As the rental market faces growing compliance requirements, a new finance tool gives owners an option to pay for repairs and maintenance work, helping property managers speed up the process.
RealtyAssist has launched a new finance tool to speed up and simplify the rental maintenance process for property managers by giving owners an alternative way to handle unexpected costs.
The platform, Rental+, helps to address costs for compliance matters, repairs and maintenance, urgent property works, body corporate special levies, improvements, minor renovations, and other expenses.
RealtyAssist said that while property managers may identify a problem, organise a quote, and explain what needs to be done, the owner's repair costs can slow or delay progress.
Head of growth, Luke Kenyon, said Rental+ was designed to fit into property managers’ existing processes without adding another layer of work.
He said property managers simply had to refer the property owner to RealtyAssist, which then guided them through the process and allowed them to make an informed decision.
“The issue often isn’t whether the work should happen. It’s how the owner is going to pay for it.
Rental+ gives eligible property owners another option to help get that work moving,” he said.
According to RealtyAssist CEO Tom Kellaway, the platform gave property managers another option to help solve issues without asking them to become finance experts.
“Property managers already have enough on their plate. We’re not asking them to take on another complicated process or provide financial advice,” Kellaway said.
“Their role is to make the property owner aware that another option exists. If funding is the thing holding the work up, Rental+ is designed to help move that conversation forward.”
Belle Property National head of property management, Fabian Ekker, said the tool can make it easier for property managers to have conversations with owners about maintenance issues, boosting efficiency.
“It’s one of those ideas where you almost wonder why something like this hasn’t existed in a more practical way before,” he said.
Despite compliance being a key aspect of the tool, the company said that Rental+ was designed to address a broad range of costs that can arise throughout property ownership.
The new tool, Rental+, gives eligible property owners a way to fund property-related expenses through a loan, with repayments spread over time via rental income rather than requiring the entire cost upfront.
Repayments come out of the monthly rental income, allowing property managers to refer owners to the finance option when something unexpected arises.
RealtyAssist general manager, Esbjorn Torstensson, said significant or unexpected property costs can quickly put pressure on a property owner’s cash flow.
“As a rental property owner myself, and from the many conversations we’ve had with property managers, I know it can be a real shock to suddenly be faced with a long list of work that needs to be done on a property,” he said.
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