Whether you’re self managing your asset, or you have delegated the day-to-day operations to a management agency, you might be surprised by the additional benefits derived from your relationship with a good commercial property manager. Valuable benefits that you might be overlooking right now.
Here are a few ways you can benefit from professional management that you may not have thought of;
1. Redundancy
A managing agency has support staff who take care of things if somebody is absent. If you’re self managing, your property’s day-to-day operations are dependent entirely on you – do you have somebody who slots seamlessly into your role when you go on holiday or become unwell?
2. Technology and resources
Gone are the days of using complex spreadsheets to manage commercial real estate. Due to scale, an agency that manages a significant property portfolio can invest in enterprise-level property management software that would be cost prohibitive for private investors. Boosting efficiency and dramatically increasing accuracy while tracking finances and calculating rent reviews with pinpoint accuracy, the right technology ensures nothing is missed.
3. Knowledge of the law
If you charge your tenant incorrectly, like overcharging outgoings for example, you have to live with the uncertainty that the tenant may come back to recover the funds some day, maybe even years later.
Do you own multiple investment properties? Land tax is one area where we often see landlords incorrectly calculating what the tenant must pay. Failing to calculate land tax on a single ownership basis, property owners can inadvertently recover more from tenant than they are obligated to pay.
That is just one example of where it’s easy to go wrong without in-depth knowledge of legislation relating to commercial real estate in Western Australia.
4. Instant access to reliable tradespeople
Aaah contractors, you’ve got to love em. There’s not a single person I know of who doesn’t have a story something along the lines of this…
Tradie turns up late. Profoundly botches the job. Overcharges you for the pleasure.
Sadly “You should be grateful I even got out here in the first place” is often their attitude.
No more calling random tradies from Google. You will get immediate access to your property managers contractors – trusted tradespeople they have worked with over the long term, fast tracking necessary repairs and often passing on discounts.
Got a leaky roof? we’ve got a great roof plumber. Need a reliable and affordable gardener? got one of those too.
5. Financial Statements
Are you the type to have paperwork spread all over your home or office? do you struggle to file or locate key documents or communication that allows you to have a clear understanding of your property’s exact financial performance? can’t quite recall if you have collected all the rent you’re due? or notified your tenant of their latest rental increase?
If your disorganisation causes endless frustration with not only yourself, but those around you like family, and your book keeper or accountant, a property manager will keep all key property related information on file and send you simple monthly and end-of-financial-year statements so you will always have a crystal clear understanding of your financial position, and how your property is performing overall.
Yes, we couldn’t help ourselves so we snuck in a 6th benefit for you to consider…
6. Keep an “arms length” between you and your tenant
We have observed a common trend over the years of tenants having a direct relationship with their landlord, taking advantage of the property owners good nature.
Extending an extra week or so grace period for rent here and there starts out relatively harmless. And if that were the extent of it – no harm done. Except that over time the “week or so” grace period creeps into 15 days and then 30 and so on. That cycle is not easy to break once it has begun.
It’s your property manager’s job to have the hard discussions with the tenant. That way your tenant needs to conform to “Standard Property Management Agency Procedure” and pay their rent on time – just like every other tenant.
7. Access to the Property Manager’s established Professional relationships
Unexpected things come up in commercial property, and sometimes you need to seek professional advice on a matter. In this case, who do you turn to?
Perth Commercial Property has well-established relationships with trusted commercial property industry experts, such as Lawyers, and insurance brokers who can be engaged for trusted advice and often provide preliminary advice for clients.