Top 5 questions to ask when looking for a Property Manager

What are your fees?

This is important. Fees are often an indicator of the service you will receive. When making decisions about your largest asset and financial future, you need to make sure you are getting a good deal balanced with quality service. Cheaper fees may seem more attractive at first but can cost you a great deal in the long run.

How long have your property managers worked for the agency?

Did you know that the average tenure of Property Managers is only 9 months? It goes without saying that constant staff changes are annoying, as every time there’s a change, knowledge about your tenants and property gets lost and things may get overlooked.

At TOOP + TOOP our efforts to ensure workload and stress are reduced. Through building our own proprietary technology and systems. We radically improved our employee experience, increasing staff retention by 86%. Down the track should you have a change, these same systems store your data and information centrally, so knowledge is not lost.

How many properties are you looking after at once?

Did you know that a property manager can receive up to 480 emails and a 130 phone calls a week? Property management companies who offer the cheapest fees, must manage more properties just to break even. 

Through continuous investment back into our business we can give our clients 73% more time to look after them and their biggest investment.

How long have you been in the industry for?

Beware of the one-man band. Did you know that a property manager needs to know over 2,700 pages of legislation just to do their job?

There are a range of legal and compliance risks associated with owning an investment property. Your property manager should guide you through these by providing sound advice and guidance. Lack of experience and poor understanding of the legal framework can cost you thousands of dollars and expose you to significant risk.

At TOOP + TOOP our director and CEO is a qualified lawyer, and our General Manager has over 25 years’ experience, together they led a team of highly trained and skilled professionals. Establishing a Property Managers experience and tenure in the industry is one of the most important questions to ask.

Do you have any testimonials you can share with me before I decide?

Every agency should answer yes to this question.

As seeing what previous clients are saying about property management agencies incredibly inciteful way of gauging your potential experience with them. While individual reviews are not particularly reliable, consistent positive or negative reviews are generally good indicators. To see our reviews click here.

Other questions you can ask:

• How many properties have you leased in my area?

• How many tenants are you currently talking with, and do you have any looking in my area?

• What do you think my property will rent for?

• Can I have my own trades?

• Do you offer smoke alarm packages for my home?

• If I want, can I organise regular gutter cleaning, filter tap, air conditioner servicing and other services?

• Do you have an after-hours emergency hotline for tenants?

• Do you conduct regular quality control and training of your team?

• Do you do any marketing over and above realestate.com?