ghosted by my PM

I was new to property investing, so I had relied on my PM to manage the IPs for me, and to provide advice and recommendations.

Then I discovered this valuable forum. I guess I had become smarter and more knowledgeable.

I started to review the quotes for maintenance/repairs jobs proposed by this PM. There were times when the jobs seemed unnecessary. At other times, the quotes seemed exorbitant.

A few recent examples --
-PM said her painter quoted $2100 to paint my IP's ceiling. I said I would give the job to my friend's painter who charged $1500. PM immediately wrote back and said her painter was willing to do my job for $700.
-PM said her gardener quoted $300 to trim my hedges. I rang the same gardener and she [the gardener] told me she would do the job for me for $100.
-PM quoted me $500 for pest control. I rang up several pest control companies and was quoted $300-330.
-PM quoted me $560 for her tradie to go over on a public holiday to help new tenant "fix" the essential NO-HOT-WATER problem. My partner and I drove over and turned on the switch for tenant.

For someone -- who probably looked dumb -- who didn't know much and had approved every recommended job request in the past, I am now thinking, asking questions and comparing the quotes of the jobs.

It has been more than one week since I last heard from my PM. My calls not returned, my emails not responded to.

I have been ghosted by my PM.

 

Pretty much the right time to ghost her into the "you're fired" zone.
Don't forget to leave your valuable review on her everywhere you can.

 

Yep. Next call and say as you have failed to respond to calls and emails I need to move to a more responsive property manager. If doing by email cc. In the top person you can at the firm. Find a better manager regardless, maybe before the call/ email.

 

Not sure about the rules, but just make sure to review the agency agreement re Rules around changing PM if the contract isn't expired yet!

 

So you've discovered you can do a better job at property management than your current PM. Do so, self manage! You can download standard lease agreement forms from NSW Fair Trading. If you can be bothered with the ringing around seeking quotes for maintenance and repair requests, co-ordinating with tradies etc and it's not too challenging, difficult or takes too much out of your own time to do - there's absolutely no legal or practical reason you require someone else to do so on your behalf.

 

There can be a fair amount of staff turnover in PM world. Its just as likley your PM has left that office or at least gone on holiday which is why your emails go unanswered.
You would think there would be a handover process in those cases, but in my experience thats rarely the case.

 

It's a one-woman show. PM runs this as her own business. She apparently works from home and the registered business address is not her actual office [I dropped by the business address. Receptionist informed me that it's a "shared office concept" whereby she only went over once in a while to collect mails].

I am a little concerned now because all my IPs + my aging auntie's IPs are handled by her. She used to respond within 24 hours -- even on a sunday or public holiday. Ever since I started questioning about the jobs and quotes, she started ignoring those emails and responded only to selective ones.

Auntie and I were made to sign 12+3 months' exclusive managing authority with her. Some had expired. Some still a long way to go.

I am not even sure if PM had intentionally ghosted me or she had fallen ill. She never seemed to take holiday break over the years, even if she did, I believe she would inform me.

All rents are paid into her account which she then deducts her commission [+charges for the proposed never-ending list of maintenance/repairs jobs] then she credits the remaining into our accounts.

Should I inform all my tenants to stop paying into her account ? It has been 10 days that PM is not contactable.

 

It's certainly possible that she has fallen ill, could be lying in a hospital bed or worse?

 

If this is the case, what should I do ?

 

That could be a VERY foolish thing to do. You would be constructively terminating her agency agreement without considering the agent rights.

At present many people have covid impacted businesses. Reconsider your emails as it seems you may be sending a lot of emails rather than one infrequent one. When you decline a quote and say you will sort the repair you arent also expecting the agent to pay this ? Its one way or the other. If you say no then its in your hands.

A simple email expressing concern for no reply may be enough for now. Perhaps raise the concern for her welfare and also the ongoing management of your property by email and see what happens. If she doesnt perform her role then having the agreement torn up by a tribunal or the PM herself is easier

 

I agree those quotes are a concern. But it sounds like you have become the landlord from hell.

What have you been ringing her, messaging her and emailing about that you have been awaiting a response for10 days?

And no one can MAKE you sign something. No one in their right mind would sign a 12month + 3 agreement. Standard is 90 days notice.

What does you contract say regarding maintenance? What is the spend limit (not including emergency)?
We put zero without contacting us. We used to live near most of our properties so often did small jobs ourselves. That's your choice.
Decide how you want to proceed from here on.

 

Auntie and I have more than 20 IPs managed by this PM. Before I became smarter and more knowledgeable with property investing -- thanks to this valuable forum -- my liaisons with PM was simply "Yes, please proceed with the repair. Thank you.... Yes, please proceed with the replacement of the old worn parts. Thank you"

I have a day job. The IPs belonged to my auntie and my deceased mum. They liked and trusted this PM. I assisted with email replies whenever I was asked to. Management authorities were signed by auntie and mum, and I [being ignorant before PC] simply followed suit.

Eversince I started reviewing the quotes and questioning the necessity of the various jobs, PM simply ignored those emails. She continued to text me about the 10+ other old houses which required repairs/maintenance/replacements.

I no longer responded with "Yes, please proceed" to all her proposed jobs.
Instead, I replied saying "Thank you Ms XX, my friend's tradies can do this job for half the quote so I'd go with him instead. Please inform xxx tenant that tradie xxx would turn up on xxx day to do xxx job"

My assigned tradies turned up at the various properties but tenants refused to allow access because they were not notified by my PM. This was when I started texting and emailing PM.
Over the years, from almost 10 correspondences [including emails & phone calls] a week initiated by my PM, it was silence for the past 10 days.

Auntie wanted me to call, drop by and check on her PM friend. I don't know where to find or contact her.

Does this make me a landlord from hell ? I reckon the word "hell" takes on a different meaning then.

 

Hire a PI to track them down?

 

There does sound like something dodgy going on with this PM, and I'd want all my properties changed over to a better PM ASAP. It sounds like she may be getting some large kick backs from her tradies, and you've caught her out. What area are they in? Someone may have a recommendation for you.

Changing PM's has always been easy, you just contact the new one, & they do everything, but you may have to go to VCAT to terminate her services if she's got you on a 12 month lease.

 

Is your pm taking kickbacks?

 

Has to. And they’ve stopped responding because they aren’t getting them anymore because of OP showing interest to get those done with other tradesman.

 

Yep - thats called kickbacks. LOL

I'm sure 100s if not 1000s of ppl who invest and never question quotes are getting ripped on a daily basis.

I once had a real estate agent try to charge me $600 for a microwave oven. These are like $75-$100. I outright said to him are you trying to rip me off or you taking kickbacks? I'm going to report you to fair trading and consumer affairs and REINSW.

Came straight back and said it was $120. Then I moved my management after that.

 

Lol

 

I think lots of property managers take kick backs unfortunately. They rely on property owners staying quiet and not getting more than one quote.