Property manager overcharging for maintenance

So what would you do in this situation?

My PM has obtained 2 quotes for me for some maintenance, both of which I thought were too high. They refused to get any others.

So I got my own quote, which has come back at slightly over HALF what they were quoted.

I'm a bit miffed at arranging my own maintenance when I am paying the PM to do this as part of their fee.

What would you do?

 

Check the scope if its half the cost

 

Probably direct my agent to use the quote I got if I was happy with it. Then suggest to maybe use the guy I just found in the future for similar things.

Then stop being miffed and move on.

 

I've been in this situation before Mr Bond. Since you have your own quote and cheaper, I would use that for a start. My manager was great except some of the quotes where a little high and it's not their job to get 20 quotes each time maintenance is required, but usually a great manager has a maintenance team that can get market value quotes for jobs that are required. If you like the management team, stick with them, but advise them to use gims maintenance or something equivilant.

 

Depends on what it is really, what kinda task is it?

The ones the PM arranged would likely be licensed, insured and previously used / vouched for people. As an example, some untested, unlicensed, uninsured random off of airtasker would be cheaper than that.

In most cases though, PM's are just glorified receptionists. Just take phone calls and emails and redirect them to others and don't actually know anything about property nor investing. They don't know what things are worth because they don't have investment properties of their own nor done renovations of their own to to properly understand repairs and built up good teams over time.

 

James, in a number of movies I have seen you use a silencer.

I think you know what to do, as opposed to wasting bandwidth in a property forum...

 

Half the cost for the same job is odd. As Dave said, check the scope of the work to ensure it matches. PM's also use verified and tested trades that they know provide a good product and service.

Contrary to popular belief, trades don't usually charge more thinking that the agency will use them regardless. It works the other way around and the agency becomes a constant source of work so they do their best to provide competitive quotes and a good end result as they don't want the work to dry up. This assumes, of course, that the PM has worked hard to find good trades from the outset and is willing to change if service deteriorates on the part of the trade.

We constantly review ours and I routinely provide a back up review of invoices and results to ensure they are charging appropriately. If I'm not happy I'll call the trade to have a chat and if I'm still not happy, issue a direction to cease using them. As an investor first and foremost I'm acutely aware of this aspect to PM and therefore our clients deserve the same.

- Andrew

 

Spot on. That's what I've come to realise. I saw a recent maintenance invoice that had a 40% discount because of a deal the provider had with the property management company I'm using. No complaints from me

Cheers

Jamie

 

So you asked your PM to get another quote--hardly an unreasonable request. Who's running the show...Donald Trump your PM and get yourself a new one that doesn't mind helping you with your concerns.