The overseeing of residential, commercial and/or industrial property – including apartments, houses, units, office/business buildings, factories, shopping centres and more – is what is known as property management. Typically, a property manager is hired for real estate that is owned by another party or entity. This property manager then acts on behalf of the owner to generate income and preserve the value of the owner/entity’s property.
Within Australia, real estate agencies often offer property management services. In this case, a real estate agent can list, show and lease rental properties. A property manager may also help the owner to create a budget for their property, advertise their available rental, compile a list of qualified potential tenants, collect rent, comply with local laws and maintain the property, organise preventative improvements and interior and exterior cleaning. A property owner/entity will pay a fee or percentage of the property’s rent income to the property manager.
Why Hire a Property Manager?
There are many reasons why an owner/entity will choose to hire a property manager. The most common reason is that they lack the time and/or expertise to adequately maintain their property and deal with their tenants.
If you as the owner/entity’s only interest is in earning a profit, hiring a property manager is a great way to offload the ongoing time involvement of maintaining a property. This is also true of any owner/entity that owns property within a different country or state to that where they reside. Experienced property investors who own multiple properties find it best to use a property manager in order to stay on top of tenants, maintenance and get assistance in managing multiple properties well.
The laws and regulations for property management vary among states. If you have purchased property within Queensland, make sure you read and understand Queensland’s Property Industry Regulations. Or, if you have hired a property manager, confirm that they know and understand these regulations. These regulations are also very dependant upon the classification of your property type (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.).
