Once you’ve purchased your investment property, it’s up to you to ensure the property is wellmanaged. You can either do this yourself or hire a property manager to do it for you

Managing your own investment property

If you choose to manage the property yourself, you won’t need to pay management fees. However, you will be solely responsible for taking control of all aspects of property, including managing your property’s legal compliance with rental laws and regulations.

Hiring a property manager

If you choose to hire a property manager (typically a real estate agent), the management fees are tax deductible and you will not have to worry about things like collecting rent, finding new tenants, or dealing with tenant’s issues.

• Understanding the laws of property rental, including the landlord and tenant’s rights and responsibilities
• Taking out building and landlord insurance
• Finding the most suitable tenants, including conducting reference checks
• Showing the property to potential tenants
• Establishing a residential tenancy agreement and then completing a condition report
• Acquiring a bond and rent advance from new tenants
• Chasing rent payments and reviewing rent prices
• Conducting building and pest inspections
• Ensuring all basic utilities are installed and in good working order
• Organizing and paying for repairs, maintenance and renovations if required.

When choosing a property manager, it’s important to find a company that knows the local area and has connections with good tradesmen in case of an emergency. You need to feel confident that one of your biggest assets is in good hands.

Here are some questions you could ask a potential property manager to see if they’re the right fit for you.

Owning an investment property comes with ongoing costs. Making sure you understand what these are is important because they affect your budget and your overall net profit. While some of these expenses can be claimed back in tax—not all of them can.

Here’s a list of ongoing costs

These are unavoidable and vary from state to state, so make sure you find out what the rates are in your area.

Also known as strata fees or strata rates. These are usually paid on a quarterly basis and help pay for the maintenance of the building and common areas. Only payable where a body corporate exists.

National residential tenancy laws require landlords to ensure rented premises are maintained in good order. This includes all gas and electrical appliances provided by the landlord, which must be safe to use and properly maintained.

A property manager costs approximately 7-10% of your total rental income. However, in many cases this service fee is tax deductible.

This cost will vary depending on the property. Many property investors prefer to purchase new properties to minimise these costs. However, it makes sense to have additional funds put away in case you need to make emergency repairs.

Once you begin to receive regular income and your investment property begins paying for itself, you may consider adding to your portfolio. If this is the case, we can help. Below are some tips for setting yourself up to make future investments.

Cover all bases. Once the property is legally yours, consider covering yourself against unforeseen circumstances such as theft, fire and flooding by purchasing property insurance.