Have you ever tried renting through a private landlord? What about a professional manager? And how do you compare the both?
A lot of tenants have experienced both sides of this scenario and prefer to rent through agencies for a number of reasons.
Lets start with the most important:
Property managers are trained to professionally manage a property. This is not to say that a private landlord don’t have skills, it just means that a professional manager will be up to date with industry laws and regulations, send out the right documents, handle tenant information confidentially and manage rental payments correctly.
Which brings us to another very important point:
Property managers have trust accounts. A tenant doesn’t have to worry if the rent was received, because a receipt will always be automatically issued. A trust account is one of the most regulated systems in the business world, by one of the scariest regulators in Australia – Office of Fair Trading. This means a tenant will never have to worry about whether the rent is being paid to the owner, so they won’t ever have to worry about being evicted for non-payment (unless they don’t actually pay rent).
Even when a tenant doesn’t pay rent they have rights. Lots of them.
Property managers must follow a legal process with regards to disputes. Tenants rights are protected by law and property managers are regulated by the ‘Residential Tenancies Authority’. This organisation provides tenants with mediation services if they have an issue with their property manager or landlord. It provides support and education to tenants with regards to the law. It also governs the processes that a property manager must follow with regards to the management of tenancies, such as what documents to issue and for what reason.
Tenants like that professional managers have rules to follow. They don’t like the feeling of having a landlord or manager show up ‘unannounced’ – that’s why there is a formal notice document which must be provided to a tenant, whenever access is required to the property.
A tenant has the legal right to quiet enjoyment of a property, which means nobody can show up on their property without prior notice. Anyone who has rented privately to an enthusiastic landlord, will know how it feels to have their landlord ‘just pop in to say hello’ or use a tool they stashed in the garden shed.
Property managers have a legal process to follow for everything else too. Tenants should know the drill by now. Inspect a property, send an application, pay the rent, don’t damage the property and give plenty of notice when it is time to move out. This system is established, familiar and continues to be streamlined with technology. Every step of the process is established in law, which creates an efficient rental market.
Tenants are comfortable with the knowledge that this process will be followed no matter what agency or which property manager is responsible for their property. There are no unexpected changes throughout their tenancy, not even the sale of a property can break their lease.
Changes can be tough for tenants, so it is good to have an advocate. Another good point:
Property managers advocate for tenants and represent the owners interests. Tenants know that property managers are working for the owner, but they also know they are the middle man. They have a third party to complain to when something goes wrong, but they also know a manager will do everything they can to keep them happy, because after all, good tenants are like gold.
Another reason property managers are the favourite:
Property managers attend to maintenance issues. Tenants essentially don’t want to live in a house with a leaky roof or faulty oven. That’s why it is great to have a manager to report issues to. It is the managers job to attend to these issues and communicate between tenant and landlord for a timely resolution. Tenants prefer to have issues resolved quickly, which may not always be the case with private landlords.
There is a lot to be said about tenants preferring to rent through agencies, but did you know most owner-investors actually prefer to have a property manager? Some of owners prefer to have a third party communicate with tenants, whilst others simply don’t have time to do all the tasks involved in professional management.
If you have been thinking about getting a property manager or even changing managers, please get in touch. We are more than happy to discuss your options and work out a tailored service which suits your investment goals.
