Going to new managing agency - why?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Xenia, 24th Jun, 2015.

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  1. Xenia

    Xenia Well-Known Member

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    Hi propertychat friends

    One of the main reasons why people leave property management agencies and go to another one is because they or their properties are being ignored - negligence. - We hear this a lot.

    If you have changed property managers, I'm wondering if I can ask for any other reason why you left? What was the main reason and did the other manager solve that problem?

    Thanks
    X
     
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  2. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    For leasing only, I switched from one agency to another agency because the first agency could not find a tenant. I had a very high level of trust with the first agent and he was very good about the whole thing. He supported my move to another agency and advised that is was unlikely he would be able to find a tenant. The next agent could not find a tenant either but a tenant was found through a contractor doing work at the property. The new agent nearly lost that tenant too. For the next tenant I have moved to another agency. The next property manager was next to useless and I won't be dealing with that agency again. Toss in another agency where the property manager refused to list the property for rent and I am running out of agencies in the area! Next step is to bulldoze that house! :)
     
  3. KDP

    KDP Well-Known Member

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    Customer service and willingness to go the extra mile (even when they may not get anything for it) means a lot to me. A lot of agents say that they do these things but when times get tougher you'll find out who actually means it.

    I'm about to move a couple of my properties in Brisbane to a new agency for this exact reason. I went with a PM that was active on the somersoft forums with a lot of rhetoric about how he understands investor and will give a very personable service, in reality this wasn't the case so I'll be taking my business elsewhere.
     
  4. 4point5million

    4point5million Well-Known Member

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    For me it was just about seeing the
    Money come in on time without all the noise associated with it.

    Small things I have read about upsetting people such as " unauthorised pets " or " unauthorised furnishings" just seem to bore me and there is way more important things to worry about in life IMHO. Maybe that's just me or perhaps as you get bigger you start to let more of the trivial stuff go
     
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  5. Nemo

    Nemo Well-Known Member

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    I'm doing this at the moment.

    Main reason is incompetence combined with lack of communication.

    Her understanding of when i need to be contacted is at complete odds with mine (and common sense)
     
  6. turk

    turk Well-Known Member

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    There is one PM that I have dealt with for 30+ years who is excellent, if she moves agencies then I move with her. She won PM of the year 2014

    I find that the PM is more important than the agency.
     
  7. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

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    I have changed 2 managers, both due to incompetence on behalf of the agency staff
     
  8. Cadbury99

    Cadbury99 Well-Known Member

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    I've only done this once, with main reasons being lack of communication skills, taking too long to find a tenant, and several differnet PM's in a short timeframe.
    In hindsight I took the easy option of going with the same agency as I bought from and didn't spend enough time on finding a good PM.
    Lesson learnt.
     
  9. Kael

    Kael Well-Known Member

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    For my first IP, I had the worst experience for a property manager. I was new to the property investment scene and didn't do proper research, I just went for the cheapest management fee.

    He would only ever reply to emails on Tuesdays. I have no idea why. If I emailed him on the Monday, he wouldn't reply until the Tuesday the week after. It was like Tuesday was his "reply to emails day". I was working full-time and so was unable to make phone calls very much, whenever I did, he would take days to call back. When the tenant damaged a wall in the property (new home, only 6 months old), he claimed that it was because of something the builders had done and told me I would have to contact the builder. Upon inspection, it was indeed damaged by the tenant. It was as if he didn't want to have confrontation with the tenant. In the end, I felt as though he was working for the tenant and not I, the landlord, who was paying him. So I gave him the flick.
     
  10. 733

    733 Well-Known Member

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    As a fellow investor and also having established a boutique PM agency servicing Brisbane we have learnt the following themes of why people (us included) leave PMs (amplified if your IP is in another town/city) include: lack of communication esp not returning calls/email; lack of follow through on matters; not caring about your IP as though its their own; long vacancy periods; forgetting that owners have budgets being too lazy to source quotes for quality work at reasonable rates; not doing diligent inspections with photos (then an owners nasty surprise when they do an inspection and see the poor state of their IP) as a start of core reasons
    Cheers DiligentPM
    (was rchad) previously
     
  11. Chilliblue

    Chilliblue Well-Known Member

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    Moved twice.

    1. Incompetent new manager and a licensee who ignored the issues over 3 months

    2. New manager who I could not work with (yes its petty but their my properties)

    At the end of the day, the agency is not my concern. The person who is responsible for my assets is and if they are not up to my minimum standards then I take my money elsewhere.
     
  12. srirang

    srirang Well-Known Member

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    Spot on. Lack of communication and being ignored.
     
  13. PrG

    PrG Active Member

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    I changed managing agent last year, not because of lack of communication or that I was being ignored. It was because I had a difficult tenant and the managing agent kept giving in to every demand of theirs and would send me their emails asking me what I wanted to do. I wanted a real estate agent who would handle the tenant without involving me.
     
  14. Banjorellie

    Banjorellie Member

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    I've had two separate issues with PM's.

    The first - a one bed fully furnished apartment in Perth they were charing 12% pw on. They missed numerous inspections, lost remotes, only provided written evidence of one inspection in 18 months (which was on the letterhead of a completely different agency) and failed to provide photo's . Then I received legal correspondence from the council informing me that the rates that they were supposed to pay were not - and the council was subsequently taking legal action against me. Needless to say I learned a few lessons and gave them the boot soon after.

    The second - another apartment in Joondalup. We had lived there for 18 months ourselves with no issues - it had just been built. Tenants contacted the PM about six weeks into their lease stating they were having problems with mould. We requested photographs/more info. A week later they informed the PM they had moved out and wanted compensation for damage caused to their property and wanted the bond back ASAP so they could find another place - Que the PM stating we legally had to return their bond immediately. It turned out they had not been using the exhaust fan in the bathroom (was on a separate switch to light unfortunately) which caused condensation on the sliding doors to balconies. A lot of frustrating conversations with PM about their lack of knowledge and action taken on our behalf.

    So to summarise:
    • Poor communication
    • Failing to complete simple tasks expected of them
    • Little to no knowledge of current legislation
    Since then I've been managing them myself successfully for the last couple of years. I am looking at getting another property and going through a PM however the thought of having to deal with more useless PM's puts me off.
     
  15. EN710

    EN710 Well-Known Member

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    Moved once. So far it's because, they're just 'ok' and they lied to me once about having contacted me for doubled fee on rubbish removal.
    Just 'ok' PM is fine if everyone else is just 'ok'. Be dishonest and they are out.
     
  16. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    The tenant had left keys with a friend whilst on a long vacation. The friend wasn't in town when they returned so they arranged with the PM to get keys.

    The PM left keys for the wrong unit.

    When the tenant's returned to the agency, it was just after closing and the PM was locking up.

    She proceeded to tell and scream at the tenants in the middle of the busy street.

    I self managed shortly afterwards.
     
  17. swanqueen

    swanqueen Well-Known Member

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    I have moved agencies twice.

    The first one was good at collecting rent when it came in, but wasn't great at doing inspections or chasing rent when it was late. Sacked them and moved to a different agency when they couldn't handle the pressure of going to tribunal to evict a non-paying tenant.

    Sacked the second PM for poor response times, lack of documentation (no inspection report and missing leases) and not following up a rent increase even after we instructed and reminded them. We ended up getting locked into a 12 month lease at the old rate.

    Funny thing is, we still get Christmas cards from the first agency. They still think we're their clients!
     
  18. JPS25

    JPS25 Member

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    Not changed management we have a different one for each property, but we are losing one as the owners have sold the rent roll and she is not sure what she is going to do yet. So looks like we are going to have management that we never chose we will just see how it goes with them
     
  19. Elslan

    Elslan Member

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    I have moved agencies when my pm has moved. Now she has her own company I expect no further changes!
    All up I've moved four times in 8 years.
    I've never met a pm so knowledgable, honest, responsive and down right good at her job- than mine.
    I hated dealing with other pms when she went on holidays ect.
     
  20. S.T

    S.T Well-Known Member

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    I switched as my old property manager spent too much time on property forums and Facebook.
     
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