PM recommendation Redcliffe Peninsular Qld

Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent PM on the Redcliffe Peninsular. Current which has been marginally better than others in the area has become grossly incompetent over last 6 months and snowballing..

 

Trish @ Waterfront Property

 

Not sure if @Andrew Hancock goes up there but if so is well worth a chat.

 

Can you say who your current is?
I've found Mareea at Homes4U excellent.

 

Thanks @D.T. we absolutely do and manage quite a few properties around there...including one of my own!

- Andrew

 

Another thumbs up for @Andrew Hancock - couldn't be happier with the service they provide

 

To refresh this post and potentially catch people who have missed it last time are there any other recommendations.

I have followed up on a couple above and another from an old SS post but not found what I was looking for. One seemed to be on another wavelength and didn't seemed surprised that people have trouble with PM. Two who had such a high opinion of their business and kept repeating their standard spiel that they didn't ask "what are you looking for in a PM". When I told them what I was looking for they only addressed the areas which satisfied but ignored those they didn't. However both seemed to have better procedures and organisation than my current agency who has cost me a lot over the years, and with repeat issues.

Sorry Andrew, any agency which tries to cover Brisbane far and wide does not meet my criteria.

 

Hi @beachside ,

No problem at all! Everyone has their different idea on what is important to them with respect to property management and of course, agencies need to respect that. For me personally, I believe the proximity of the agency to the property is essentially immaterial (within reason) to the agency's performance with respect to the service they provide given the role by nature is not geographically dependent. I am far more focused on excellent communication, all round professionalism and all items, such as access and inspections, being completed. I have had properties managed by PMs just down the street far, far worse than by PMs a half hour drive away.

For clarification however, we don't just try to cover Brisbane far and wide, we intentionally and effectively cover a wide area using a different business model to that of a traditional agency. We have procedures in place to do so and staff based in different locations to ensure the business model works - which I am proud to say (and as you'll read in our feed back on here) it does!

All the best with your search!

- Andrew

 

Hi Beachside

I can understand your position - it is so important to find a boutique PM service or a chain agency that you can connect with as the PM-owner relationship is critical and needs to work to being long term. From my personal experience as an investor when sourcing PMs to look after my own portfolio that are not in Brisbane, I assess who responds to my emails and telephone calls and really listens...one needs to feel comfortable in the relationship and be aligned with values and working style.

There are many options out there...take your time as this is such an important decision as you are acutely aware of from reading your posts.

 

My previous post should read "One seemed to be on another wavelength and did seemed surprised that people have trouble with PM". MPP was not one of them.

I am a skeptical person, perhaps due to the older I get the wiser and more cautious I become. I treat other peoples recommendations with caution at best, completely ignore at worst - and very dependent on what/who/why may be behind that recommendation. I like to form my own opinion after making my own enquiries, sometimes with an even higher opinion after running them through the ringer, sometimes warning the person who recommended them with information they may not have been aware of, or experienced enough to ask.

I am even more cautious of people who have a business to promote and post on forums adverting it, or one business owner slapping another on the back hoping for a return serve at some stage. It raises the question - what is the motivation for being on the forum??? Over the years on SS there has been some who run a business very relevant to the forum they may be on, but don't advertise as that is not the reason they are on there. There are others who do advertise but give a benefit (discount etc) to members, or are very free with their time and always willing to help or give advise. Then there are those who just use the forum for self promotion. There, I said what many have thought .

Ok Andrew, let see what you're made of ....... I will do a little research and may send you a detailed PM over next few days. Any agency covering a large area of Brisbane irrespective of number of PM'S is one that I would avoid, one covering the greater Brisbane area and able to supply equal service to a descent local agency is unimaginable. I recall 2 members (not sure if still on here) who offered a similar service to you. Those on the forum I spoke to were not impressed with the service from one, plenty of negative posts on the other, and one ended up admitting that the member using them would be better off with a local PM.

Oh I have conducted some good tests Amazing how their adverting spiel does not match reality!!

 

I agree with a lot of your points! We were investors well before we were business owners and you may be surprised at our motivations and what our backgrounds are. I look forward to hearing from you

 

Hi Beachside

Thank you for sharing your insights and wisdom...as you remind us - the Forum is about sharing helpful information and resources rather than a medium for businesses to compete for leads where is starts to feel like a 'sales spiel' competitive context. Good reminders - as a time of year to reflect on things, thank you for the insights which will be taken on board with my online behaviours

 

Anyway .......back to looking for a PM. I think a combination of a persons age, life experiences, experience as a landlord (particularly if hands on rather than sit back leave it to the agent), and investment style is very relevant to what a persons expectations are in a PM. When I made inquiries when looking for my first PM I basically interviewed those on the short list as we walked around the property and one stood out as very experienced and knowledgeable. However, she was a slack PM which I did not discover until 12+ months later when a tradie I had quote on some work for me mentioned that there was 3 unregistered cars in the front yard with weeds growing up around them. I arranged a val of the house, got PM to give tenant required notice for agent to look through, did a quick trip up to meet agent and look through house with them , then walked into PM office and gave 30 days notice, walked into another agents office and dropped the management in their lap. The first PM could have gone on for years with me none the wiser if I had not arranged the tradie myself and had direct contact, or visit every year or two to keep on top of maintenance and touch up as I try to do. How many owners are unaware of what is really happening at their property??? With the benefit of experience I now dig a lot further and ask a lot more questions.

Investment style is very relevant to type of PM required. The owner of the company I work for has 6 IP's which I take care of with most corro, statements etc from agents coming direct to me to check and keep spreadsheets on, give him the bottom line at end of year to give to his accountant. (My job is technical not admin, but he knows I am thorough, and hands on with my own IP). However his IP's were bought for cashflow with minimum GC potential other than adding value when bought and fixed up (fire/termite damaged). As most are in lower socio-economic / DOH areas he does not need to care about the property or quality of tenant so much as the area dictates who is prepared to live there and what they expect. He basically leaves it to the agents to look after with minimal input. There is often repairs and clean ups required at the end of tenancy, usually soaking up most if not more than bond, claims on rent defaults when the tenants leave without notice. Some of these areas have not changed as long as I have known them and not likely in the foreseeable future (unlike other DOH areas). But as long as he comes out a few grand positive on each at the end of the year he does not mind. His approach is passive/reactive, whereas mine is proactive in always trying to get the best tenant to minimize wear and tear or damage, maintaining the house to attract the best tenant I can, fixing things before they break to avoid costlier repairs, and thinking of the neighbours in tenant choice (you could lose a good one and get a bad one that then causes you problems, and it is the quality of residents (owners and tenants) in the street which affects the general street and rental appeal which all contributes to CG).

Two similar people with the same agent could also have different experiences based on what occurs and how it is handled, and difficult to judge a PM on less than one tenancy period without exit and re-let if no other issues through tenancy to test. It comes down to firstly the PM, then the agency (or PM Manager). I would much rather have a good PM who does not need supervising, than a young/inexperienced one who needs to refer to their manager, or I need to take an issue up with the manger who in some cases doubts that the the PM could have been that slack (until they look into it) - as has happened more than once!

Unfortunately the better / more experienced PM's become managers or start up their own business and cease to be PM's.....and the cycle continues, as does the search!

 

Look out for the experienced PMs who start up their own business and stay at the front end of the business with back end support - it sounds like you really value the long term relationship and one reliable and trustworthy point of contact

 

What questions do you usually ask @beachgurl?

This. Sometimes the inexperienced one also act like they know what they are doing and give bad advice OR want you to make the call so they don't get the blame. Proactive and experienced PM is very hard to find.

I like liaising with directly trades especially for bigger items... I find many PM don't have good connections on reasonably priced trades, they are also less inclined to use anyone they have not used before.

 

Yep - really suffered with this issue with my own investment properties, which is part of what lead me to become one.

There's a fine line here sometimes - to cover everyones butts we have to use properly licensed and insured trades, which will often charge more than joe blow from jack of all trades down the street. There's also more to it than just price - ease of use, service level, quality level, availability, etc

If you deal with a PM who's experienced in renovating themselves, chances are they've been through a few trades and sussed out which ones do a good job for a good price. Quite often we'll use trades on our own places first before using them on clients places.

 

Usually non issue for using their regular trades for the regular items (plumbing, electrical, general maintenance, etc). However, for big ticket/ specific items I expect them to contact providers other than their general maintenance guys.

And for maintenance, (when appropriate) to say 'this sound excessive, let's see if there is other alternatives'. The last bathroom flooring patch that I ask to get quotes for - their trades range from $800 to $1500. I asked my contact and he came with a reasonable solution that cost approx. $100.

Young PM does not usually have this experience.

 

From our experience as owners, many PMs are totally overloaded with huge case lists which is why our business made the decision to cap case loads