The Property Investors Handbook With Colleen Sutherland

In this episode of the Property Investors Handbook Podcast, host Adam is joined by Colleen Sutherland, a seasoned expert from Sutherland's property management group, to unravel the complexities of legislation changes in property management. Colleen shares invaluable insights into why staying abreast of legislative updates is paramount for property owners and managers alike.

Throughout the discussion, Colleen sheds light on the significance of seamlessly integrating new legislation into tenancy agreements to minimize risks and ensure compliance. Drawing on her 30 years of experience, Colleen emphasizes the critical role of education in mitigating potential pitfalls and navigating the intricate legal landscape of property management.

Listeners gain a deeper understanding of the proactive measures taken by professional property managers to anticipate and adapt to legislative changes well in advance. From implementing systems and processes to communicating changes effectively with property owners, Colleen unveils the behind-the-scenes strategies that underpin successful property management practices.

Through real-life examples and practical advice, Colleen underscores the inherent complexities faced by property owners managing their investments independently. She highlights the time-consuming nature of staying compliant with evolving legislation and the potential risks associated with overlooking crucial legal requirements.

As the episode unfolds, listeners are encouraged to recognize the multifaceted value of professional property management services beyond mere rent collection. Colleen's unwavering dedication to advocating for landlords and tenants alike shines through as she navigates intricate legal scenarios with finesse and expertise.

Concluding on a poignant note, host Adam emphasizes the indispensable role of seasoned property management teams like Sutherland's in ensuring stress-free and compliant property ownership. With knowledge as their most potent tool, property investors are empowered to make informed decisions and safeguard their investments effectively.

Tune in to the Property Investors Handbook Podcast for a masterclass in navigating legislation changes and unlocking the full potential of your investment properties. Remember, knowledge is power in the world of property management.

What is The Property Investors Handbook With Colleen Sutherland?

Discover the secrets of successful property management and investing on "The Property Investors Handbook" podcast. Join Colleen Sutherland as she shares expert insights and strategies for acquiring, managing, and maximising returns on real estate investments. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned investor, this podcast is your essential guide to navigating the world of property investment. Tune in and unlock the keys to financial success in real estate.

Produced by Pod Pro Australia

  Hey there listeners. Welcome back to another episode of the Property Investors Handbook Podcast. Today we're diving into a topic that's crucial. Every property owner out there should know, and that's navigating the complex world of legislation changes and updates in property management. It seems to be happening all the time.

All the time lately. We've got the expertise once again of Colleen Sutherland from Sutherland's property management group here to guide us through this labyrinth. So buckle up as we explore how to stay ahead of these changes without getting overwhelmed, or I'm going to guess once we've spoken to Colleen that you don't have to worry about it at all because she's on top of it.

Colleen, welcome.

Hey, thanks

Adam. Colleen, can you give us a, give us, start by giving us an overview of why staying up to date with legislation changes is crucial for, well, a property owner if they're doing it themselves or yourself as a, as an agency.

So staying up to date. to date with legislation allows you to introduce each piece of legislation into the tenancy seamlessly.

And the other reason is if anything does go wrong and the tenant has the RTA to rely on and it gets to tribunal, when you're in tribunal, it's, it's, it's The property manager or the landlord are the professionals in this equation. They're the ones getting paid. So there is no excuse to not, wow, I didn't know that.

And the adjudicator doesn't care. Well, you should have made yourself aware. He expects you to know. Yes, so again, a proactive approach doing the training and I get a lot of these bulletins come across my desk and reading and researching that allows us to create the systems that will implement when the changes come.

So you set up as a full service agency, you know, as soon as a legislation change comes into effect, you've got systems and processes to manage that. and to take any steps necessary with any tenancy or or property management agreement that you've got.

Yes, so when it It comes across our desk. It's probably 12 months before it's introduced.

So as property managers, we have 12 months to study and implement the changes and integrate it into current and new tenancies. And we work out a plan of how we're going to do it. Sure. Yeah.

And I think it's key here. I mean, I remember us talking about dogs a while back and legislation changes that that came with with pets and that they suddenly, you know, you, you had to have really valid reasons not to, to do it.

I mean, you guys, this is what you guys get paid to do for your, your, your clients and to know all this, because I can imagine as you know, a a property owner who does this themselves, it's not their, their main focus, they've got their own jobs, they've got their own families, they've got so much going on in their lives, very easy to miss something that that comes in that could very well be a a real problem should they, you know, break the legislation accidentally, not

knowing it's there, not knowing it's there.

So what would ordinarily happen if you're going to manage your property yourself. And there's people who do and do it quite successfully. They will have the time. It's the time that it takes. Not only, you're not paying me just to collect the rent and fix the leaky taps.

I know a lot of clients think that, but yes, it's just, there's so much to it.

So you're paying me for my skills, my knowledge, my experience, and I've got lots of it. And that's what you're paying for. We can't prevent human nature, and that's, you know, an insurance claim, but what we can do is minimize the risk. So One of our favourite sayings is education is the most cost effective form of risk mitigation.

Comes up all the time. All the time. I love it. So

it's educating me, then I help educate the landlords and the tenants, and then it runs a lot smoother.

Fantastic. How do you communicate legislation changes to your property owners? Is it necessary at all times or are you just looking after it in the background?

Some of the things we're looking after in the background, cause they might be trying to tweak what they've already done. So we've had four years, let's just take the last four years as an example. So we were heading for legislation changes in 2020. but Obviously, the pandemic hit, so we couldn't do that.

However, on the turn of a dime, they introduced the COVID response, the emergency response in housing.

And that had, that would have been, had to be implemented quickly. Yes, and they

implemented it quickly. some of it without thought, but we worked our way around it. And, and it did take a lot because we had to do, you know, whether it was helping people to reduce their rent, have a rent reduction, able to break their lease, all sorts of things for the, for the next 12 months in particular.

Then as the COVID response was, Coming to an end, here comes stage one of the tenancy legislation. So that's where we're talking about the pets and all that sort of thing. So we had some immediate changes for that. And then 12 months later, there would have been a stage two. So we, implemented the stage one, but what I did was I created probably PowerPoint presentations, because what I found, find is people read along with me talking.

Sure. Yeah. So that was probably able to sink in their mind. But I did say, if you've got any questions, call Bri or I, and we will walk you through it. So we did it that way. And then again, stage two. So we brought back the ones that we knew weren't in just yet, but we've already done these ones. Now they've just put on us that a rent increase while they were trying to do the percentage and trying to keep it at 2%.

And so, you know, my argument was, are you going to keep everything else at 2 percent increase? No, you're not only 2%. But what they've done is we can only put the rent up once a year. Fair enough. But It's attached to the property and not the tenancy. So you're in there for 12 months and it's at 500 a week.

You wish, but it was 500 a week and in six months time, your job has transferred you to Mackay. So you're going to have to terminate the lease and we have to find somebody else to move in and all that sort of thing. But I can't increase the rent. So even though in that six months, since the rent went up for you, The market's moved again and the property's now worth 700.

I can't put it to 700 because it was increased in September. You're moving out in February. I can't increase it whatsoever until next September.

But what if the new tenant has then taken a 12 month lease from the time in February when I've moved out? You can't increase it halfway at that September point halfway through there.

You can. You can.

So what happens is in February, you move in in February and it is 12 month lease. I let you know it's only going to be 500 till this September. Wow. And then the rent will increase to this much money. Even

understanding and knowing all that. Yes. This is why people need a property manager because, you know, knowing exactly how that falls.

Because my, my instant. You know, thought was, oh, well, that they sign up for a tenancy. So that the landlord's missing out on increasing it from that. In that example, September until the lease comes up again in February, but now you can and

yes. So you do a built in rent increase,

but

I still have to go through the same process that two months before the lease expires, I have to remind you in writing that it's going to go up to 700 on the 29th of

September.

Okay. So that key thing to understand here. So in terms of tendencies if you're coming in. Not on the anniversary of a rent increase. So you'd be doing a whole lot now of tenancy agreements that have this in the middle of them. Yes. So

that legislation hasn't come in as yet, but it will be in very shortly.

And this, what are we, March 2024? So it will be in shortly. And going forward, this is how we have to, this is how we can only increase the rents. So, we've already got landlords upset that it's coming in, but please know it's not the property manager, it's legislation. It's the government. Go and yell at Miles.

You can only

do what you're guided by with legislation. Yes. As we've talked about, you get a lot of these changes and some are important, some not so important, but

Yes, correct. So there's legislation and you can read it and go, Oh yeah, I know what that means. Or I understand what they're saying that there is the tenancy act and there's the tenancy regulations.

So the regulations tell you how to implement the Act. And that might be a lot of gobbledygook for you, but you have to know how to interpret the legislation. Yep. And that's where some property managers and maybe landlords come undone to go, Oh, the tenants have done this and this and this. It's only because you don't know, or you don't know what you're looking for and all that sort of thing.

Another great reason to have someone like yourself with 30 years of experience having, having, you know, having dealt with this stuff. Cause as you, you keep talking, Colleen, it's, it's making my brain explode on if you had to navigate that yourself. I mean, you're an expert. This is what you do every day of the year.

And you know, property owners doing this by themselves and you know,

if I wasn't a property manager, there is no way I would do this myself because of what we know you have to know. And you missed something too bad. So sad. So if you've done something wrong, like you at the tribunal, trying to get the tenant out, and you've done the notice to leave on the wrong day.

One day too early or on the day he'll, the magistrate or the adjudicator will chuck it out, start again.

You've got to know all this stuff, it's you, you, you must, knowing what you do know, doing what you do, do, you must think, property owners and landlords who do this themselves, Must be scared for them on what what could potentially go wrong.

Yes, it could cost them thousands And do you know and I I don't want to brag But I'm the one who is not afraid to go to tribunal To hash it out with the tenant because the tenants been told this from the RTA and I know it as this So the only person who's going to give us a definitive answer is the adjudicator.

And if you understand what the adjudicator is saying, you either stand corrected or you go, I thought so.

Yep.

Yeah. Most of the time it's, I thought so, but whatever. I don't want to go to QCAT just to be a smarty pants. No. I want to know that I'm right and I'm doing the best I can for the client. Yep.

And that's where I get a lot of

training from. It's something that's come through in all of our podcasts, Colleen, that you're willing to stand up for you. Yeah, not afraid. And your tenants, you know, and you know, a bit of a backbone. And cause you hear so many fluffing around, we don't want to go anywhere near that or anything like that.

But if it's the right thing to do to get the right result, I love that you're you're willing to do it.

Yes, so if you go in, the adjudicator is there and he's going to tell you what the end result will be. So you just sit there and accept it. So you've got to put your ego out the door because it can be very easily bruised.

I can

imagine. But,

If you go in there and take it as a lesson, so whether it's a lesson of, oh I stand corrected, or it's a lesson of, That's what I thought. It's a lesson. And and then the next time, you know, look, Mr. Leonard, I can't claim that I tried to last time and I got, it got thrown out.

Yeah.

You know, Colleen, I've got a question here and I think I already, I think I'm going to answer it for you because you won't you won't answer it the way I want you to. I was going to ask, you know, for someone managing their own property, what advice would you give them to stay compliant with the law and You know what your answer should be?

Don't do it, get your property managed by us.

That'd be the first point of call because one, I'm biased, but two, I know what, what, they will drag you through the coals. Yep. And they try to, and they've got no compassion. So you've got to have the backbone to be there. You've also got to do, have the time because it's very time consuming.

It's very time consuming. But if you're. Set on a price point, expect then you will receive back what you pay for. And if you're paying full fees, and you can't see the value in it, then possibly there's no value in it. They're just charging that because that's how much we charge, and cannot justify.

There's a bit of that out there too, isn't there? Yeah, and can't justify, you know, with their experience, knowledge, blah, blah, blah.

I implore everyone to have a listen to this series that we are making here, the Property Investors Handbook, because in each episode, we do really unpack the value that you, you offer here.

And there is so much to it as we've talked about so many, there are so many property investors out there just think, where's the value in having a property manager? Why am I paying these fees? You know, all they're doing is that the tenant just pays the money into their bank account and they go and have a look at the place every now and again.

But have a listen to our episodes. There is so much involved and like we talked about in a previous episode there is value there that you can see, but it's also the stuff you don't see and the value that's there if something goes wrong. Yes.

So what, you're not paying me or my staff by the hour. No.

It's not like, oh, I've paid you 100, what have I got for that? It's when, if something goes wrong, and it usually does, we know how to fix it, so you're paying for my time, my experience, my knowledge my knowledge of legislation. All that sort of thing, and that's what wrapped up, is wrapped up in that 100, yeah.

And your service, your

personal service, someone you can ring and they're on the end of the phone. Yes,

yeah, because when you're in a panic and something's gone wrong with legislation you need to ask somebody. The tenant has the RTA, whether it's always right or not is another story, but you've got me, so, or Bree, and we've got that, and Bree's got the longevity.

and you've got, and she's had the constant training on this legislation that helps our landlords.

Fantastic. Well, look, having a seasoned property management team on your side, like Colleen and Bree at Sutherlands will make all the difference in staying compliant and stress free. Thanks for tuning in.

Remember, knowledge is power, especially when it comes to managing your investment properties. Catch you next time on the Property Investors Handbook podcast. Thanks so much again, Colleen Sutherland.

Thanks Adam.