Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Living your Luxe Life on the Sunshine Coast.
We have conversations with people who have found “home” on the Sunshine Coast & explore how they connect home with lifestyle & community.
As Property Buyers Agent we also discuss the macro economic factors impacting economic growth & property growth & where we are in the property cycle.
We overlay local market nuances of different sub markets from Noosa Heads to Maroochydore, to the Hinterland.
I hope you enjoy the series Living Your Luxe Life.
Hi. I'm Christine Mount from Luxe Coastal Property Buyers with Living Your Luxe Life podcast series. Today, we're talking about investments with Carolyn Jansen, Property Management. I have a few rapid fire questions to ask you.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Okay.
Speaker 1:So when you're selecting a property manager, what are the top five questions you should ask property manager?
Speaker 2:So top five would be the experience of the property manager. Get how many years they've been in the industry, how many properties they manage, and how they conduct a portfolio, and what sort of portfolio manage they do. Whether it's portfolio based or, you know, property manage based. Another thing What's the key difference there? Okay.
Speaker 2:So portfolio, property management is where a property manager may manage a portfolio from everything from the ground up. So dealing with repairs, all the rent, dealing with repairs and obviously dealing with the investor. Everything from go to woah. Like tenant selection? Absolutely.
Speaker 2:So the investor has one property manager that overlooks the whole thing. Another form of property management is, where an office might have an a lease agent for instance. Someone that goes out and shows the property but then there's someone else that deals with the account side of things and the applications. So that is important for the investor to look at to see what style of management that they what what kind of style do you link? I like the portfolio based just for our investors.
Speaker 2:I know that they can ring me for instance and I know what is going on their investment property all across the board. So I don't have to call another department if this has got a account related inquiry. I'm all over everything that's happening on that property at any given time. And I think as it from an investor's point of view, I think that would be
Speaker 1:Just a single point of contact for someone who's really engaged in maximizing their yield, that property
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Rather than dividing it into silos.
Speaker 2:Yes. And, you know, if you if a property manager doesn't have the answer to an investor's question and the investor has to wait for a different department or back, I think, for me, that's a bit of frustration.
Speaker 1:I agree with you. I really like that style of property management as well. And I think when you're starting the bigger firms and it becomes more about digital processing, they actually break it out into separate silos.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And for some companies, it works. Yeah. But I just find we've got more of a personal approach with our investors so their portfolio
Speaker 1:works better. What's the next question you'd ask, when you select a property manager?
Speaker 2:I would ask, how, tenant selection process how the application process is managed and how tenants chosen and what the communication is with the investor to make sure they're up to speed with what is going on and have a say in that tenant selection process.
Speaker 1:Are there any sort of red flags on tenants when you you are processing them?
Speaker 2:Looks it's really if an application hasn't been completed in full, it's not a red flag, but that's usually an indication of what the rest of the application is going to look like and the potential relationship would be. Yeah.
Speaker 1:What about maintenance? How's that?
Speaker 2:Right. So in today's world, there are so many different softwares to manage, maintenance. We have state of the art software that manages maintenance when it comes in. 1, from the tenant perspective, but also from our inspections of the property. If we're lodging a maintenance issue, it gets shot through right right to our software program that logs the job.
Speaker 2:So there's no reason a maintenance issue or work order can get forgotten because it's logged into the system straight away. And with the software, it's constant reminders. And the lovely part of that is is the investors, obviously, told the moment that maintenance issue is reported. They get an email or an SMS, and they are given the opportunity to give the go ahead for a work order to be seen through and then all the way to completion. So the owners are kept up to date via a text message or an email at all times.
Speaker 2:So they're not having to call us to say what happened with this maintenance issue. They're involved in the process the whole way. Yeah. And they can be involved as little or as much as they want. Okay.
Speaker 2:As long as we're communicating, that's the main thing.
Speaker 1:Communication is key, isn't it? And I think that's when thing they come unstained. Communication is over.
Speaker 2:Definitely. We say property management isn't property management. It's more people management. And if communication is a 100%, then everyone should have a great time.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's not property management. It's people management and it's communication.
Speaker 2:And that's a good goal. That's all what people want. Absolutely. It's not rocket science. It's really easy if it's done properly.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think some people don't know how to communicate effectively. I think part of that's training as well. Yes. I sometimes go back to old school.
Speaker 1:Like, we were taught speak to people as well.
Speaker 2:But I
Speaker 1:don't think it's really that. I think it's the method, the forums, choose just need to match your clients' needs. Don't they?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah. Again, it comes down to different personalities. So important.
Speaker 1:What about, probably the last question is people will ask you about fee structures and things like that. For me, it's all about transparency. So how what's a good question to ask a property manager?
Speaker 2:Look, I think we get a lot of investors who like us to send a proposal off, outlining a fee. But I think it's really important for investors rather than looking at paper and looking at obviously services and fees associated, I guess if you can't get face to face with a property manager to learn their business and how they work for you, I think at least a zoom call to go through these services fees is so worthwhile. Because again, just like the applications with the tenants, sub paper is so different and can be delivered and received differently. And we in property management at the moment, you have such a varied fee structure within offices. And I think problem at the moment, you have a lot of lower fee offices that are being propped up by their their sales departments.
Speaker 2:So you've got a lot of property management offices of offering the lower fee. But I think investors need to be aware that, yes, it's a lower fee. But at the end of the day, if you look at the fee structure, it might be the matter of a couple of coffees a week or a pizza out a week. But the service levels are so different. Rather than looking just at that financial point, investors need to dig deeper and look more at quality service than those couple of coffees or that pizza a week that they might be saving.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think that's really valid. We've got a very similar company name, and that's how we seem to meet each other.
Speaker 2:Not that we're not the same company. No. No. When I
Speaker 1:sort of dug a little bit deeper, I realized that you were a boutique organization. You had great depth of experience. And you reminded me a lot of my sister who's really passionate about property management and looking after the investors. Like, it's a real drive and a passion. And I think a Zoom call, that's when you start to get an appreciation for someone who's gonna look after.
Speaker 1:And I think, you know, if everything's smooth sailing, it's smooth sailing. But I think when something becomes complicated, that's when you need someone in your corner who's really batting for you and creating properly.
Speaker 2:Properly. Definitely. Yeah. And if you've chosen a property manager just based off an email, stating their services and fees, I've to me, I feel that's a huge risk. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Bestest part.
Speaker 1:They're getting to know. So I'll just summary. So if you're selecting a property manager, definitely look at their experience. Experience matters. At the breadth of it and the depth of it.
Speaker 1:Looking at how they select their tenant. The screening. John West of the real estate. Which ones they discard and which ones they put forward to recommend. Transparency.
Speaker 1:I think, in communication on fees and what what you're delivering. And then also, how you sort of handle the maintenance requests. And, of course, all that is encapsulated with understanding compliance. So I'm looking at their compliance policy like that and how they handle conflict.
Speaker 2:Yes. Keeping up to date with legislation is really important, especially with the changes we're having and got more changes coming in May 2025. And a lot of the investors we've taken on in the last couple of months don't even realize the changes that have happened the last 6 months Queensland legislation. So it's about keeping your investors educated so they know what you're doing and they know you're keeping up to date and everything is above board. That's fantastic.
Speaker 2:I think that they're
Speaker 1:great tips and I think it gives everyone a nice little checklist about when they're appointing their property managers. So thank you very much for that.
Speaker 2:No problem.