The best property managers in Canberra

Purnell Citywide, Kingston are excellent.

My wife and I use Agent Team for our property management and couldn’t be happier. Loren has been managing our investment property (3 bedroom house) in Canberra for about 2 years. Inspections are actually done, all bills, rates etc get paid from rental income and any maintenance issues are looked after by their panel or trades. We haven’t had to do anything and it’s been great! I would definitely recommend giving them a shot.

my sister started using Block Real Estate, they are based in Gungahlin and are doing a pretty good job

Just seen this post, but interested as we are currently waging legal action against the property managers/owner/tenants of the property next door to us – due to their inability to live according to the terms of their agreement, which seems to mean nothing.

We have become aware that the whole property management area in the ACT is severely lacking in rigour and agents can just flout their own terms and conditions, as can the tenants.

To cut a long story short, we got no traction with tenants or agent for two years with this tenant so have now threatened to sue to owner. It’s only now, surprise surprise, that the agent is paying attention. They are a disgrace. I suspect the owner never knew anything about the previous two years of complaints. We are owners of a holiday rental down the coast so we know what it’s like to have to be accountable for a remote property. Agencies in Canberra take the money and basically run. This is not the first tenant we have had issues with in this property. Because it is not a modern house and I suspect things are just left to effectively rot, the lower rent will always attract the type of people you don’t want next door.

I have been renting out my house while I have been interstate and was sent a ‘form’ email from my previous property manager (Bolton and Co) seeking interest from property investors in being property managers – they certainly seem to not have the staff that they need at that agency and are casting a wide net for new recruits.

I also have been disappointed with the service provided by Bolton and Co and have recently moved to another property manager and wonder whether if the issue is inexperienced staff. They often misunderstood or did not follow my instructions and this ended up costing me money (for example they hired tradesmen when I asked them for quotes). Also after my tenant did a small amount of damage to the cook-top after dropping a mug on it, they refused to hold any bond. To refuse a reasonable instruction from a client is a very strange way to behave!

I believe there are regulations that property manager/real estate agents need to follow and complaints can be made via the Office of Regulatory Services.

I completely recommend Element Property Services. I always deal with the same person (the owner) who personally takes care of my property. I don’t think there are any others on her team actually. Dealings are always completely professional with routine inspections, maintenance taken care of and statements issued every month and at tax time. So nice to deal with a small local business who does things properly rather than a big chain who changes over their inexperienced interns every 6 months. Couldn’t recommend Element Property Services any more highly.

As a renter, I was always shocked by the fact that I never spoke to the same person whenever I had to make contact with my agent. And the same person never attended annual inspections and no one ever spent more than 5 minutes “inspecting” – I was always told “so and so no longer works here, zyz is your PM now”. You only have to search for admin roles to see how many available jobs there are in the PM field. It’s a massive churn industry and no one lasts long. I suspect this is due to a combination of terrible pay/incentives and the fact that staff are effectively working in a complaints department, receiving nothing but negative communication, day in, day out. It would grate on even the most optimistic among us.

As far as standards go, I think the only thing landlords can hope for is the establishment of a self regulating Industry that comes about by sheer demand – i.e. the current unit boom. The counter point to this is that landlords also need to take the lead in ensuring they hold their agents accountable…But the quality of some rental places that are on the market would suggest there are a large number of LL who simply don’t care and know all to well that the right (most desperate?) tenant will eventually settle for their less than adequate dwelling.

As a landlord, I have my properties with Distinct Property Management in Fyshwick. They only do property management (so PM isn’t taking a backseat to property sales like most organisations). They have been very good although the quality is maybe starting to slip as the business grows and the owners have less input into the day to day operations. And perhaps that is also the issue; unless you have someone who is as equally invested (I.e. they own the PM business) in ensuring your property is adequately maintained and managed, then you’ll never receive as good a service than if you just went it alone.

Trimega said :

Hi guys. Interested in any recent experiences with either Luton or Independent as property managers. Thinking of handing my currently self managed property over to a manager this year. Property is in O’Connor.

As a tenant we were managed by Luton Dickson. No complaints they were quick to get things repaired and were communicative with us when the owner wanted to sell

Hi guys. Interested in any recent experiences with either Luton or Independent as property managers. Thinking of handing my currently self managed property over to a manager this year. Property is in O’Connor.

I would avoid Independent at any cost. I had a property manager that was, charitably, completely out of her depth. Repairs went unfixed for my entire term. They would send repairmen (who I had to take time off work to let into the apartment!) who would come to give an estimate of the cost of repair, and then never actually do the repair. I was told things verbally that were completely backtracked on later. I talked to the manager about this, who told me, “we work for the owner, not for you”. Eventually I just had to move out. They were comically picky at the final inspection, far beyond the condition of the unit when I moved it. Thank god I had written down nearly every possible defect of the place on the initial condition report, otherwise it is clear they would have taken the opportunity to charge me for many pre-existing problems. Still they are attempting to charge me because I might not have listed every single mark on the walls. If you must deal with them make sure you get *everything* in writing, and detail *every* defect of the unit when you move it.

I think Nicole at Independent is Great, switched on and easy to deal with. I would avoid ACT Strata like the plague, I have dealt with one of their property managers and found him totally useless.

My experience as a tenant with Capital First National in O’Conner was astounding. 3 days notice for inspection by telephone, when legal minimum is 7 days written notice… unfounded threat of eviction of eviction due to us asking for a break down of additional fees (they essentially said agree to these charges or get out), which was promptly withdrawn when lawyers got involved. Never dealt with such an unprofessional mob in my life. Stay away from them!

Ray White in Philip was average service, but by the book.

My experience as a tenant with Lindsey Burne at LJ in Dickson has been fantastic. He runs a tight ship. Any problems reported to him are immediately fixed. One problem with the house that we reported, he came out to inspect himself in less than an hour.

winter said :

BearBuns said :

Except an owner or owner representative can’t “insist” that you have the carpets steam cleaned. If they do you can lodge a complaint against them.

I am not sure about insisting on steam cleaning of carpet during a tenancy just because 18 months have passed. But certainly, if an inspection occurs and the carpet is dirty, they could certainly send you a notice to remedy… which in turn would mean you would most likely clean the carpet.

In terms of steam cleaning carpet at the end of lease, they can only demand this if the carpet was steam cleaned prior to the new tenants entering the property.

From a renter’s perspective, Jess @ Mcgraths in Gunghalin has been excellent to deal with, so I’d expect she would be a very good property manager from an owner’s perspective as well.

johnboy said :

If lease conditions are in breach of the tenancy act then they’re not binding in my understanding.

True, so you can’t put something in there that gives you teh right to terminate on 24 hours notice. But you can put special conditions in there (no pets, etc) and requiring the carpets to be cleaned doesn’t offend any of the standard terms in the act.

BearBuns said :

They also collect rent via direct transfer so there is no question of unpaid rent.

Well direct transfer assumes there is money in the account from which to make the transfer. IMHO this direct transfer policy doesn’t add a great deal in the way of certainty from the landlord’s point of view.

If lease conditions are in breach of the tenancy act then they’re not binding in my understanding.

winter said :

BearBuns said :

Except an owner or owner representative can’t “insist” that you have the carpets steam cleaned. If they do you can lodge a complaint against them.

If it’s in the lease they can. Also as a practical matter, if the property is in demand, they can insist on what they like. You can lodge a complaint with the tribunal/mag court, but good luck getting the lease renewed.

winter said :

BearBuns said :

Except an owner or owner representative can’t “insist” that you have the carpets steam cleaned. If they do you can lodge a complaint against them.

They can if they put a clause in the Tenancy Agreement stating it is to be done…

Peter Blackshaw Woden get my vote..I just returned from a posting ( 3 years) and the house was returned in great shape and no nasty surprises. Not one late rent payment in the whole 3 years either. Speak to Maria there, she is very professional.

I would highly recomend Sue Grant from Ray White in Gungahlin. Very professional, Looks after you as the home owner and is also good at keeping the Tennant happy as well. We have other properties in other towns Sue, by far runs rings around other property managers that I have seen.

winter said :

BearBuns said :

Except an owner or owner representative can’t “insist” that you have the carpets steam cleaned. If they do you can lodge a complaint against them.

I don’t know about you but I would rather live in a place where I know the carpets have been cleaned on a regular basis rather than once every time the tenant moves which could be years. I can think of a lot worse practices from Real Estate agents than ensuring a clean and tidy residence fit for human habitation, unlike some places I have had the misfortune of viewing.

Avoid PRD Nationwide in Kingston, had very poor experiences with them.

BearBuns said :

Except an owner or owner representative can’t “insist” that you have the carpets steam cleaned. If they do you can lodge a complaint against them.

Independent is one I choose not to deal with any more. Very junior property managers that are overloaded (or incompetent) and the sales people who gets your tenant has nothing to do with the person who manages it so there is no accountability – they are more interested in turn over at any cost than your best interests.

Ask the agent about length of service of their property managers as some appear good but then the good person leaves and the next doesn’t follow through. Don’t accept 10% that most will quote you, negotiation should get you better than that by a few %.

I just brought my own house, but I used to rent a house in North Ainslie from Independent. As someone who was leasing the house, I thought they were excellent. They kept out of my life, but they did definitely tell me when something was wrong. They were strict but fair about inspections, and they kept me and my landlord in the loop about all problems. Would definitely recommend them!

I am a renter and have been for many, many years and have seen my share of dodgy practices! I currently rent through Bertram Ellis and find them very easy to deal with from a renters point of view. Any hassles I have are dealt with very quickly.

For an owner I can tell you that they inspect every six months without fail, they thoroughly check tenant references (all of my referees were contacted) and they insist that the carpets are steam cleaned every 18 months. They also collect rent via direct transfer so there is no question of unpaid rent. Might seem strange giving a thumbs up from a renter but it is nice to come across a decent and professional outfit who looks after both sides as much as possible.

A relative of mine had a bad experience with IPG.
Basically they didn’t alert to non-payment of rent until it was more than a month overdue, then served the notice to remedy to the wrong address (a defect in service, as with any defect in the required steps, is fatal to eviction proceedings).
When asked what to do about the non-payment issue, they said they’d take action in the magistrates court (the tenancy tribunal no longer existed at this point, having been consolidated into magistrate’s court) but the backlog could be as much as 3 weeks. Also they proposed to charge $35 per hour for the privilege.

Rather than do that, we filed ourselves, and the matter was listed for hearing around 3 days later (so what they were basing the backlog claim on I don’t know). Luckily, the tenant didn’t want to get evicted and cooperated, paying the outstanding rent. Also the tenant was not represented, so didn’t realise that the defect in the notice (wrong address put down by property manager) basically prevented us from doing anything. In the end it worked out ok but no thanks to the property manager.

Now the relative manages the IPs directly and hasn’t had any issues (apart from the odd legal consult thrown my way).

Not pushin any barrows here but frenz of mine have always found Hookers in Dickson up to the task. But, as with any business, a property manager is often faced with having to make compromises. Speed of renting, ethnic and other pc concerns, veracity of referees etc.

Personally if I needed to hand over my property to an agent I would tend towards anyone local. A couple of agents I know regularly vary their route home to pass by their local properties, just to keep an eye on things. And, if you are going overseas or interstate as I suspect, take out comprehensive landlord’s insurance. That way if the agent is negligent or cops a tenant with all the references but none of the wherewithall, you’re covered against the worst of potential losses.

Jess at McGrath in Gungahlin is excellent.

Property Manager said :

I know a fantastic property manager, but it’s not really an unbiased opinion! Feel free to check my previous posts on RiotACT and if you’d like more information on my services just let me know.

If ‘Property Manager’ is who I think he is, then I will suggest he a decent professional bloke who I’d happily have look after my (non-existent) investment property.

I would suggest staying away from LJ Hooker Gungahlin… there is one good property manager there, but I have had a less than happy experience with the other property manager

troll-sniffer said :

Where’s the place?

Red Hill

Where’s the place?

I know a fantastic property manager, but it’s not really an unbiased opinion! Feel free to check my previous posts on RiotACT and if you’d like more information on my services just let me know.

We’ve had less than perfect experiences with both Dwyer Dunn and Elders in Kingston.

Remember they can only do 1 inspection every 6 months.