17 Ways to Reduce Landlord Stress with Property Management
Whether you’re personally managing your investment property, or have engaged the services of a professional these tips can help in reducing the vacancy of your investment portfolio
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY: When advertising your property for rent, be sure to use professional photography, as this helps attract not only a higher rent, but also better quality tenants. The better quality tenant you attract, the less stress you have throughout the management of your investment property. Better quality tenant can equal less money being spent on the property at a later date.
GET VISIBLE: Who is actually seeing your property? Ensure you get visible across all the major real estate websites in your area. Social media, such as Facebook is another great tool and nothing quite as reassuring as a referral from a friend.
TENANT GIFT: Starting off a new tenancy with a small gift works amazingly for creating a good honest relationship with your new tenant. It can also help minimise minor maintenance issues and keep any rental arrears at bay. Our baskets at HERE Property have been an absolute hit amongst our tenants.
MORE PAYMENT OPTIONS FOR YOUR TENANTS: Be sure to choose an agent that has more than one option for tenants to pay their rent, giving tenants more options of payment types, gives them less excuses for not being able to make the rental payments. While managing a property yourself, you are restricted to a couple of ways for accepting payments, and you need to be clear and sure you have the correct rent ledger steps in place.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Ensure your agency uses a tenancy blacklist company, so a thorough background check can be done, our agency uses NTD & TICA who are leading the way in tenancy checks for a background search on prospective tenants.
MORE OPEN HOME OPTIONS: Having an agent that uses an online booking system for potential tenants, helps fill properties with better quality tenants faster. Our agency has a 24 hour 7 day per week online booking system, giving tenant’s ample opportunities to book a viewing to suit their needs, rather than waiting on an agent to call them back with a time.
CASH FLOW TO OWNERS: HERE Property understands the strain when waiting for rental payments at the end of the month, so we offer our clients a twice monthly payment option.
REGULAR PROPERTY INSPECTIONS: Ensure regular inspections of your investment property are being conducted. A well-documented report will build a history of your property and allow you to plan for maintenance. HERE Property conduct the legislated maximum of four inspections per year with a photographic routine report system that’s sent to owners within 24 hours of inspection completion.
BE ACCESSIBLE: Managing your investment isn’t just 5 days per week, having an agency that’s open 7 days per week means your agency can alleviate the stress for tenants as well as owners, if maintenance arises on weekends HERE Property can solve the problem and keep their tenants more settled in the home, giving them less reasons to move out as they know they can access us 7 days per week.
COMMUNICATION: Calling an office not knowing who you need to speak with or who knows about your investment is stressful enough. HERE Property have one property manager allocated to your investment as well as having our Principal, Rob Edwards overseeing property management operations. We’re available to speak with you if you ever have any concerns.
INVESTOR SUPPORT: Having an agency that supplies a service to investors prior to purchasing their property is above and beyond the standard real estate Industry. HERE Property have a specialized agent, whom isn’t about making a sale on a property, but giving advice on rental returns & potential tenant attraction ratings regardless of agency you’re looking to purchase through, and it’s FREE.
SMOKE ALARMS / RCD’S / SECURITY: be sure to use a specialised technician to install and regularly check your smoke alarms. Having peace of mind that an expert in the industry has checked the alarms all in accordance to the legislative standards of Australia. HERE Property employ the services of Response Electrical to do all the works on their behalf, including RCD, smoke alarm and security compliance, which makes-up their 3-point safety check. This ensures all properties under our management meet the requirements of the Australian standard, if anything was to happen to one of our properties, we have peace of mind knowing we have done our job for our owners.
LANDLORD INSURANCE: Be sure to have the correct cover for your investment property, too many owners think that their property is covered under the standard insurance cover while having a tenant in place. This is not the case, as you are not covered for loss of rent, damage caused by a tenant and much more. It’s too hard to accommodate for circumstantial changes, such as death divorce or a loss of a job, three key areas that can cause a tenant to not pay their rent. Contact HERE Property for a comparison of recommended companies.
TAX DEPRECIATION SCHEDULE: it’s a great idea to have an expert give a depreciation schedule on a property to help save more costs for your investment that your accountant can’t do. There are items in your home that lose value over time, and having the right expert come into your home can save you hundreds of dollars in tax per year, in some cases more money is being saved than what you could be paying in management fees.
PROPERTY PREPARATION: Ensure your property is looking its best. Gardens and lawns should be neat and tidy, and the property de-cluttered for your marketing photos and viewings. If a prospective tenant can see a property is in good condition they are more likely to apply as they feel the owner and/or agent has more respect for the property.
PRE-VACATE PROCEDURE: Regardless of an owner or a tenant vacating a property, when a property is to become vacant, it’s a great idea to supply the outgoing occupant with a list of preferred tradespeople, including cleaners, lawn and garden care, maintenance and specified utilities companies and items to look out for to ensure a smooth transition.
TENANT FOCUSED TECHNOLOGY: Ensuring your tenants have access to their rental payment history, can easily communicate with their property manager and can accurately and efficiently notify of any maintenance has become imperative in our busy lives. HERE Property gives tenants access to a dedicated portal so they are able to access full payment ledgers, paid to dates and have direct contact with their property manager, 24/7. We also use an online web form which can attach photographs and use smart phone auto-fill functionality to make maintenance reporting easier and more accurate.
