Recently we’ve been looking at the 14 Fundamentals Of Effective Property Management with Changing Places CEO and Founder, Cameron Fisher.

Last week we looked at Condition Report – the more detail the better, this week we discuss Rental Payments – cash flow is paramount.

It is critical that the rental payments come in on time and that you are paid on time. Some agents only pay landlords once every month, so in some cases you may not receive rent for nearly 2 months if the tenant is late paying. This is not what you want to see, especially if you have a mortgage to pay. At Changing Places we make payments to landlords twice per week so you will always receive your rent within days of us receiving it. As rents come into our Trust Account the monies virtually go straight out to the landlord.

Related Article: Tenant Selection – digging deeper

Most importantly though, we need to make sure the tenants are paying their rent on time. If a tenant falls one day behind, they receive texts, emails or a phone call notifying them of this. The contact intensifies every day they are late. The law in Victoria is, that once the tenant is 14 days behind, we can issue them with a formal notice and then if they do not pay within a further 14 days, we take them to the tribunal (VCAT) to enforce rent payment and also raise the possibility of having their lease terminated if we deem necessary. If the tenant starts to do it too often, we may want them removed from the property completely. Again the agent has to be on top of this, as 28 days must pass before we can actually appear for you at a tribunal. Often the bond is only equivalent to one month’s rent, so not applying to the tribunal at the 14 day and 28 day mark will delay the process and cost you dearly if payment is not made and the tenant skips. So again, if you have a property manager who manages too many properties and has too many issues going on and doesn’t attend to rent arrears for a week or three weeks, and notices to pay are issued late, it means a greater chance of real loss for you. Paying you quickly and reducing arrears is very important because the sooner you receive your rent the sooner you can pay down your mortgage or offset account saving you interest.

From the rent, Changing Places can pay your rates, Owners Corporation fees, maintenance, insurance, or any other outgoings you want us to pay. We provide you an Owner’s Instruction Form to complete which details which outgoings you would like us to pay on your behalf at the start of a new management, thus making sure rate payments to councils and Owners Corporations are not late, saving you penalty and interest charges.

Click here for more information on property management or call 1300 130 998.

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