You, as a landlord, can change property manager at any time if they are failing to manage your investment property to your standards. “Well, I don’t have the time for that”, or “it’s such a hassle” — if you’re thinking along these lines, then rest easy.

The process isn’t as complicated as you think. As Consumer Affairs Victoria puts it: “In most cases, you can terminate your estate agent’s management of your rental property, effective immediately, by written notice to the agent. Check your authority (contract) first.”

So yes, there aren’t any hoops to jump through. Would it cost anything to cut ties with your current property manager? That depends on your existing contract.

The good news is that our professional team, at Silver Service Real Estate can walk you through the switch. To assess whether your current property is delivering the value you expect, we invite you to fill in our property appraisal form so you can get a comparison.

When it comes to evaluating the quality of your property management service, asking yourself these questions is also a good place to start:

• Are they prompt with their responses to your queries or concerns without you having to constantly call or email for them to pay attention to you?
• Do you receive your rent consistently every month?
• Do they have a thorough tenant screening process that includes referee checks to assess reliability, credit history and past tenancies?
• Are they transparent about their fees, or are you being charged fees that you were not informed about initially?
• Do you trust them to get your property filled within a quick turnaround time after a tenant moves out?
• Do they address repairs promptly and ensure they are performed by qualified and registered tradespeople?

If the answer to any of these questions is a ‘No’, you have reasons to feel that you aren’t getting the service you require. And when you’re not 100% satisfied with the service, often the best option is to switch to a new team.

Toying with the idea of switching property managers? You can count on the team at Silver Service Real Estate to handle the entire process for you easily and best of all it’s free (except for the fees in your contract with the previous agents).

Silver Service Real Estate are there to assist you at every step of the way — from putting together all the paperwork and collecting files from your old agent, to notifying the tenants, arranging inspections, and finally, delivering the high level of service you desire and deserve. Bonus? We carry out everything with minimal disruption to your tenants.

Unlike many property agents, we, at Silver Service, stand by our commitment to property management services. So much so that we have created a commitment guarantee, which we encourage all clients to refer back. We consider this guarantee to be the standard when reviewing and managing our clients’ properties.

Interested to know more about changing your property management firm to Silver Service? Just give us a call!

The post Want to Change Your Property Manager? It’s Easier Than You Think! appeared first on Silver Service Real Estate.

If you’re the owner of an investment property and struggling to get a deal to the closing table, having a dedicated property manager on your side can make a big difference. For instance, our property managers at Silver Service have successfully been navigating one of the most common problem areas for our clients — balancing the tenant’s rights and obligations with that of the landlord/seller in case they don’t wish to or, cannot afford to sell their investment vacant.

Unlike brokers who exclusively focus on the sale while neglecting the tenant issues, we aim to reach a happy middle ground wherein our client can sell with the tenant in situ without upheaval or required rental deductions.

That said, let’s look at other reasons why the best agent to sell your investment property is the property manager.

Complete hands-on management

Property management has lots of moving parts — from finding and keeping tenants, regular maintenance, and ensuring the value of your property doesn’t drop to financial and legal aspects. Property managers efficiently handle these tasks freeing you up to pursue other interests or focus on your day job, especially if this isn’t your main source of income.

Overseeing in your absence

If you don’t live anywhere close to your rental property, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed while dealing with the many issues that property ownership brings with it. In such cases, a property manager proves to be invaluable, if not indispensable.

A higher level of expertise

No matter how familiar you are with ups and downs of the market, working with a property manager who has knowledge and experience of the property market in the area can be a game changer. Managers often know the suburb of your property like the back of their hand while also having a keen understanding of the buyer’s mentality and what they are looking for.

Great advice

Whether to hold or sell off your property is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make as a landlord. A property manager has a wealth of knowledge and resource to make sure you strike when the iron is hot. For example, currently, the property is in the “buyers” cycle, which means it is a time when you can buy at the lower end of the market. Data shows that properties are selling at a slower rate, and there’s a longer period of negotiation before a sale. Essentially, this isn’t a great time to sell, and you’d be better off to postpone your plans till we’re back to a “sellers” market.

Knowledge of what makes successful sales

Property managers know what it takes to make a property more attractive than the competition, and hence more saleable. Here are three tips from our top-performing property managers:

1. Ensure the property is in tip-top condition and make it “show ready” even if it means shelling out some extra money. (Case in point: We achieved $1,012,000 on a house sale by spending $30k on a mini makeover whereas we’d have got $830,000 maximum if we had left the tenant in and had done nothing.)
2. Know when to sell the property vacant and when to keep tenants in. If you’re selling a rental property to a homeowner, you have more flexibility when a tenant is not in place. So it’s best to wait until the lease expires and the current tenant moves out. Financially, some landlords are not in a position to do so and we’re specialised to help in such cases.  

However, if your target buyer is a real estate investor, then keeping the tenant makes more financial sense for all three parties — you, the potential buyer, and the tenant.

3. Get the styling right. An empty property doesn’t show off your asset to its great potential while a tenant’s furniture is not always designed to showcase it either. (Case in point: We spent $8000 including styling furniture on an apartment and sold it for $635,000, while most apartments similar were selling for $585,000.)

Whether you are requiring to sell with the tenant in place, planning to take your property to a new level before hitting today’s “buyer market,” or simply looking for a more efficient day-to-day management of your properties, working with a qualified property manager can help you meet those goals with greater success.

Everything we do here at Silver Service is underpinned by our no-compromise attitude to set the highest standards in service. We are Silver Service and we are setting new standards in real estate excellence, every client and every professional, every time.

We look forward to being of service,

Mariam, Noune, Carolyn, Shelley, Argine, Margaret, Mark, Joanne, Alister and Adam
email us service@silverservicere.com.au 
or call our office +61 3 9855 1197

The post Why Your Property Manager is the Best Person to Sell Your Investment Property? appeared first on Silver Service Real Estate.