Going it Alone - Long Distance Property Management

C

ChrisOs

I am hopefully about to buy my 4th IP, having just submitted an offer today.
I am in Adelaide and the IP is in Cairns. The current long term tenant wants to stay on and I am happy for him to continue as he appears to be doing the right thing by the property. My other 3 IPs are managed by PMs and I have no real complaints but am starting to look at the numbers and am questioning how much value the PMs are adding and whether I should "go it alone" and manage the place myself.

I have relatives in Cairns who could do the occasional drive by as well as a quarterly inspections. So it all seems quite do able.
I would need to notify the current PM, I guess, that I do not require their services, or is this something that the current owners should do?

The current lease is periodic, so terminating that and refunding the deposit bond should be straight forward. I would then need to draw up a new contract with the tenant and ensure a bond is lodged. This should be straight forward and I am sure there is a web site that has all the standard Queensland forms.

My first questions relate to collection of rent. How do you arrange for the deposit of rent to a nominated acoount? Is it as simple as "Hi tenant, here is the BSB of my account, please talk with your bank and deposit $x each week.". Do you then check your account each week to ensure all is OK?

A more open ended question is "This seems all too easy. Apart from the tenant potentially leaving without my knowledge, which I could cover by checking bank account deposits or the possibility of the tenant trashing the place, which I would cover with landlords insurance, what have I not covered?

Thanks in advance.

ChrisOs
 
Hi ChrisOs,

Should you decide to "go it alone", the forms you need from the Residential Tenancies Authority can be found at http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/

With regards to rent collection, I have given my tenants a deposit book for my bank account and have them pay straight into my account. I check the statement regularly via the internet [we're here regularly aren't we, so not a hassle!!] so I know very quickly whether they have paid or not. Luckily for me, my tenants are local so I can follow up on them. In your case, maybe a quick phone call or your rellies might do a drive by to see what the situation is, if you decide to go this route.

You have to decide if it is worth saving the management fee by doing it yourself and then hope that you don't have too many problems occuring. What is your plan if emergency plumbing etc occurs? It is a bit far for you to go to check out your tenants concerns in Cairns from Adelaide.

Most forumites [IMHO] would feel that having someone close at hand would be preferable for long distance tenanting. The final decision fall on your SANF.

Cheers,
Bernard :)
 
Re:How do you arrange for the deposit of rent to a nominated acoount?

I would make it a condition on the tennancy agreement.

You should also be familiar with tennency regulation.
I recommend u also join the POAQ ( Property owners association of Queensland ) THey have a very good advice service for DIY landlords and owners dealing with PM's. It is my opinion, tennancy laws are biased in favour of tennents so a manager needs be fully aware of tennency law

Also how will u select new tennets? - the present ones will leave at some stage.

Re : A more open ended question is "This seems all too easy.
It is until there is a problem , in which a PM will prove their worth - or if they are proactive enough - the problem will never occur.

I would say a lot depends on what ur relatives would be prepared to do - in a difficult situation. Consider what would u do , if tennents stopped paying rent, did not answer any of ur letters or phone calls ( easy with caller ID or silent phone number ) and absolutely refused to speak to ur relative. Who would attend court on you behalf ?

It's probably unlikely that this would occur, but i would think about how these type of situations would be handled.
 
Thanks very much for the replies guys.
I should know tomorrow whether my offer on the property has been accepted. I had my Mum visit the property today and she gave a very positive report. She talked with the current tenant and he is really keen to stay on. He runs a small business from home so by staying on he won't have the hassle of reprinting stationery, changing phone numbers etc and is happy to sign a 12 month lease at a $10 a week increase. He has even said he will resurface the slate floors (if I provide the materials) to give the place a better appearance. My Mum said he was a friendly guy and she is happy to visit every 3 months to check on things.

The rent book idea is a good one and I will check out the web site.

I haven't looked much further than the current tenant, I realise, but should this tenant move on after 12 months, that's fine, I can then get a PM involved if necessary.

I will let you know tomorrow how I get on.

Thanks again.
Chris.
 
A related point, if a person has muliple tennents/properties
Re
rent book idea

U can actually get deposit books from the banks with " reference numbers" on that allow u to tell which deposit book was used. This is useful if u have more than 1 tennent that pays the same rent amount
 
Hehe one important hand ? *groan*

The "snowman" came off a lot better than me =P

At least it happened at the end of the season though.
 
Originally posted by XBenX
Id be organising a direct debit from the tenants account, then they cant forget to pay.
Click to expand...

My tenant has told me that his bank, ANZ, would charge him $4 for each DD payment, and he would rather come round with the cash each fortnight.

Does anyone know about these charges ? I thought the banks did not charge for this.
 
A tenant of mine has told me the bank charges (a little lower than that I think) but I can't verify.

It may be worth while for you to absorb the charge. It would save both of you hassles.
 
Everything seemed to be looking fine until the 11th hour when someone put in an offer considerably higher than mine, so I missed out this time.

Still, as Kristine and others have said on the forum "The deal of a lifetime comes along each Tuesday", so I only have a few days to go!

ChrisOs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Self management
Replies
17
Views
3K
perthguy
P
S
How to self manage the property
Replies
9
Views
3K
Crystalclear
C
J
Agents liabilities ????
Replies
11
Views
2K
callander
C
chunho01
Insurance claim by property manager? 1st timer..
Replies
5
Views
1K
Xenia IM
Xenia IM
H
DHA management fees
Replies
7
Views
2K
sydprop
S
Back
Top