FAQs About Property Management

A property manager does exactly what the name suggests, and then more. This includes marketing the rental, choosing your tenants, and then managing the day-to-day activities. However, a property manager does not have to do everything if you do not want them to. Generally speaking, your property manager can manage any of the following main responsibilities:

• Market the property – this may involve going out to their clients, database and the general public. This also involves opening your property for viewings.
• Choose the tenants or advise you on who to choose – this includes screening tenants with relevant reference check and rental history reviews.
• Negotiate and collect the rent
• Prepare the tenancy agreement
• Lodge and collect bond payments
• Conduct regular inspections
• Handle any repair or maintenance requests, including obtaining quotes from relevant trades and advising you how to move forward in the process
• Report all relevant notices and financial statements
• Pay council rates and taxes – this will be taken from the rent collected
• Handle complaints from tenants, deal with any issues the landlord may have with the tenants and where necessary, issue termination notices to tenants when required

Tenants are required to pay a Tenants Security Bond in order to protect the owner in the event of damage or unpaid rent. If, at the end of your lease, there is damage to the property or you are behind in some rent payments then the owner will claim that money from the Bond.

This depends on what you are wanting to hang on the walls. If you are wanting to put items like picture hooks and shelves on the wall, then you will need to seek permission from the owner first. Provide the Property Manager with as much detail as possible regarding your plans and location of the hooks. It is the expectation for the fixture to be made good at the end of your tenancy.

Just like in the rest of our lives, changes with housing arrangements are likely to occur over time. Partners and housemates can come and go and it becomes necessary to update the record with a landlord. While tenancy legislation differs state-to-state, the general principles of adding someone new to a lease –  The leaseholder or leaseholders – determined by many variables, including rental affordability – have a legal obligation to meet the tenant contract and can be held liable for late rent payments or damage by them or the approved occupants. Occupants will need to complete a Rental application and then will need to be approved by Landlord.

While visitors are allowed under almost all leases, if someone stays for two weeks or more, or more than three nights a week, the property manager needs to be notified.

The Property Condition Report (PCR) is a written report that describes the condition of your rented property when you move in and move out. In Western Australia, a landlord or property manager must prepare the PCR at the beginning and ending of the tenancy agreement.

As a tenant you will be supplied a copy of the PCR and have the opportunity to dispute an item in the PCR, including asking for other items to be included. You should retain a copy of the PCR once completed as the landlord or property manager will compare the initial PCR and the final PCR to determine if there are any damages to the property. If the dispute proceeds to the Magistrates Court then decisions will heavily rely upon the information in the PCRs.

Emergency/ Urgent repairs are issues where there is immediate health and/ or safety risk or may cause damage to the premises, injure a person or cause undue hardship or inconvenience to the tenant. This can include:

1. Burst water pipe
2. Blocked, broken or overflowing toilet and sewerage system
3. Gas leak
4. Electrical fault that is danger to you and others
5. Serious roof leaks
6. Disruption of services of electricity, gas waste water and hot water, including issues with hot water system