The many hats that we wear as portfolio managers
Facilitators we are, experts in maintenance and repairs we are not. As owners of rental properties, it’s important to understand why we do what we do for YOU and how we facilitate the speediest most cost effective repairs for your rental property with the least possible disruption to your residents. With the many hats Portfolio Managers wear, many people can mistake them for plumbing, electrical, roofing, door sliding, pest control experts. This is not the case for your property management team at LISTED Estate Agents.
An integral part of the training we give our team is that we emphasize the importance of not worrying about having to say “sorry, I don’t know what that problem could be caused by, but we have a group of hugely experienced, trusted and reliable contractors who will know…” The property management team is trained to deal in facts and with these facts, facilitate solutions.
To do this we have trained our team to ask as many questions as possible to establish as much information about the maintenance/repair reported by the tenants. We believe this is an essential part of the process because then we can pass that information onto the relevant contractor who will attend to the property with as realistic understanding of what they are required to quote for maintenance/repair. Both parties benefit from our proactive approach, as it will more than likely reduce the time the tenant is waiting for the maintenance/repair to be rectified. As well as the costs incurred by the owner can be reduced and mitigated due to correct identification of the maintenance issue.
One of those trusted and reliable contractors we use in our business to send to our investment owners is Sam Clark, Director of Ontap Plumbing & Gas. I asked Sam what are the 3 most common problems he comes across when attending to rental properties and what first questions may help to ask the tenant for further clarification.
- Blocked drains – is it only one fixture that’s blocked or is everything backing up?
- Leaking pipes – is the leak dripping or actually flooding your floor? If it’s dripping, we can decide the urgency with which to attend.
- No hot water – is your gas cooktop working? If not, have you paid your gas bill? (Yes, this does happen…we have attended properties where the gas supply has been turned off because of non-payment of bill)
For all your Property Management needs, call me today, Paula – 0432 281 070.
