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Investors will only question fees if they’ve had a bad experience with poor property management in the past, according to one industry expert.
According to managing director at Property Boss Tamara Schiess, working in between investors and property managers gives her an interesting insight into the relationships between the two parties.
“We started in 2012, and since then we’ve spent a long period of time working to understand the need in the market," she said.
“From an investor's background myself, I wanted to create a bridge between investors and good property managers.”
In the course of her work, Ms Schiess interviewed property management offices to see if they were up to scratch before recommending them to her investor clients – with around 40 per cent of offices failing to live up to expectations.
“We focus on quality property management and because of that, investors who are working through us don’t care as much about fees – they understand that they’re paying a premium for the service," she said.
“When an investor rings up and begins trying to question or negotiate fees, it’s because in the past they’ve been burned by a bad property manager.”
As an investor, Ms Schiess knows too well that inconsistent service has caused many landlords to form jaded views of the industry.
“We hear from clients that they feel their previous property managers didn’t do anything and they weren’t getting their money's worth,” she said.
According to Ms Schiess, the best way to prove to clients you’re a top-performing property manager is to be proactive.
“Even if you’re working hard behind the scenes, you need to be proactive and show your landlord what you’re doing to earn your fee," she advised.
“The two biggest things that cause issues between clients and property managers are communication and service.
“Communication can be improved if you look at how many actual properties the manager has in their portfolio, and what sort of support systems they have in place to help them spend more time communicating with their current clients.
“Don’t be the property manager that only talks to your landlord when there’s something going wrong.”
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