Stress-Free Property Management That Grows Your Returns

So, property management fees in Perth typically cost anywhere from 7% to 12% or 14% as the base management fee. However, you're usually looking at around 10% to 14% overall once you add up all the different fees. What you then need to do is look deeper into what you are getting for that price. Do they have any guarantees to back up their service? Most agents will try to lock you into a two- or three-year contract, and if they aren't delivering and giving you value for money, you are often stuck there until that agreement comes to an end.

It's really important to look through the fees that are going to be charged for property management before you appoint your property manager. Go through the details and the fine print, and just make sure that everything is justified and verified. Some of the fees that I would watch out for include over-the-top, large entry fees that some agents charge. I would also be looking for hidden fees to end that relationship too. Some agents have an exit fee, but to me, entry and exit fees are unfair. You should be paying for an actual service to be delivered; perhaps they can justify those fees, but I can't. I would really just be looking to see if a specific task or actual work is being done to deliver that aspect of management, and then evaluating if the fee being charged is fair.

So, why choose Investors Edge as your Perth property manager? Well, I'd be looking at our reputation. We've got over 1,300 five-star reviews on Google. We're one of the most awarded property managers in Australia, and we've got an amazing team that has been with us for a long time. A key to that as well is we have a single point of contact for the entire journey once you come on board with us. Our property manager will place your tenant, they'll get to know your property, they'll get to know you, and they'll get to know your tenant. That will be your one point of contact all the way along for seamless property management. We also have the processes and systems to really back them up and give them the support they need. We've got a great admin team and associate property managers to cover their leave so they're not getting burnt out. That's going to ensure that they stick around and are there to provide the consistency needed to keep your property tightly managed. Most importantly, we've got some really great guarantees, and I would check those out. They have real consequences if we don't meet them. Ultimately, they ensure that we have ridiculously responsive communication, that we have high-quality tenants, that we lease your property quickly, and that you're overall satisfied with the service that you get.

So the biggest difference when choosing Investors Edge as your selling agent is the strategy that we bring to the sale, which makes us best known for setting price records all across Perth. Now, there are six points to that. Speak to us to go through that in relation to your property, and ensure that we're going to get the best price possible.

So what services does a property manager provide? It all starts initially with placing a quality tenant and doing it in a quick way, because the two things can be done. It shouldn't take a long time to find a quality tenant if the property is marketed well, if it's shown one to two times a week minimum, and if applications that are received are processed quickly. You want a property manager that's going to go really deep on their application processing. We've got our Extreme Screen where we look really deep and make sure that they fully stack up. Then we want to have a bulletproof property condition report set up so that we can refer back to anything that happens to the property and hold the tenant accountable. You then want to look for someone that's doing routine inspections, and ideally, you want that to be the same person that has placed the tenant and has spoken to you all the way along. We really want continuity. We don't want these routine inspections to be outsourced because the property manager loses touch, and they don't get to see the maintenance that they're actually organising. Then from there, as we go, we want to review the rent regularly—once a year minimum. We want to renew the lease when it comes up, when it's needed. We want to make sure that the payments are all made and done in a timely fashion. And we want to make sure that if a tenancy needs to be replaced, we're ready to go to market and ready to find that new tenant along the way.

At Investors Edge Real Estate, our property sales service the whole of Perth. It's very rare for an agent to be able to do that well, but our track record of setting price records across hundreds of suburbs shows that we're experts at doing just that. You really need an agent who is going to get up to speed on an area. Because we've sold in most suburbs multiple times, we still know where the good and bad pockets are, and we can look at the data to verify that as well. Above all else, you want to make sure that you choose an agent with a great strategy that is going to give you the best chance of setting a record price—not just because they happen to be local. Many agents will say that they have local buyers, but local buyers are already active on the portals; they all have their email alerts registered on realestate.com and REIWA.The benefit of using someone like myself is that I have a massive database. There are over 18,000 subscribers to my podcast, and we have access to over 42 buyer's agents. This gives us access to people who aren't actively looking on the portals. If introduced to your property, it might just fit their budget and criteria, even if they hadn't previously thought to buy there. Because of this, I typically get a few offers from this collective database each time I put a new property on the market.

So, how do you choose the best property manager in Perth? Well, I would start with their online reputation. How many Google reviews have they got? What are people saying about them online? That is going to be super key because if tenants aren't being looked after, that is really a sign that a property is not being managed well. You also, obviously, want to see that landlords are super happy as well. Then I would go deeper to see: have they won national and state awards? What is their reputation there? How long have they been in business, and how long have their property managers stayed with the company for? That is a great question to ask because great companies are built on great property managers who stick around, preventing that constant change for tenants and owners. I would then go a bit deeper to see: do they have really great, proven systems and processes to ensure that property management gets delivered in the tightest way? And I would be looking at what guarantees they have to back up the promises they are making. If they are lukewarm, if they are cold, or if they don't have any consequences to them, then I wouldn't be looking to appoint that property manager.

There are two things to be aware of when you are deciding about changing property managers: you've got your management agreement, and you've got your lease. And yes, you can change property managers mid-lease. What you really need to refer to is your management agreement. The two may not coincide with their time periods. So check your management agreement, see when that expires, and look at changing at that time.

So, how do you switch property managers in Perth? You really need to look at your management agreement and see when it is coming to an end. If the property manager that you have at the moment hasn't been that great, but they haven't made any major mistakes or major drops in service, you're probably going to be stuck with that manager and have to wait until the end of the term. If you do want to change earlier, they are usually entitled to charge you an exit fee, which is typically 50% of the remaining fees in that term of the management agreement that they would otherwise be able to collect. We've had many clients come on board where they've decided to pay that fee because they just want to get out of that existing relationship. Many property managers, if they know that they haven't served you well and that they've done a bad job, will release you from that management agreement and allow you to leave. It is better for them to do that than to risk a bad reputation or leave a sour taste in your mouth. So, those are the main things to consider.

So, are property management fees tax deductible? Yes, they are—just like accounting or other fees that you might pay to run your rental business. It should be treated like a business. If you can get a tax deduction, that is really going to help when paying towards professionals managing your property. It makes it a lot less expensive for you after tax in your pocket.

At the moment, with our current Residential Tenancies Act changes, a landlord is not able to refuse pets in Western Australia, provided there aren't any by-laws in the complex that prevent it. There are a number of reasons that a landlord could refuse a pet, such as if you are planning to move back into the house soon. However, there are not too many reasons that the department is going to accept. So, I would really accept that keeping a pet is a distinct possibility. Even if the person doesn't initially have a dog or a cat, I would be looking at how suitable your property is for a pet and trying to set it up so that it is hard-wearing and suitable for that possibility—because it absolutely can occur.

Do you still pay a property manager if your property is vacant? Well, it is going to depend on their fee structure. Some have a weekly set cost that you are going to pay regardless of vacancy, and you just need to understand that before you go appointing your manager. Most property managers in Perth will only charge for the placement of your tenant and then charge a management fee along the way on the collection of rent. They then charge for their additional services as they provide them. Usually, when a property is vacant, ideally you do not want to be paying fees at the same time. You want to make sure that your property manager is motivated to place a quality tenant quickly.

So here in Perth, it's really important to screen your tenant applications when deciding whether they're the right fit to offer a lease on your property. We have what we call our "extreme screen," where we look really deep at whether a tenant is going to stack up. There is the basic stuff that every property manager does, like checking affordability, employment references, and past property management references. But we go deeper to make sure they present well when they inspect the property, and that they have a nice demeanour about them so they're likely going to be easy to work with. We also go many levels deeper because we want to look at their socials. If someone is out partying or not showing good behaviour, it all adds up to paint a picture of how reliable they might be as a tenant in your property. We also want to make sure that things are consistent across the application, so we are actively looking for inconsistencies. When we run a National Tenancy Database check, we can see the history of how long they've stayed in a property and if there are any gaps in their history. We look deeper to see if the wage they have stated checks out with their employer, because all of these little inconsistencies can add up to show when a tenant doesn't check out. If a tenant fully meets all of these criteria, we back them with our Quality Tenant Guarantee to give you complete peace of mind. If we aren't willing to guarantee a tenant, that's how you know you probably shouldn't place them in your property.

At Investors Edge, our property managers will ensure that your rental returns are maximised by keeping your property at the current market rate and ensuring that we place a tenant quickly. We don't have long vacancies. We also want to be looking for the improvements that are going to get you the extra rental return, and not waste money that isn't going to translate through to extra desirability, extra rent, or value. We want to be preventing small problems from becoming bigger ones. For example, if you get your gutters cleaned once a year and you have two trees overhanging, that is far more important than having them flood into the eaves and result in a whole bunch of larger expenses down the track. It is all about spotting those preventative things before they become bigger issues.

So how do we keep our sellers updated? Communication is so important, especially if you're on the other side of the country and you're trusting us as your person on the ground to get you the result. We have really great systems and processes to keep you updated at every step along the way. During the lead-up, we'll keep you in the loop as we prepare the property, schedule things in, and visit to let you know about suggested improvements while coordinating those quotes and getting everything lined up and ready to go. Once we go on the market, we want to get your feedback on the listing and see if there is anything else we can adjust or add. When we have our first home open, you'll be kept updated on the feedback buyers have given, how many buyers we've had through, what sort of interest there has been, and how many offers we might be expecting early the following week. If we haven't had offers come in, we will follow up with the buyers to get deeper feedback so we can see what people think, determine what it's worth, and make adjustments if we need to. From there, it's really important to keep you updated over the settlement period. We may have secured a really great result, but the job's not over. We need to make sure that the deposit comes in and update you when we receive it. We also keep a close eye on the finance approval to make sure there are no issues, update you when we get that through, and coordinate with the settlement agent. We've got a really great one—my wife is a settlement agent, so we'll put you in touch with her if you want to work with her. Having that team in place for the settlement ensures a really smooth sale. We need to coordinate things with the tenant as well. If we've got a tenant in there and we need them to move out, we can look to transition them to one of our other properties if they are a great tenant, making it a very smooth process. Finally, on settlement day, we need to do the final inspection before we settle, coordinate all of that, keep you updated, organise any work that's needed, and ensure everything is set up for a smooth settlement.

How do we set the right rent for a property? Well, we want to look at what has recently rented in the area. We want to look at what is currently online and how long it has been online, and we want to make sure that your property stacks up well against those. Once we have the marketing dialled in and we can be sure that we are exposing your property to as many tenants as possible, we then want to listen to the market and see what the feedback is so we can make adjustments quickly. If we are not getting enough inquiries in the first four days, that is a sure sign that—if everything else is right—your price is wrong, and we will make an adjustment and see if that works from there. Then, when we go along to the viewings, we will see what people's feedback is and why they might not be applying. We'll look at whether we can make any adjustments or improvements to fix that, making sure to react quickly to find where the market is and secure the best quality tenant we can.

So when it comes to routine inspections, you're able to inspect your property up to four times per year, which should be plenty. We usually do a six-week inspection and then inspect every four months. So in the first year, we'd go close to that limit of four times per year. You are able to issue a follow-up inspection, but you still have to stay within the limit of four times per year. If things don't check out when you go to do a routine inspection, it is important to go back and revisit, deciding whether to get photos sent through as proof or whether the property requires a physical revisit. When we are inspecting, we need to give 7 to 14 days of written notice. It is very important to follow that requirement.

How much notice do tenants need for a sale inspection? They need reasonable notice, which is typically accepted to be early in the week of an inspection. I try to let them know on a Monday or Tuesday when I'm setting my home open schedule. Tenants really appreciate being given that heads-up. That way, we can have them fully prepared and ready up until the viewing.

In Western Australia at the moment, we can only increase the rent once per year. So it's important to do a thorough rent review and make sure that we're maximising that. If the tenants aren't able to pay it, it then becomes a negotiation and really deciding: is it worth stretching your tenant or having to pay a releasing cost and potentially having a vacancy? You've got to weigh the numbers up on that. It could be worth accepting a lesser rent than the full market rate if you're able to keep a quality tenant. But if the gap becomes too large, you're probably going to have to face that and replace your tenant.

With the Residential Tenancies Act constantly changing, it's really important for landlords to understand their obligations under our tenancy laws. That's why I would look to appoint a property manager, so you don't have to worry about any of these things. The key thing initially is setting up the property, making sure it meets minimum security standards and minimum rental standards. That is where you can get really burnt. You then want to make sure that your property is in a clean, good condition so that you don't have any legal liability if something happens to your tenant. A big part of that as well is making sure that you've got the electrical side of things, with smoke alarms and RCDs, set up correctly. Then, when you go into an actual rental relationship with your tenant, there are lots of obligations as you go. It is really important to lean on your property manager. Make sure that the property condition report is set up so you've got that bible to refer back to. You also need to ensure regular routine inspections are done, and that the tenant is breached if they are non-paying of rent or if they're not treating the property well. You need to follow these things in a timely fashion so that little things can be prevented from becoming big things.

So who pays for repairs and maintenance? Well, unfortunately, it is your property as a landlord, and you need to pay for the upkeep of your property. And you want to, because you want it to be attractive to tenants. You want them to enjoy living there and stay as long as possible. If you do have to replace them and go back to the market, you also want that property to be attractive and achieve the best market rate. Now, that said, we need to look at whether the tenant is damaging your property. If they are, that cost is going to be on them. If they are overbearing on a property, we need to look out for certain things just to make sure that it's being treated well and with respect. Overall, we're really working on keeping that standard high so we can spot if it ever slips.