might get a pm again

    Also I have found property managers like to stick in tenants and not get the full amount of rent possible but just enough to keep you and the tenants happy.

    I actually like dealing with the tenants myself rather than hearing 2nd hand news from someone else.

    In my case 3 months later I found out something was broken and needed fixing, and no inspection were done...

    Why am I paying you again?

    It is probably not for everyone. Also I work after noons so I have the mornings to organise stuff, unlike most ppl who work 9-5 etc
     
  20. Tifoso

    Tifoso Well-Known Member

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    We self manage all of our properties. Partly because I'm stingy, but mainly because I don't see the value in having someone who cares very little about my property or me charging me to do things we can comfortably do ourselves. We have managed interstate previously, but only for a short period of time.

    This has always worked for us.

    There are plenty of benefits of using property managers, primarily time saved, however using "reputable" property managers may still end in tears. A very good example of this is a new property we sold about 9 months ago, and currently live next door to, was tenanted by a Place agency based in a swanky area up until recently. The manager was an "award winner".

    The tenants struck me as very dodgy, regularly fighting through the nights and slamming doors, doing laundry all hours of the night, and didn't appear to have jobs. Cops have been there a few times, as the wife was a PSYCHO.

    I phoned this agency TWICE to complain, and ended up contacting the owner directly because this agency couldn't even tell me who was managing the property, and failed to return my call.
    They appeared never to have inspections, the house was always an absolute mess, and we came home last friday night to find one of those Pod things out the front of the house. The tenants disappeared after 48 straight hours of moving (through the night, I don't understand how they had so much stuff)

    We found out they had been forced to move out, the locks changed, and from looking through the windows I'd guess 20k damage to walls, tiles, kitchen and god knows what else on a house less than a year old.

    This may have been mitigated if the Agency firstly did an inspection occasionally, or returned my call.

    Instead, they probably took something like 65 bucks a week off the landlord (around 675pw rent), plus a fat fee for finding such quality tenants, and spent their time patting themselves on the back for winning their awards.

    Rant over. If you want someone to manage your property, make sure you interview and vet them properly, and get references. Someone above mentioned making sure they are property investors themselves.
     
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