During this time of economic downturn, you may be tempted into self-management by the emergence of so-called 'self-help' websites, but there are risks involved with managing a rental property yourself.
While the residential property market may be experiencing a 4.9 per cent rental vacancy rate, along with a moderate dip in weekly rent prices, the important issues remain the same no matter what the prevailing rental market conditions may be.
Important skills
When the pool of prospective tenants decreases, it becomes more important than ever to engage the services of a highly skilled property manager to look after your rental property.
Professional managers can ensure you achieve not only the very best rental amount possible, but also attract a quality tenant who will look after the property and pay the rent, while at the same time keeping all residential management matters fully compliant with tenancy laws.
If you don’t have the time to fully educate yourself about all legislation governing residential tenancy, then by self-managing you leave yourself exposed to litigation.
Guidance and protection
A current trend of self-help platforms has been the emergence of websites to assist owners in managing their own property.
What many self-managed landlords do not realise is that they will be paying for information which may or may not be compliant to their particular state or region.
The information might also not take into account various local factors that influence the rental market at any given time.
Many of these sites also leave self-managed rental property owners exposed and offer little guidance or protection in the event of the tenancy relationship souring.
Critical issues
With compulsory professional development required of each and every registered property manager in WA, you can be rest assured your REIWA agent is fully conversant with any changes to legislation or consumer law trends.
All things considered, utilising the services of property management professionals is an investment in the future of your property portfolio.
Find out more about the benefits of hiring a REIWA property manager.