NSW Fees in the Agency Aggreement I don't understand

Can someone please explain to me why there are these fees - lease renewal fee and tenancy db check fee.

What is involved in a lease renewal to justify the agency charging 55% of 1 week of rent for this. On top of that there is a $50 lease agreement preparation charge. Isn't it just a few phone calls and a bit of paperwork (which the $50 should already cover).

And there is also a tenancy database check that costs $50. Is this like to cover some sort of subscription that they have to the tenancy database?

And how much is reasonable for advertising? They are asking for half a week of rent, so a few hundred dollars.

 

Moat of those fees have a "time" component. Ie they take time to do them and the agency recoup that time by charging for it. Creating a new lease, sending to tenant, chasing tenant, getting it signed, inputting new lease details into software etc all take time so they charge for it. Should it be included in standard management fees? Maybe. But then if you have a tenant every 10 years or a tenant every 6mths then you either get poor value or very good value if it's wrapped into higher standard all inclusive fees.

The tenancy database might have a subscription fee but again it's also a time component for a service that is done infrequently.

Advertising may include multiple sources (domain, realestate.com.au ) fees

 

I'm sure there's other PMs in the area that charge less fees, but what you really want/need, is the best PM, not the cheapest.

 

PMs all have different fee structures, maybe look at it like they're not just exchanging time for a fee, there's a service and level of experience that's provided.

Having said that I personally hate paying for these 'hidden' fees (I don't charge them). Choose your PM based on their merits and their fee structure or try and negotiate them out of the agreement.

 

Many PMs don't charge renewal fee