Letting fee

If some agencies charge a week's rental to sign the same tenant up for another year (and I believe some agencies do charge this), then I reckon some agencies might also have the cheek to change for taking over a new property. After all, the paperwork involved in signing the same tenant (which is minimal) wouldn't be more than the complete setting up for a new property, would it?

 

Good point @MyPropetyPro. I've always self managed, but for the past six or so years we've been happy to pay a week's rent + GST for an agent to find us a tenant on a "let only" basis. That was partly because getting it on re.com was difficult (almost impossible really) until then, but mostly because we had three houses empty the week my mother passed away and I wasn't up to it with a funeral to arrange and just exhausted with everything else that we'd been through. Finding tenants seemed so surreal with what we were going through and we happily handed them over.

The last time one of these houses was empty, I paid an agent, and sat nearby just to see the volume of applicants that went through in the 15 minute timeslot. I was incredulous when the agent turned up 8 minutes late, went upstairs, back downstairs two minutes later and left. I think perhaps he used the facilities. Nobody came through, but that isn't the point. I knew I had to do something so I put the house on Gumtree, found the tenant, passed her to the agent for checks (he may have been happy to screw me over and not bother opening the house, but I wasn't going to do that back to him), and paid him one week + GST for filling in the forms. (I may even have done the forms for that house, having met the tenant initially, can't remember.) That tenant is still there nearly six years later. She sought out Gumtree due to not wanting to deal with PMs any more.

Since then, I have found tenants myself with the DIY re.com sites and still have used agents, depending on what the market is doing, how busy I am etc.

I do recall one agency happy to charge me a week's rent + GST and then suggesting I might like to do the forms. I'm thinking, no thanks, that's what the $550 + GST is for. I'm paying advertising fees either way, so if I do the forms, they are being paid good coin just to field enquiries and do a TICA check and take in the form filled in the the tenant.

Anyway, my question is your thoughts on agencies taking two weeks' rent + GST to do the initial checks, forms, meter reading etc. That is a bit chunk.

And when I sign the same tenant to another term, that is not a big job either. But some agencies apparently take another week's rent + GST. It is just a new lease. And I'm guessing that most agencies would have the tenant call to the office to sign? No inspections, no checks, no leaving the office. I know when people pay cash, the tenant brings in the cash. The agent doesn't go and collect it.

Perhaps having never paid for a PM (other than "let only" as above), I'm more aware of this when I have to put my hand in my pocket to pay for these things, especially when I've been asked to actually do the entry condition report and lease myself .

I'm imaging a small boutique agency (run from home) would mean someone could provide similar service for a lower fee due to not having to kowtow to a franchise with all the costs involved with that, and high street rent.

 

Good news .