While some people do choose to self-manage their properties, employing the services of a property manager does make life a lot easier.

These are just some of the things a good property manager does to ensure your property investment isn’t just cared for, but your experience is a good one:

• Know federal, state, and local laws

First and foremost, you need to have the confidence your agent knows the law and is on top of the latest legislation. It’s imperative your agent lets you know of any changes to the law, how this may affect you, and what you need to do to make sure your property adheres to current regulations.

But it’s not just making sure your property is legal; tenants have rights too and a good agent will know what laws are in place to protect them too, particularly when it comes to renewing leases and evicting tenants.

• Marketing your property and managing tenant applications

Yes, you can stick a notice in the local paper or on Gumtree, but a good property manager knows the type of tenant your property is likely to attract – and knows where they are looking!

Our vacancy rates have always been around 1% under the average vacancy rate thanks to our active team and intense, expert marketing. For instance, quality photos, well-written descriptions and marketing on over 15 websites makes sure our properties get seen by the right potential tenants.

Furthermore, we make it easy for potential tenants to apply. Yes, we do have paper application forms but we also use 1forms, a web based application process where people can apply straight from the computer or smart phone.

• Properly screen tenants

You may get lots of tenant applications coming in, but you need to know they are not only going to pay the rent on time, but they will treat your property with respect and care for it properly.

We have access to all the latest screening tools, credit checks and references so we can be sure the tenant has the right credentials from the start.

• Negotiate rental agreements and manage the paperwork on your behalf

While the NSW office of Fair Trading website has got standard tenant agreements you can download, most times you may need additional clauses added.

Good agents will remind you when leases need renewing within the legal requirements and advise on the steps to take, and manage the process if you need to terminate a lease agreement.

Furthermore, they’ll stay on top of all the other admin stuff, like reminding you of when the insurance is due or when smoke alarms need checking.

We do all of this and to save our clients time, we can take the costs out of the rental income.

• Collect rent

Actually, it’s not just about collecting rent – it’s about making sure it is collected on the agreed date, and managing the situation professionally and within the law if the rent isn’t paid.

We also track rental income and expenses and prepare financial reports. This means our clients don’t have to spend time collating all this information for their accountants when they do their tax return because we’ve already done it for them.

• Care for your asset

Regular in-depth inspections of the property will reveal any areas that need attending to. For instance mending a lose hinge will prevent damage to the frame if the entire door falls off.

While many tenants aren’t slow in coming forward when there are issues, they don’t always pick up maintenance problems; with our regular inspections, we spot things before they may become a major, costly problem.

We only work with quality tradesman, so when clients want us to organise the maintenance or repair, we are sure the work is carried out at the best standard.

Keeping on top of maintenance will not only prevent minor issues becoming major headaches, but it will also demonstrate you care about your property, in our experience, keeping on top of maintenance encourages tenants to look after the property they are living in.

• Manage tenant requests and deal with problems when they happen

Branches do go through windows in storms, hot water systems do breakdown at the most inappropriate of moments and other accidents do happen.

As well as general maintenance, we’ve handled all sorts of emergencies at all hours of the day and night.

We have an out-of-hours number for tenants to call if there is a genuine emergency and we work with a team of reputable tradespeople who can do repairs at short notice at acceptable rates.

This gives our clients peace of mind that even if they are away, their property is been properly looked after and maintained.

• Freely give advice

Some of the best feedback we’ve had from clients is thanking us for the advice we’ve given. We’ve given advice on rental adjustments and cost-effective renovations to give added appeal or increased resale value. Plus we make sure all the properties we manage operate within the current legislation, and keep on top of any legislative changes which may affect our clients.

Yes, you do have to pay for a property manager, but this cost is tax deductible; in the long-run a good property manager will save you money, time and an awful lot of heartache.

Want to find out more about our property management services or how we can help get the best out of your asset? We believe we go above and beyond other agents, which is probably why we’ve been in business for more than 40 years.

Drop into the and speak to our dedicated team,  give us a call on 02 4954 8833 or send us an email to mail@apnewcastle.com.au.