Login
iscover
With Victorian landlords increasingly dependent on their agents for guidance on tenants and maintenance, the ability to educate and inform them has become crucial for property professionals.
Agents who work as property managers are well-equipped to assist inexperienced Victorian landlords, with new data revealing that many property owners in the state lack an understanding of their obligations to tenants.
The report from the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CRPC), entitled ‘Renting in Reality’, revealed that ‘accidental investors’ – those who did not intend to acquire property but did so as a result of life circumstances – were particularly unprepared to cater to tenants’ needs.
According to the report, four in five (80 per cent) agent-managed landlords reported relying heavily on their agent to identify repair and maintenance needs.
Data showed that 32 per cent of accidental investors expressed the lowest confidence in understanding their obligations and the law, while 41 per cent encountered an issue with the application process during the past year.
Barry Plant senior property manager and licensed estate agent, Adrian Lieschke, said that a lack of education was to blame, particularly for first-time investors who find the rules and regulations confusing.
However, he said that agents working as property managers were well-positioned to inform both potential and current landlords of the guidelines.
In particular, he said that agencies can assist landlords in understanding their obligations by offering educational sessions.
“It’s up to, I think, the agent to educate owners …as an agency – providing owners with those updates,” he said.
“They're not generally aware of them – you've got some astute ones out there – but not every landlord has done this.”
Additionally, accidental investors were found to feel particularly overwhelmed by the burdens of property costs.
“Accidental investors reported feelings of moderate to high stress about their property at higher rates than landlords representing other values-based segments,” the report said.
Data showed that, in general, landlords have been largely unprepared to deal with rental property costs, including increases in property expenses (27 per cent), managing repairs and maintenance (24 per cent), and the costs of those repairs (13 per cent).
However, accidental investors tended to have deep trust in their agents, with 88 per cent of accidental investors reporting having a positive relationship.
Lieschke said that, given there were many rule changes that occur over time, it’s pivotal for agents to stay up to date with the latest Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) advice and their own training.
“Therefore, you can advise landlords of those changes; there [are] grace periods where they'll give us lead-in times to these changes coming in,” he said.
Additionally, he said that agents should strive to build a rapport with landlords through mutual trust and respect, so that they will be more likely to listen to the agent’s advice.
“Being transparent, upfront, honest with the owner, and then meeting those expectations for the owners too, does give you a better relationship with your client, your landlord, and your renter,” he said.
Lieschke also said that agents should try to understand how different personalities operate, as property management also includes people management and dealing with the situations that arise.
“I feel as an agent, if you are good at doing that, you'll get good outcomes for your renter providers, your renters, and everyone will be happy with the outcome.
“Although they might dig their heels in while it's actually happening, in the long run, you can't please everybody, but if you can please the masses of clients, you're generally going to go well as an agent and prevent referral business because of that,” he concluded.
You might also like: [Major network appoints new head of property management]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.