Why have a professional Property Manager managing your investment? To enjoy a stress-free experience.
Property managers wear many hats, sometimes simultaneously. We specialise in being organised. Being proactive. Having excellent customer service and strong communication skills. We build strong relationships. And this is just the basics of the job.
We save you, the owner time and worry over managing your property. This is what we do. We are in the business every day.
What we are essentially offering to you the owner, is peace. Peace of mind knowing that your property is being professionally managed.
Richardson & Wrench Noosa professional services include:
REALISTIC APPRAISAL – We won’t OVER VALUE your property just to get the listing. We won’t raise your expectations just to have your property sitting on the market for weeks on end. We will give you an honest realistic appraisal.
FORM 6 – Management agreement. Without a signed copy in our office we cannot even advertise your property for rent.
ADVERTISING In this day and age advertising on the internet is the best way to attract tenants. We publish our availabile rental properties on 18 different rental portals and of course our own website. We also publish our own in house rent list for those who want a hard copy.
HOUSEKEEPING One of the first steps is to ensure your property is in ship shape for the best possible tenant – We will advise you on the ‘what and how’. What needs doing (if anything), and how to get it done with the lease amount of time and expenditure. We like to ensure the property is in the best possible condition on handover to the tenant as we expect it to be returned in same condition at the end of tenancy, fair wear and tear excepted.
Showing your property to prospective tenants – is by appointment only and ALWAYS accompanied. We will NEVER hand out keys to prospective tenants. Apart from our ‘duty of care’ to our owners’, accompanying tenants to viewings gives us a chance to chat and get to know the tenants. It gives us a ‘feel’ for them.
Tenant selection – is through and rigid. We look at the big picture. The whole show, so to speak. Problems for you are problems for us. We don’t want any problems during or after a tenancy. That’s why we are through. However, not every tenancy is a perfect one, sometimes things do go wrong and if this happens, we engage our resolution skills to guide the situation to a win/win outcome.
We thoroughly check EVERY reference provided by the tenant. Personal references, employment references, rental histories. We use a national data base called TICA (Tenancy Information Centre of Australia), which is a tenant default database for listing defaulting tenants. The RTRA ACT, 2008 (the Residentioal Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act), dictates that tenants can only be listed for 3 years and then must be removed.
APPROVING A TENANT – is always your final decision. You will always have the final say as to who lives in your property. We will process the application and if we are happy with it THEN we will run it by you for your Yes or No decision.
INSPECTIONS
Entry Condition Report – At the very start of a tenancy, tenants are given an entry condition report which is a detailed written report and supporting photos of the current condition of the property on sign up day. The tenants then have three days to return the report with any added comments and or photos of their own. This report is vital if there may be a dispute emerging at the end of a tenancy. We explain to the tenant on signup that this report is worth at the least their bond. It is imperative it is complete.
Routine Inspections – The first routine inspection is just 6 weeks after the tenant takes occupancy. We have it automated in our software programme. Then after, we carry out a routine inspection every 12 weeks. You will be emailed a written report with supporting photos. We will also suggest any maintenance issues we note.
Exit Condition Report – is the final inspection and carried out when the tenants vacate and hand back the keys and is the governernt as to the bond refund. Except for fair wear and tear we expect the property to be handed back to us pretty much the way it was given, guided by the entry condition report. If we aren’t happy with the clean or state of repair of the property, we immediately contact the tenant to rectify. If this is not completed we will use the bond to return the property back to an acceptable condition.
Rent and Arrears – We monitor rent payments every day. Tenants rent is expected to be paid in advance at all times. 3 days overdue we send a reminder SMS. 5 days over a phone call, and if the rent falls 7 days in arrears a NTR (notice to remedy) will be automatically issued to the tenant. If 2 NTRs are issued on a 12 month period, we can then issue a Notice to leave, on your direction.
MAINTENANCE – The maintenance hat is a well-worn hat by property managers. How well it is worn though, can prevent a mole hill festering into a mountain. Maintenance is a daily part of property management and needs (usually demands) to be addressed immediately.
Maintenance is always to be reported in writing from the tenant. We will action basic maintenance immediately. Meaning we won’t bother you with a simple light bulb or a dripping tap. However, If there is a major issue, we will contact you for you direction and preferences.
Under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (the Act), property managers/owners must ensure rented premises are safe, secure, in good repair and fit for living.
EMERGENCY REPAIRS – Click Here
FYI, under the Act, a tenant has a legal right to arrange emergency repairs equal to the amount of one weeks rent in an emergency situation. We do provide tenant with our preferred contractors mobile phone numbers for this reason. And of course, we ask they contact us first however we provide them with an emergency back up if they can’t get hold of us. All other repairs are considered routine repairs.
Please also note, if you are the ‘few and far between’ type of property owner that prefers not keep your investment in a ‘good state of repair’, we are the type of agency that cannot manage your property. It is that important, and required by law.
A lessors (or lessors agent), obligations during the tenancy include:
- Providing all required documentation
- Issuing receipts for bond and rent paid
- Lodging bonds with the RTA
- Providing a property that is clean, fit for a tenant to live in and in good repair
- Providing a property that is safe and secure attending to routine maintenance within a reasonable frame
- Attending to emergency maintenance promptly
- Respect the tenant’s tenants right to quiet enjoyment of the rental property
- Entering the property only as permitted
- Providing the appropriate notice of rent increases
- Providing the appropriate notice of vacant possession is required
- Carrying out the final inspection and advising the vacated tenant
FEES – we sure do charge for what we do. We are a high-quality service operator. We pride ourselves on our service first and foremost. We believe our exceptional service and communication skills are our key to property management brilliance. We are not the cheapest agency in town. But we are the best. Sometimes the old story of ‘you get what you pay for’ rings true. We don’t lower our fee, just as we don’t want to lower our service to you. We are a boutique agency offering the BEST.
Here’s a story for you … A new hairdresser, ‘Shawns’, set up shop right across the road from an already established hair shop, ‘Bobs’. Shawn placed a sign in his window boasting ‘$6.00 Haircuts’. Bobs sign read ‘$25.00 haircuts’. Bob thought, ‘I can’t complete with that, I charge $25.00 a cut’. After a few days of watching the comings and goings from Shawns shop, he added a note to his sign, ‘$25 is to fix the $6.00 haircuts’.
Account Management – Any acounting relating to the your property we can manage on your behalf. If your council rates are due, body corporate fees, water bills etc we can pay them for you.
Invoicing – When we action maintenance or make payments for you, we enter the invoices into our system against your property and they will be paid out of your account at the end of the month.
Water charging – The regulations.
How can you avoid paying ANY of your tenant’s water usage? By ensuring your property is water compliant. Criteria and full information at this link -https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/Forms-and-publications/Fact-sheets/General-tenancy-fact-sheets/Water-charging-fact-sheet
Smoke alarms – 2022 compliancy explained. A new legislation regarding smoke alarms is making Queensland homes the safest in Australia. https://www.qld.gov.au/about/newsroom/smoke-alarm-legislation
Our tradespeople – We only use licensed tradespeople. All of our ‘tradies’ are well known Noosa locals who have operated their business in the Noosa community for years. We KNOW they are reliable, that’s why we use them. All their work is guaranteed.
What happens to the tenant if you decide to sell? – Simple, the new owner inherits them.
When a tenant signs a tenancy agreement, they are signing a legal document. Therefore, the agreement stands in place even if you decide to sell. However, the tenant can end the tenancy agreement if the property is advertised for sale and/or buyers are shown through in the first two months of a tenancy including a tenancy renewal.