Firstly, brief timeline: 7th November 2017 - signed contract to purchase my mother's house (parents bought it in 1972) from her Estate (I was one of the executors). Included a clause that we could allow potential tenants to view the property once the contract was unconditional. 28th November 2017 - purchase contract went unconditional and we signed the Property Management Agreement. We went with the same agency as they had a large rental roll, they knew the property, they had a set of keys and they knew I was a seller and the buyer. We pointed out they could commence advertising for tenants from this date as we were aiming to snag a tenant before Christmas (best case scenario) or by mid January 2018 (worst case scenario). I budgeted on a rent of $320 per week but the PM recommended $330. 13th December 2017 - property settled. 14th December 2017 - approved quote to replace toilet with a water efficient one. Their preferred plumber performed the work but left holes in the internal and external walls where breather pipe used to be. Had to get PM to address the issue. Holes were plugged but the work was shoddy. Had to request PM to get their tradies back to perform the work to a professional standard. 16th December 2017 - submitted a maintenance request for PM to obtain 3 quotes to replace RHS fence as it was in poor condition. As of today (nearly 3 months later), only have one quote despite many emails requesting PM chase up their preferred fencing contractors. 8th January 2018 - after 6 weeks (I know this includes 2 weeks of the festive season) without getting a rental application, the PM recommended dropping the rent to $320 (my original budget). Prior to this, there were multiple emails to the PM registering our concerns about the lack of interest from suitable tenants. We agreed to the rent reduction. 29th January 2018 - finally snagged a suitable tenant, after 2 months advertising. We believe we missed out on $1,280 of rental income. 22nd February 2018 - safety inspection was conducted. Three expired smoke alarms were replaced (good), 12 x curtains/vertical blinds were fixed/rated as compliant (good) BUT one was rated as non-compliant and corrective action recommended (in the third bedroom). 26th February, 2018 - the PM posted the safety inspection report onto their maintenance portal but failed to notify us of the non-compliance. 2nd March, 2018 - I noticed the safety inspection report when I logged into the portal, read the report and was horrified. The tenant has three young children and one would be sleeping in this bedroom. So, we have had enough. Any recommendations (either via a private message or a post on this thread) for a professional PM would be appreciated.
Yes, I received a private message yesterday. It would be good to get another recommendation so that it is not a “one horse” race from the PC community.
Century21 were great and on top of things. They also have a good team regarding maintenance items and tradies. Stay away from York realty as the managers are the worst I've ever had for any property. Home Used these guys after a few quotes for fencing, also turned out to be a good price, most company's soon as they find out you're not from Toowoomba they will up the price. Evans didn't, and did a great job as I and neighbour were happy.
Thanks for the Century21 recommendation. My sister has an IP (only has one) in Toowoomba and C21 manage her property. She is very happy with them. So, yours is a second recommendation. We will keep away from York. Thanks. I will pass your EPM referral onto our current PM as I want to get things moving.
