Self Manage vs Agent

Hiya,

If you live onsite and have tenants leased out in the other flat is it better to self manage?

What are the pros of having an agent 'manage' your property, the cons obviously being they eat your money without doing jack. Is it worthwhile having an agent incase of bad tenants that you need to get rid of quick? I will live in the other flat so am available to manage it myself, unless theres good advantages of having an agent.

Also advertising for a rental - is it better to have an agent advertise? You can advertise on some site and pay $200 and it goes on Realestate.com.au too.

thanks

 

Self managing is no problem until there is a problem. The main thing is you need to know make sure you're across all the legislation and in compliance with this so that if/when things go wrong you can effectively manage the situation.

 

I have a Landlord who self-manages tenancies in her battleaxe block where she lives in the front. She gets me to do the entry/exits and gets advice every now and then, which I'm more than happy to provide because she has other properties with us. I can think of a few situations in the last couple of years where she might've been in trouble if we weren't there to help out - one of which the male tenant threatened her over a total misunderstanding relating to poor knowledge of the exit process.

As the others have said:
- It's all good till it's not.
- You need to know the legislation.

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Those services for property owners to advertise on REA, Domain, etc aren't too bad, and you'll probably be able to advertise as well as 70% of agents. If you did pay an agent, make sure it looks like it'll be worth the cost (Usually 1-2wks rent), benefits should be:
- Lower vacancy.
- Better quality tenant.
- Higher rent.
- Save you time.
- Expert paperwork.

Will they use premium advertising, professional photos, signboards, regular viewings, etc?

 

Op, do you know what to do if the tenant stops paying?

 

I vote for self managing as the Residential Tenancies Act is a simple piece of legislation.

Agents have no special powers to remove a tenant and would have to go through tribunal to get an order anyway, which you can do yourself.

If !$&@ hits the fan and you really think you can’t cope or manage, then you could simply engage an agent to deal with it.

 

Is it? I find most landlords don't t know the correct process to terminate for even basic breaches like rent arrears.

Let alone some of the trickier things that come up.

 

I really think in your case you should self manage. It’s very easy. There is nothing to do so why pay someone for doing nothing?

 

Thanks a lot guys, I think I will:
- self manage
- definitely get LL insurance, is this separate from property insurance?
- still contemplating whether to self advertise, pay $200 so it appears on RealEstate too or advertise with agent, will talk to more agents first.

I have looked at legislations online for when **** hits the fan and I need to evict a trouble some tenant and as mentioned there's nothing special an agent can do that I cant.

 

I self manage and currently use eezirent for advertising, although there are many other hosting agencies that do the same. Costs around $130 for advertising until leased and posts to re.com , domain and some others. Also do NDT checks on tenants thru this site.

Once you have an account and your properties in a portfolio it only takes a few minutes to activate a new ad (ie. just edit the price, bond and availability).

For self managing you do need a certain temperament, ie friendly but firm.

 

That's if you can find a PM that will sort out the mess, I wouldn't, knowing when it had been sorted you would go back to self-managing.

 

There’s no proof of what you’re claiming. But, even if it is true I’m not sure how that relates to how the legislation is a simple act. Perhaps they simply haven’t read it?

I understand that property managers have a vested interest in making landlords think they do an incredibly complex and complicated job.
But, the fact is most property managers hold less skills and qualifications than white collar professionals.

 

dont self manage, recipe for disaster

 

I was a self manager of multiple properties for 18 years before I started my own agency. There was a lot of learning experiences and challenges I faced in that time, but it is possible if you have the time, tenacity and people skills.

Otherwise its not really about the qualifications but about the experience, systems, strategy, relationships and processes that a professional property manager has in place.

 

Care to elaborate further?

 

I tried it and I had a 5 year brilliant tenant managed by PM, it all turned to pot when I decided to self manage. Unless you have the right mix/personality it wont work
Too soft they will take advantage, too hard and you will lose them. I wont do it ever again

 

@Ron It might be worth joining a property owners advocacy group as they have access to Tenant databases, help with other educational Info with laws and membership is tax-deductible also.
Membership Benefits - Property Owners Association of NSW Inc