What information do others get from their property managers? For example,
– Monthly statement detailing all financial aspects of the property? (in hard copy?)
– Do any of you guys acquire a copy of the “Residential Tenancy agreement” for each property? As investors are we permitted to have this information considering privacy laws and that there is a third party property manager in place?Comments greatly appreciated.
MarkyMark
Every month in the mail (ie hard copy – on paper) I get a rent statement/report. This outlines rent payed in, expenses paid out and the balance which is transferred to our bank account. Together with this my PM sends any invoices (eg this month the seal on the oven door needed repairing) and a newsletter that keeps me up to date with whaat is going on in ther agency, their local area and property in general (eg this month it had an intro telling about the local wether and one of the staff on holidays, a speil about daffodil day, info on a training day that their staff are attending, a thankyou to all their tradespeople, an article on how to select the best tenants and an invitation to buy another IP for them to manage).
At the end of the financial year they post a printed summary for the year of all income and expenses, GST, etc to make life easier for our accountant.
Yes we do get a copy of the residential tenancy agreement.
We also get posted copies of periodical inspection reports done on the property. Sometimes they also include photos if there is any particular damage or other issues.
I only have one IP but I love my PM team and consider them to be the best I’ve heard of.
If you had multiple IP’s and/or multiple PM’s then maybe a professional book keeping service would keep things in order and coordinate the varioius IP’s and PM’s until your accountant ties up the whole package at the end of the year.
I can only wish for the opportunity to deal with this problem myself
Cheers
SonjaMarky,
The owner will get a copy of the RTA (lease) if managing through a PM.
kay henry
Hi MarkyMark,
In answer to your questions:
Monthly statement detailing all financial aspects of the property?
Yes, including original copies of invoices/receipts of repairs carried out by tradespeople on the relevant IP.Do any of you guys acquire a copy of the “Residential Tenancy agreement” for each property?
Absolutely!!! As a landlord it is your legal right to this information. It basically just details the name(s) of your tenant(s), the length/term of the lease and how much they will be paying you.Hope this helps.
Jo
Thanks guys,
My PM is pretty slack. I have to really squeeze everything out of him. He is not really that pro-active unfortunately. I have nearly dropped him a few times and gone with someone more professional, but just at the last minute he comes through with something good. So I think “oh he’s alright”. hmmm….You guys that have responded, sound like you have pretty good PM’s, are these smaller relo’s or from the larger franchise groups?
My guy is just a small office.
MarkyMark
Hi MarkyMark,
The PMs of my IPs vary, one for example was from a small agency which I came across when I actually purchased the IP from them. They have since been taken over by larger franchise, as was the case with another IP of mine years ago.
It seems that the bigger fish tend to gobble up the littlier ones in the end anyways.
The key is to check out a few PM and their respective agencies; make a few calls, talk to people (ask for their recommendations) and sooner or later, you will know which PM/agency is the one who will win your business.
Cheers,
Jo
Mine was originaly Ray White and is now First National. Big one taken over by another big one… but the staff stayed the same and have always been wonderful.
Cheers
SonjaMarky,
I generally have a rule not to disrupt tenants too much, so I usually stay with the PM they are paying rent to. If I don’t go with that one (or there’s no tenant so it doesn’t matter), then I will go with the RE that sold me the property. I’m all about continuity and lack of hassle, so I just go with them.
With the last 2 IP’s Ive purchased… one has an on-site manager, who lives at the complex with her husband, and who manages the properties there that are IP’s- she’s a complete darling *bless*, and she kind of considers herself on-call 24/7. The complex is her home too, and she loves it, like I do. She and I might be neighbours when I retire, if she’s still old enough to walk by then (or if I am)
)With the most recent IP, the RE was involved in the development and the marketing of the complex, and they have all the rentals there, and I bought the unit from the same RE too. They know it like the back of their hand.
As with dealing with solicitors, banks, accountants, PM’s… I like people who are patient, and understand my needs, and I am patient if they make a mistake. They make mistakes, but so do I in life, so I don’t care if they do.
I am explicit in telling my PM’s at the start how I do things- that I am a hands-off person, for the most part, and for them to do repairs and that I want to be drama-free about it all. Others are more hands-on and want to do repairs themselves etc. I think it’s probably important to let them know what kind of person you are- lack of communication about expectations is probably one of the reasons people change PM’s quite a bit.
kay henry
Markymark, I am receiving all of the above (rental statements, receipts, newsletter etc).
I have to agree with Kay- that communication is really important. Tell them how you’d like to do things.I told my pm that I want no stress, and given them a limit of $200 for small repairs. So I don’t even have to know about repairs till they’re done and show up on my statement. Any repairs/maintenance above this amount will have to be approved by me first.
It works really well and they never bother me with small stuff.I have stayed with the RE office that sold me the property, and this office is run by a wife/husband team, in where the husband handles the sales and the wife the PM department.
Celivia
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I think by this discussion it is evident that I could be more proactive as to communicating how I want things done.I think I have taken a bit of a passive stance and just gone with the flow. This is not really my character, I think in this case it was all pretty new to me and the bulk of my research was on getting the right property and the right price etc etc. So when it came to the management I was not completely clear.
I agree with what your saying Kay Henry in terms of minimising the tenants hassle. I genuinely want my tenants to be happy, not only to maximise returns.
Monopoly, you were saying that you get the original receipts for repairs (not copies). Is there a reason that you get the originals? For all intents and purposes copies would be ok wouldn’t they?
Thanks everyone,
MarkyMark
Originally posted by MarkyMark:Monopoly, you were saying that you get the original receipts for repairs (not copies). Is there a reason that you get the originals? For all intents and purposes copies would be ok wouldn’t they?
Yes Mark, copies would be fine, however the PMs have always sent me the originals, and kept the copies on their files. I would guess this done with all landlords/ladies(???)
An accountant once told me that “copies” are perfectly acceptable, and if accompanied by the REAs “statement” detailing the repairs, can hold greater credibility (than just the original invoices/receipts) with the ATO!!! Go figure….
Jo
Yep, same here. They have always sent me the originals. I’ve got to admit that I’ve taken a lot of this stuff for granted and never thought to ask what other people’s PMs do.
Sonja
Hi Mark,
What people have discussed here is a fairly typical level of information supply and if your PM isn’t delivering you need to have a chat to him/her detailing your expectations.I find it very helpful to talk to my PM when they first get my property to talk about what I expect. I also make a point of ringing them whenever I get a property condition report and talk about the contents irrespective of whether or not the report is good, bad or indifferent. This shows the PM that I am also maintaining a watch over my asset.
I use Outlook’s Calendar to trigger a lease due to expire warning about two weeks out from the relevant date. This way I ensure the tenant doesn’t drift onto periodic leases and ensures that I have some control over when the respective property/ies come up for lease renewal – middle of winter isn’t generally the best time to find tenants.
Derek
[email protected]Property Investment Support Available. Ongoing and never stopping. PM welcome.
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