Once you’ve purchased your investment property, you need to decide – as a new landlord – whether to manage the property yourself or to engage a professional.

So, you’ve spent months – maybe even years – saving to purchase your very own investment property.

You’d like to assume the hard work is now behind you.

There is, however, an important question to ask yourself as a new landlord: ‘Do I manage my own investment property or hire the help of a professional property manager?’

Effective property management involves much more than collecting the rent on time. Maintenance, liaising with tenants and dealing with disputes or concerns are also important parts of the role.

There are pros and cons both to doing it yourself and to using an agent – deciding who should handle these and other property management tasks is not always easy.

Benefits of doing it yourself
Saving money is the key benefit of the DIY approach since a professional property manager will charge you a fee.

These fees vary from agency to agency, but you can expect to pay anything from 5 to 12 per cent of the weekly rental income.

If you plan to manage your investment property yourself, you may want to consider purchasing close to your primary place of residence. This will allow you to liaise more effectively with your tenants as well as perform common household maintenance tasks more conveniently.

It may eat into your spare time, but by dealing with your tenants yourself and carrying out your own basic repairs you could save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars each year.

Using a property manager
Having the help of a professional property manager can make a great difference when you need to handle tenant disputes or sensitive issues such as rental increases. In fact, you won’t even need to have any contact with the tenants.

A property manager is also likely to have a greater understanding of market trends and can advise on whether you are charging too much – better yet – too little.

Finding good tenants is also all part of their job.

Some property managers handle large numbers of properties regularly. While this might allow them to find a new tenant for you quickly if your existing one moves on, you should be careful that they are not spreading themselves too thinly and will be unable to give managing your property the attention it requires.

Courtesy of Lending Services Victoria

Achieving Success as a Landloard