Norwood is a very popular area for tenants, it’s close to the City and surrounded by cafes, restaurants, pubs and great shopping.
House styles in Norwood vary from cream brickers, cottages, beautiful villas, high density flats and brand new apartments, so it is a very attractive area to live in.
This of course brings the higher rental prices as the median cost of renting is around $400.00 per week, taking in the lower bracket at around $240 for overseas students in the older high rise flats, to of course up to $900 a week for the more upmarket properties.
Taking all this in to account I have based my following equation on the average weekly rental, and the average percentage property managers take for looking after your property.
So, if the average rental is $400pw it goes like this:
$400 x 2.2 weeks rent = $880.00 ( this is the fee for getting the tenant inc GST)
8.8%(inc GST) average management fee = $35.20 pw x 52 weeks = $1,830.00, that all adds up to $2710.40 per annum… then of course there are ongoing fees such as admin, inspections etc and let’s not forget advertising and signage.
So you see how much money it costs to have a property manager and of course the more your rental is, the higher the costs.
How many tenants are problem tenants?
Fewer than 7%! That’s a lot of money that goes to property managers for really not doing much at all! They pay your bills! In my experience with over 18 years in the industry, landlords prefer to keep paying their bills themselves.
They want to have control of their money and don’t want any surprises when
their mortgage needs to be paid. Not all landlords are so flush with money they can leave their budgeting up to a third party.
What about lodging the bond and getting the legal paperwork right?
This can all be done for a fraction of the cost, as I said, if you have a good tenant the property manager is taking on average 8.8% of the weekly rent for not doing much at all!
What about Landlords Insurance?
Yes, as a private landlord, you can get landlords insurance as long as the
paperwork has all been done legally, more about that shortly!
Wouldn’t Landlords who are paying ongoing management fees get
preferential treatment?
Yes, I have heard of landlords who signed up for let only agreements and the
property managers was redirecting prospective tenants to homes where she
would get an ongoing fee.
How about realestate.com, that’s where everyone is looking these days, isn’t it?
Yes it is and that’s where I come in!
So tell me, how can you do it differently?
I don’t do it differently, as such. I am a qualified, experienced property manager and do everything they do, but I only charge when you need me!
Yes, I do charge the first 2.2 weeks rent for finding a tenant, doing opens, doing
the paperwork and lodging the bond. I leave the rest to you, I arrange for the
tenants to pay directly into your account on a fortnightly basis and anything else I do I charge by the hour.
If you want me to do inspections I do them at an hourly rate so six monthly
inspections would cost you two hours of my time, and if you needed legal letters sent out or in the rare case to go to the tribunal that also would be done at an hourly rate.
So lease only property management is a bit like using a Lawyer or an Accountant?
Yes that’s right, imagine if your Lawyer or Accountant charged you weekly after they have completed their work for you, just in case you needed them!
What if I have questions or need tradespeople?
That’s OK I am only a phone call away and I have a list of tradespeople and
maintenance people if you need. I don’t charge for that.
So, if you want to know more about me, Annette Brennan or my Property Management services in Norwood, S.A. give me a call or COMPLETE the form.
I can visit you, appraise appraise your property for rental and answer any additional questions that you may have about my Norwood Property Management Service.
Annette Brennan