how to trust your property manager?

Hi everyone,
I bought an investment property with help of buyer agent and there was a small crack on base of shower which was reported non significant by a qualified building inspector only two month ago.
House is being property managed by the the same company as did buy the property for me.
I live in another state and I was told yesterday that crack is leaking and need urgent deep repair which included changing tiles, waterproofing layers even changing shower glass etc with at least 6k bill.

I am wondering when you manage your investment remotely with help of property manager, how I can trust this PM as they didn't pick this problem 2 month ago and there is chance, they keep coming back with more repairs and I don't have access to my property to check if it is true or false. what would you do?

Thank you
Max

 

Hi Max,

A property manager is not a building inspector. It sounds like you've been let down by the building inspector or have misinterpreted the building inspection report. This is not a failing of the property manager. A property manager is not required to have any building knowledge. A licenced building inspector on the other hand...

Moving forward, so you've got a waterproofing issue, the cheap option is a Megasealed-type approach, the expensive and proper option is as you've found out - rip it all out and start fresh.

Lastly, maintenance-burdened properties are the bane of property managers. They are time consuming, the cause of many disputes with tenants, headaches in general; summary: they cause a whole lot of work for no pay. Property managers make no money on organising/co-ordinating repairs & maintenance. It's not something a property manager wants to do or would create situations for.

A lot of people who have no idea seem to think there are kick backs under the table from contractors to PM's who generate work for them, as a PM myself, it's simply not true because it is literally not worth doing - I can't fathom why any PM would do such a thing, it is not even worth the effort, and not to mention "secret commissions" are a serious breach of the Act - can't imagine any Principal/Licensee risking their business/livelihood for such a thing.

 

Hi Michael,

Thank you for your suggestion about megasealed service.

Property management department with buyer agent are part of one company, so I guess one part has not done the job properly which could be buyer agent.

Worst case scenario, if there is secrete commission, if PM get caught s/he will lose license but it is difficult to prove it from an owner point of view.

Thanks

Hi Micha

 

Again, a buyers agent and building inspector are different things.

Are you really trying to say you will believe there is a crime just because its hard to prove it?

 

Step 1, don't be paranoid

 

Hi Max, a Buyer's Agent (still a Real Estate Agent), is not required to have any knowledge of building. If a Buyer's Agent is doing building inspection reports [in QLD] and they're not QBCC licenced and insured, please ask for your money back and report them to the QBCC :/

 

Not really,

 

Property managers are exactly that. To manage property

They're not electricians, plumbers, structural engineers, building inspectors.

That being said, they should know the basics, and have common sense
You don't want them calling an electrician when a tenant has reported a blown light globe

 

Echoing the responses of others, nothing to do with the buyers agent or the PM. Without further information there is no evidence that the building inspector has done the wrong thing either. Even if they have potentially misidentified the significance of it, I'm sure if you read through the pages and pages of disclaimers attached to a building inspection there would be limited (if any) recourse.

This is part of the investment risk when you purchase a property. There is one person that assumes the investment risk, and that is you as the owner.

- Luke

 

Get another manager, 6k to repair a leaking shower is ridiculous, I had new lining put, in glass and tiles removed , replaced. and sealed for $1,200 , after another quote for 8K.

 

Thank you

 

Maybe another quote to start with?

- Luke

 

Can you post a photo of the shower? (Just curious), and was the contractor licenced and insured and of legal residency status?

 

Just wondering if Megasealed works only for tiles, PM says because shower base is acrylic so there is no other option here but replacement.

 

Hi Michael,
Yes, contractor is licensed and insured, I am not sure about last one. Please find photos here. Thank you

 

Yeah that's a much smaller job than I had envisaged. Recently had an older style property that needed new shower, Owner didn't get much change from $5k and it was a rip the whole lot out and start again type of deal.

 

Thank you

 

If you want to survive in this game, you cant be paranoid and blame everyone every time there is a repair. Wait till a tenant absconds. That happens too.

 

Good point, thank you