Using a property management team that has a dedicated leasing specialist is so important both for the protection of your property and to help build a sustainable relationship between tenants, agent and landlord.

You have heard the tenant horror stories…

I’m sure you’ve watched the news and heard the many horror stories of bad tenants defaulting on rent payments, leaving trash behind, and even destroying property; costing the landlords thousands of dollars??

Hearing these stories is enough to put anyone off delving into the world of property investing.

I see an ongoing trend where landlords put a huge amount of time and effort into researching their investment properties yet very little time into researching for a quality property manager.  There are many key elements that make up a reliable property management team, but the one key area I will focus on today is the highly important role of a leasing specialist.

Minimising the risk of selecting a bad tenant

Like anything there is an element of risk in renting out your property, however when it comes to tenant selection and placement we need to find ways of minimizing the risks as much as possible.  Unfortunately it’s an ongoing occurrence that agents who don’t have a leasing specialist, end up dumping the role onto an overworked property manager.  They end up juggling too many jobs which result in corners being cut and bad tenants being placed!  If a property manager lacks the time to conduct a thorough in depth research of prospective tenants because they are out on inspections, drawing up lease renewals or breaching tenants, it can put a property at major risk!

Thorough background checks

Nicole is our leasing specialist at Investors Edge and her one and only focus is leasing. She spends the time finding out as much information about the prospective tenants as possible, to ensure a good fit for the landlord and property. Spending the time upfront can save everyone a lot of headaches down the line.

Nicole has a passion for people and property and she brings to the team many years of real estate experience. Her strength is with property letting, where she draws on her refined selling skills to qualify and secure you the best tenants.

Some of the back ground checks Nicole carries out on prospective tenants are:-

• National tenancy database checks.
• Previous rental history reviews.
• Current work place employment/credit checks.
• No personal reference, as it holds no weight.
• She makes international calls to previous agents.
• If they previously owned a property, she will inspect online and call the agents who sold it.

Creating a real relationship

Having a devoted leasing specialist will not only protect your property but will give tenants the one on one personal experience they deserve.

I was once a tenant and now I’m a landlord so I understand the crucial relationship of each to the property manager in the middle.  I remember attending a home open where the property manager arrived fifteen minutes late had no idea where anything was, spoke down and as dismissive to everyone and didn’t even have enough forms for anyone wanting to make an application.

When a tenancy is started off with mutual respect, we have the best foundation for a working relationship and this translates to far less problems during the course of a tenancy.