While most property investors spend a huge amount of effort and energy finding the right property to purchase, they rarely spend the time looking for a good property manager. This is asking for trouble! A good property manager is like an insurance policy on your investment. The main criteria most landlords use to select their managing agency is price alone. This is very short sighted. As the old saying goes ‘you get what you pay for’. A cheap rental real estate agency will typically be operated by over worked staff trying to manage hundred of properties, constantly chasing their tail to keep up with the basics. A dedicated property management agency will ensure that your investment property is thoroughly managed. Your property should receive a higher level of service; more time spent on tenant selection, market research and scheduled inspections. This will ensure that your property is looked after, leased to the most appropriate tenants and achieved the highest rental yield possible.

Some property owners even try to manage their property themselves assuming that property management is simply collecting rent. Property manager’s job is much more than this. A good property manager should:

-          Understand the current local real estate market, market forces and how to market your property effectively.

-          Price the rent on your property at the right level to quickly rent out investment.

-          Perform thorough tenant checks and background checks.

-          Write up a comprehensive lease to protect the landlord.

-          Lodge a bond on behalf of the landlord, to the authorities.

-          Handle all repairs on the property, using only qualified tradesmen.

-          Pay insurances, council rates and outgoing on behalf of the property owner.

-          Keep up to date on complex and constantly changing legal issues.

Below is a list of 10 questions you should ask your property management agency before signing up for their services.

Is the real estate agency a specialised property management firm? Many real estate agencies offer property management as an after thought to the sales team. Property managers are seen as unimportant and are often overworked, looking after much too many properties badly instead of a smaller number effectively. Does the agency have local real estate knowledge and experience? Local rental market knowledge is critical in achieving the lowest vacancy rates and achieving the maximum rental price. Will I receive regular updates on my property? A good property management agency should keep the landlord well informed about their investment at all stages of the leasing process. Will I be assigned one dedicated property manager to deal with? Make sure that you are assigned only one property manager to deal with so that you can achieve an open and communicative relationship. Will my property manager attend court on my behalf? Your rental property manager should manage all aspects of your rental property, including attending court on your behalf if need be. How many properties do your property managers manage? Some mainstream agencies assign up to 300 properties to their property managers. This is much too many for an effective job to be done. Regular inspections, negotiating the best rent, keeping up to date with the property market all take a lot of time and energy. At most we suggest that 100 is the maximum properties a rental agent can effectively manage. Does your agency make regular rental increases on your property? A good property manager should be informed about the rental market and understand what the optimum rent achievable is for your house, unit or apartment. Is the managing director/rental agency owner involved in the property management agency on a day-to-day basis? A well-run rental real estate agency should have the director highly involved in the day to day running of the business. Do you do thorough checks on potential tenants to avoid my house/unit being rented out to bad tenants? All investment property owners should be informed about all lease applicants and their background before deciding on who are the best tenants to lease their property too. Is your agency up to date with the latest Internet advertising media? With all sort of social media around now days, it wpould be waste not to take advantage of these advertising avenues. Make sure your agent is maximising your properties exposure, therefore minimising your vacancy rates.

Just Rent Sydney would answer yes to all of the above!

Just Rent Sydney can handle the transfer of your rental property from your current real estate agency over to us without you having to be involved, making the transition seamless and easy.

Make the smart move.

 

With change comes opportunity.  We are seeing many, very interesting developments with commercial real estate loans.  One happens to be banks offering to reduce balances owed and waive any prepayment penalties in an effort to entice strong borrowers to refinance their debt. 

And no, we are not referring to borrowers that are late, have negative trends, etc.  We are talking about stable commercial real estate loans, that the existing bank needs out of, for their own internal issues.  I.e. the bank needs liquidity to survive.  They have their own capital problems and, apparently freeing up commercial loans is a potential solution. 

Commercial Real Estate Loans

For example, a hotel client of ours called this week.  They owe $3.5 million with a property value at approximately $5.2 million.  Their occupancy is great at 84% year end and they have strong cash flow which easily services the existing debt.  Their existing bank has offered to waive the existing 3% prepayment penalty and reduce their balance by $300,000 to get them to “go away”.  The bank called them out of the blue.   

Fluke???

Another borrower called us this week as well that happens to own 14 Kentucky Fried Chickens.  They owe their existing bank over $7 million and where offered a reduction of $3,000,000 dollars…  Again the borrower is strong, cash flowing, etc.  These, by the way are not the same banks. 

Borrowers that are in good financial positions, may want to make a few phone calls to see if they can save a substantially amount of money.  Borrowers should keep in mind that just because your existing bank maybe in trouble doesn’t mean that you can’t find a healthy bank, as we and some of our competition continue to grind out commercial real estate loans.   

The old saying, “got lemons? make lemonade” comes to mind.    

 

Choosing to buy commercial property is a big decision. You require a high level of investment and have to ensure that you don’t make a costly mistake. A number of websites provide commercial real estate listings of properties for sale. These lists are regularly updated. One can search these lists to gain a general idea of the quality of the properties that are available within a given budget. The prices of commercial real estate typically vary according to their location, size, and quality of construction. If you are planning to invest in commercial real estate, you should look at these lists these lists. Looking at these lists requires a great degree of skill, as it is important to read between the lines to uncover the true value of a listing.

Find out how many Commercial Property Listings there are in your local area

Your first step should be to find out what the best locations to buy commercial properties are. Often you will find that certain areas will have a high density of commercial real estate for sale, be wary of such pockets lest you find yourself buying a ticket aboard a sinking ship. Although it may cost you more money at times, make it your mission to find an area where companies such as your own have a proven track record of doing well.

Once you find an appropriate property from a commercial real estate listing, perform a thorough inspection before you buy Commercial Real Estate. While you may feel that a thorough inspection is not necessary as you are not going to be living there, this could not be further from the truth, as this is a business premises inspection it is just as prudent to thoroughly examine as a residential property.

Are you Buying Commercial Property in a Rural or Urban Setting?

When you look at a commercial real estate listing, the type of development where you are purchasing commercial real estate is very important, for instance if you are in a rural setting then you will be looking for very different features than if you were looking for a ware house for sale in an urban setting. Another thing to consider if you are in a rural setting is the cost, you can expect to pay lot less to be in a less developed area but if you are in a more developed district, especially a retail shop for sale or lease inside the city center you can expect to pay a premium.

Will you be buying this Commercial Property to rent out?

It is also important to consider whether you are buying commercial property for your company to actually move into, or whether you are going to rent it out to someone else. If your goal is to own the commercial property to let, then don’t get hung up on want you would like to see when buying commercial real estate, rather find out what the widest possible market is looking for in a commercial property for lease and acquire something that fits that description.

What are the tenant’s assets and liabilities?

It is a good idea to obtain a financial statement from the potential tenant that is occupying the space that you buy. The financial statement will list the tenant’s assets and liabilities. This will give you a good idea of how financially stable the tenant is. Would you like a tenant with $0 cash in the bank, a negative net worth, and credit problems? The answer is of course, no. Once again it’s surprising how many commercial investment property owners don’t do this and find out after the fact that it’s something they shouldn’t have done in the first thing. Now, this is all pretty easy as long as you do a good job of checking out the tenant in the first place.

While on the face of it a commercial property listing may appear straightforward, it is important to dig deeper and find out more before signing on the dotted line. Don’t be afraid to ask the right questions. Only when you are absolutely sure that all your questions have been answered to your satisfaction, you should proceed with the purchase.