‘As bad as each other’: Aussie landlords told to dump lazy property managers

Fed up landlords are finally cracking down on a dodgy rental act that has become an all too common occurrence in Australia.

It’s no secret that the relationship between a landlord and a tenant can be a strained one.

Ask anyone who has been renting for a period of time in Australia and they will likely have multiple stories of crazy rent increases, mouldy properties and countless neglected maintenance requests.

Similarly, ask anyone who has experienced renting out a home and they will probably be able to tell stories of unpaid rent and tenants who have trashed properties.

One thing that both renters and landlords have in common is the majority all have at least one property manager horror story.

Megan, a young Aussie who rents in Sydney’s Inner West, is one of the many tenants who have had a bad real estate agent experience.

In her last rental, the 25-year-old had water literally streaming down the walls of her bedroom and through the light fixtures and, despite being given video proof, the property manager said they “didn’t believe” her.

“It got to the point where, when it would rain torrentially, we’d be really anxious going to sleep because we were like, ‘The roof is going to collapse in on us’,” Megan told news.com.au.

After months of resistance from the agent, it was ultimately found there was significant damage to the roof. The tenants were told they had to move out, only to discover the place made available for rent two weeks later with seemingly none of the issues addressed.

Megan is now in a new rental with a property manager that actually responds to maintenance requests and has much less “anxiety” because she knows issues won’t just be ignored.

According to Sydney landlord Sam Shennan, lazy and even dodgy property managers are just something many Aussies with investment properties have learnt to put up with.

The 49-year-old Coogee man owns five investment properties and has dealt with multiple different real estate agents over the years.

“Generally, they’re all as bad as each other, because the margins are getting so low that the level of service that you get is pretty poor,” Mr Shennan told news.com.au.

“People just put up with it like I did, I put up with it for 10 plus years, because you just don’t know there’s an alternative.”

That is until he discovered a new platform called Landlord, which aims to give the power back to investors and renters who have been repeatedly disappointed by poor property managers.

The platform aims to connect landlords with quality property managers, and even offers to break up with their old agent for them.

In order for a real estate agent to be featured on the platform, they must have a minimum 4.5 star rating across Realestate.com.au, RateMyAgent and Google Reviews.

They then go through a second vetting process in which founder of Landlord, Jeremy Martin, meets them and inspects their office and property management systems.

Jeremy Martin is the founder of Landlord. Picture: Supplied

Mr Martin previously owned a property management business and, after selling it, was often sought out for recommendations for real estate agencies.

Unfortunately, too often the referrals turned into bad experiences for him and the person who reached out to him.

“I referred my mum to two well known agencies and both of them failed in the property management department to such an extent that my mum wanted to sell her investment property,” he told news.com.au.

“I then thought, why isn’t there a website where landlords can go to find the best property manager in their area?”

Having spent more than 10 years running a real estate business, he learnt very quickly there were two key types of property managers: ones that just saw it as a stepping stone to sales and ones that actually took pride in their work.

“It’s these property managers we wish to elevate,” Mr Martin said.

From discovering he hadn’t been paid rent for three and a half months to finding out that a tenant was running an at-home “massage parlour” from one of his properties, Mr Shennan has many stories of neglectful property managers.

There have also been times when tenants have been ignored by agents to the point they have to track down his number to contact him directly to have their requests actioned.

Landlord Sam Shennan, pictured with his family, has had his fair share of experiences with bad property managers. Picture: Supplied

The landlord also revealed a “dodgy” practice that is rife in the industry, which is where property managers will submit questionable repair invoices from tradies.

“They always have the tradies they get a referral fee off, so they are overpriced invoices. That’s stock standard with all of them,” he said.

Since switching some of his properties to the service provided by Landlord, Mr Shennan says the level of service has been leagues ahead of what he had become accustomed to.

He also said the process of changing property mangers was “seamless”, something that he previously found to be a “pain in the arse”.

Owners who sign up to Landlord also receive two weeks of rent – or up to $5000 – which is a very welcome bonus.

Renters also benefit from the move, receiving $50 off their rent for the following week when their landlord moves to a better performing property manager.

Jenna Hawkings, head of property management at Laing+Simmons Parramatta, is one of the agents who has joined Landlord.

One of the key issues she sees in the industry is property manages not being open and honest with both sides, noting “tenants are just as important as owners”.

“Property managers need to act as the middle man and find a balance and always remain honest with both owners and tenants,” she told news.com.au.

“At the end of the day property managers are the middle contact educating both owners and tenants about the law and giving their opinion to resolve the matter efficiently.”

She believes Landlord allows owners to form a relationship with the person managing their property in a way they can’t when they go through an agency who chooses the agent for them.