Property Managers are they necessary?

If you had a small (n<2) investment portfolio, would a Property manager be necessary? I feel like maybe starting out, you could afford to take the time out to manage the property yourself.

Could you really do it yourself? What are the likely things and problems you'd run into? I have zero experience with this, and was really trying to weigh up the pros and cons of doing so.

Shik.

 

3 of my properties I manage myself.
You need to decide if you have the free time if things need doing and can handle the pressure if things go wrong.
Also you will need to be familiar with the current laws the properties are located in.

Main problems would be organising repairs and maintenance. If it's a 3am call can you do it?
Chasing tenants up if rent is not paid.
Issuing the correct forms and documentation and the start, middle and end of the lease.

Make sure you have building, contents & landlord insurance.

 

Thankyou! That was just the sort of info I was after

 

It's one of the basics, always get building/pest inspection, always get insurance, use a property manager.

Sure you could. But you'll soon find out why that small amount of money is worth paying someone else.

 

3am call outs are a thing of the past, subscribe to racv emergency home assist, give tenants the number for emergencies and enjoy your sleep.

 

Do they have that for investment properties?

 

Yes, they do. Though I'm not sure if it's valid in other states - certainly in Victoria. All my properties have it, self managed and PM managed.

 

we manage a large number of proprieties and I get the emergency phone a lot. would get a call one in every 2 weekends nothing really ever at 3am. we handle this situation at sign up. most plumbers and our plumber has a 24 hour number. your biggest issue would be working with ion the legislation and tenanting the property when it become vacant.

 

And if they stop paying the rent.

 

Interesting. Is there a flat fee or pay per call out?

 

RACV is $179 per property (tax deductible) You get 8 call outs a year per property. Looks like NRMA have something similar in NSW - http://www.mynrma.com.au/emergency-home-assist/faqs.htm

My tenants have had to use it a few times, had a gas leak at one property from the meter. Turned out to be corroded gas piping. RACV sent out a gas plumber, made it safe (comply with legislation) and then they quoted on full repair costs - I found the quote very well priced so went ahead with it.

Another call out was for something simple that ended up being a gas hot water pilot light gone out. Saved me a fair bit of cash as it was on the weekend.

Check out some of the details on what they cover, you should find it matches up almost identical to a landlords responsibilities for emergency repairs.

 

You can self manage but why go to the trouble and if you needed to go to court over something they will represent you.

 

There are plenty of tools out there to assist you self manage. (& plenty more in agencies who will do the same).

 

Right on, cheers, I'll take a look.

 

With our first IPs we used a PM.

It was a terrible experience - they didn't communicate, took ages finding tenants. It was just one issue after the next.

For that reason, we decided to give self managing a go. Well my wife did - I can't claim much credit.

She was proactive, clued up about tenancy legislation and processes.

For the majority of the time, it was quite easy. However - when things do go wrong, man is it a hassle to deal with!

We've been to the tribunal because of a non paying tenant, had phone calls at 3am due to a laundry flooding and found out there were 8 people living in a property that we'd rented out to two!

All in all - it became too much. We ended up finding an awesome PM from SS (good old SS) - and it's made a world of difference. We still self manage two properties - but when new tenants are needed for those, we'll just hand those over too to the PM too.

Self managing is fine if you're willing to put in the work, stick to process and confront situations which can be quite awkward (calling a tenant and asking about their late rent for instance). If you're not prepared for that - then a property manager is worth it.

Cheers

Jamie

 

For me, yes, they are a necessity. I don't have the time, nor the inclination to manage my tenants and learn the appropriate legislation and make sure they adhere to it.

I see PM's like an insurance policy.

 

Yeah, plenty of better things to do with your time. Would rather be researching property than spending my time worrying about one I've already got. And for what could be $25/week (deductible). Totally worth it.

 

Using a PM allows you to work on your portfolio and not in it.

To me its about leveraging other peoples time as well as capital.

Last thing I wanted to do was to become a slave to it.

That defeats the purpose why I started investing in the first instance.

 

Having tried both self managing and using a Property Manager, I much prefer using a PM. I don't really have the time to manage my tenants.

 

While I have read all of the property legislation a dozen times front to back I do not keep up to date with the changes in this area and my time is precious for family and friends so I use the services of property managers for my investment properties. I have been very happy with the communication level and professional service provided.