Is it a good idea to get all rates sent to pm?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by HBK, 5th Mar, 2022.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
Tags:
  1. HBK

    HBK Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    27th Jul, 2021
    Posts:
    424
    Location:
    Sydney
    Ive been getting council and water rates sent to me all these years , i know i can get them sent to my pm and possibly make things easier
    Does anyone not recommend this ? Or does everyone basically do that here ?

    As for insurance ill keep getting that sent to me and get literally everything else paid via pm through rent thoughts ?
    Thanks
     
  2. Michael Mitchell

    Michael Mitchell Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    17th Sep, 2018
    Posts:
    1,378
    Location:
    Brisbane (Nundah)
    Up to you, when you get your monthly statements you can check if whatever has been paid - if you don't see it on there then you know they haven't paid it so they've either not received it or they've missed doing it etc.
     
  3. momentum26

    momentum26 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    16th Mar, 2018
    Posts:
    506
    Location:
    Australia
    You can receive it and forward to your PM to pay it from the rent received. By doing that you can also check in case there are any miss out at suggested above.
     
  4. Tom Rivera

    Tom Rivera Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    2,718
    Location:
    South East Queensland
    We love paying rates for clients, it's just simpler for everyone in most cases- and we can bill water straight away instead of waiting for you to send the notices to us three months later (clients are worse for sending bills late than tenants are at paying them haha!).

    That said, many people have had a bad experience with rates being paid late (or not at all). In all honesty we probably pay 4-5 late a year (for various reasons), but we make sure to pay the late fee on them when it happens. I don't think most agents will do the same though.
     
    craigc, Rambo, Shazz@ and 1 other person like this.
  5. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    6,776
    Location:
    ....UKI nth nsw ....
    It will take all the stress out when Tax time comes around if all the running cost's are on one statement and will make your Accountant's job more simpler ..
     
    Futurerent and Stoffo like this.
  6. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14th Jul, 2016
    Posts:
    5,301
    Location:
    In the Tweed
    No reason you couldn't have the PM sort this just like strata complexes do
    PM forwards renewal and a quote or two to you for approval to proceed with one.
    Like @willair post, make it simple ;) (could even save you a few $'s )
    Once you get to 10 properties or more it's the only way to go :D
     
  7. Shazz@

    Shazz@ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    24th Jun, 2018
    Posts:
    1,310
    Location:
    NSW
    I still pay my council rates (as I like to pay the yearly amount), but have now off loaded my water and body corp fees to my PM. It took me a while, but I now have really competent PMs who I trust.
    I plan to offload the council rates to my PMs soon as well.
    It’s just so much easier now.
     
    momentum26 likes this.
  8. HBK

    HBK Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    27th Jul, 2021
    Posts:
    424
    Location:
    Sydney
    So you get your pm to pay for everything?
     
  9. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    27,098
    Location:
    Sydney or NSW or Australia
    No, they just facilitate the payment :confused:
     
    Stoffo likes this.
  10. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,331
    Location:
    Perth
    Mine handle everything from insurance, water rates, council rates. Once they know they are doing it they budget out the year and ensure that they line them up. Some months they retain some funds if they know the next month is a large outgoings month when insurance + council rates are due.
     
    Stoffo and HBK like this.
  11. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14th Jul, 2016
    Posts:
    5,301
    Location:
    In the Tweed
    Yes, as per What @Westminster said

    It's far easier and works out saving money, no stress for me :cool:

    We've all forgotten to pay some sort of Bill at some point, if the PM misses one they wear the additional charges/interest ;)
     
  12. Poppy

    Poppy Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Jul, 2017
    Posts:
    197
    Location:
    Sydney
    I like to do it myself as it’s effortless (paid through credit card everything on auto) and I like knowing where everything’s going.

    I also enjoy the $600 a year in gift cards from credit card points. It’s simply effortless.
     
    Futurerent likes this.
  13. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    13,932
    Location:
    Brisbane
    Since handing over our rentals to a PM, I've also handed over QUU and BCC rates. I still pay insurances.

    Anything that is paid via BPay won't earn points though, like QUU, rates (with Westpac anyway). That's what I've been told, so perhaps your points are coming from elsewhere?
     

    Attached Files:

  14. Travelbug

    Travelbug Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    963
    Location:
    Gold Coast (from Sydney)
    I used to pay everything myself but I got sick of doing it. I guess you can do direct debit now. But I used to sit and pay everything.
    My agents now pay rates, water and strata. I do Insurance as then I can get quotes and change if I want.
     
    wylie and Westminster like this.
  15. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,331
    Location:
    Perth
    Yup and it's all in one neat report with scanned invoices that I can use at EOFY
     
    Travelbug, HBK and Stoffo like this.
  16. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,331
    Location:
    Perth
    That probably works well for an IP held in your personal name but once you start using trusts etc it starts getting messy so now I just let PM do it all.
     
    HBK likes this.
  17. HBK

    HBK Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    27th Jul, 2021
    Posts:
    424
    Location:
    Sydney
    How many ips till you consider putting them in a trust? I only have 2 atm in my personal name but looking at getting anothet 2 this year and more later
     
  18. Mel Morgan

    Mel Morgan Sydney Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    6th Jun, 2017
    Posts:
    1,448
    Location:
    Sydney
    I'm much happier getting PMs to pay the outgoings, although hubby likes to get the credit card points. When you have more than a couple properties, its just admin you don't need.

    As a PM we also pay the late penalties on outgoings, its only painful if we haven't received a strata bill for whatever reason and they don't tell us till next quarter, worst one was $70 in interest and a 'late payment' fee :confused:
     
  19. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    11,331
    Location:
    Perth
    That's different for every person. I use trusts to help manage land tax and to distribute income
     
  20. Rolf Latham

    Rolf Latham Inciteful (sic) Staff Member Business Plus Member

    Joined:
    14th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    10,599
    Location:
    Gold Coast (Australia Wide)
    From a future lending perspective, one hands the lender more information with that than one would like, more than one app recently has had a bumpy ride due to actual expenses disclosure via PM statements rather than letting the lender assign their usual deemed % of rent as expenses.

    Further, for those with PPOR debt left, the equity available, and the right planning and tax advice, paying deductible expenses from cashflow rather than borrowing them can mean a much longer path to owing your own home an acquire further assets along the way.

    ta

    rolf
     
    Travelbug likes this.