Why Should You Use An Onsite Manager?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Pumpkin, 26th Mar, 2018.

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  1. Pumpkin

    Pumpkin Well-Known Member

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    Good Monday morning. What a week has passed, looking forward to the Easter Holidays....

    Just read an article of the above title, nothing really new to me, but would like to share with this Community, especially those who are new to this topic OSM (Onsite Manager). I have no affiliation with the Author, just an advocate of the industry. Would like to hear views from both sides.

    Why Should You Use An Onsite Manager?
     
  2. KinG3o0o

    KinG3o0o Well-Known Member

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    onsite is good.. someone to refer too becomes your first point of contact.. as long as they are not bias to strata manager & trades..
     
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  3. Pumpkin

    Pumpkin Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for your response. Would you mind to elaborate?
    These are two different parties Strata Manager and Tradies....
     
  4. KinG3o0o

    KinG3o0o Well-Known Member

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    corruption and commision.
    allot of dodgy building manager are also the strata manager and the trades work for them. so they are double/triple dipping.. its not fair to all parties. make sure the building manager works for the body corporate.

    some building i own in sacked the strata manager/building manager within 2 years lol so we re hire BOTH. that way we know they are independent
     
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  5. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Some very valid points in the article (read promo) however it fails to highlight the risks as well.

    Not all onsite managed (OSM) buildings are the same - that is, an apartment block with a mix of long term tenants & owner occupiers is vastly different to a resort rental full of holiday lets. Usage differs, so does maintenance, waste removal, cleaning, noise etc.

    Holiday lets with OSM may be biased towards the OSM's own units leading to reduced occupy and return to other investors.
     
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  6. Jane Ridder

    Jane Ridder Well-Known Member

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    I'm sure there's a lot of good on site managers out there, but my experience over the years (with two of my properties in different complexes), is the on site managers start off being very enthusiastic and proactive, but after a few months they become seemingly overwhelmed, jaded and complacent. They were pleasant enough, but the communication just fell away.

    For example, one of them regularly sent my monthly rent payments to the wrong bank account and failed to tell me that the tenant had reported termite activity. The other one let the standard of the property deteriorate to a level that wasn't acceptable to me (or prospective tenants).

    Replaced both of them with a senior professional property manager (not a 23 year old on minimum wages as characterised by the article) last year. So far, so good.
     
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  7. Jennifer Burns

    Jennifer Burns Member

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    I had an apartment in Brisbane's West End a few years ago with an onsite manager and they were absolutely hopeless. I believe it was their first property management job when they 'bought the rights'.

    I ended up outsourcing to a local agent who knew more about the building than they did.
     
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  8. Pumpkin

    Pumpkin Well-Known Member

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    This is new to me. We are in Qld and Strata Managers are like Secretaries whilst Building Manager is the Caretaker. Is that a NSW thing?

    In Qld, Building Manager does work for the BC. There is a Caretaking Agreement between the two.

    Very good point Scott. Hope other Investor read this.

    Thanks for sharing Jane. It is unfortunate that looks like your OSM either has no depth, or interest. How can they not care about their investment? They have paid for the "Right" and the value will deteriorate if they let it go down....
    Just curious, are you on the Committee? Perhaps it's time to take action if they do not fulfill their roles....

    Gee, I could C&P my response to Jane to you :p. The "Right" wont be cheap, and the rent should be good given that it's West End, so should get good commission. (I know because it's very close to us) I hope they were just being new and overwhelmed. Are you in the Committee?
     
    Last edited: 27th Mar, 2018
  9. Jane Ridder

    Jane Ridder Well-Known Member

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    Just curious, are you on the Committee? Perhaps it's time to take action if they do not fulfill their roles....

    The properties are interstate and I didn't have the time or inclination to get that 'hands on'. As mentioned, I've changed the property management arrangement away from on-site and it's running a lot smoother now.

    My feeling is that less experienced on-site managers can underestimate the pressure of being around the tenants all the time and eventually it affects their performance.
     
  10. melbournian

    melbournian Well-Known Member

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    had a place in Melbourne which had a group of apartments all run by the same mob. they had an onsite manager - and the OC paid for his accommodation. dodge - if you asked me since his working hours was only Weekdays and also having one bloke spread across too many apartments building only makes it harder to get things done. better have one guy fully dedicated to his job per building.