Looking for a letting agent

As a landlord I use Capital First National in O’Connor, and have found them to be very good. I have never had an issue with them, and they collect the rent and manage the properties well. I would use them again as my first choice.

Steer clear of homefinders. I think they share the one brain cell

Avoid Independent at all costs

Illyria, have to agree re: Maloneys. I know some people who rented through them, and while they are probably very good for the owners, you will end up having a revolving door for tenants because they can’t stand the management.

For three years we have rented through Maloneys at Kingston while we are building elsewhere. They are useless. We have had so many different property managers it is impossible to keep track. Problems are not addressed and it is always our fault when tradesmen do not turn up at pre-arranged times. The tenant is always wrong. Probably good from an owners perspective though if you dont mind your million dollar asset suffering from long term problems that don’t get fixed. I swear we could put a different kitchen in the place and nobody would even notice because by the time they come around to inspect, it is somebody new and they have never seen the place before. They claim to take digital photos at inspections but I am yet to see the girls operate a camera.

On the good side, we rent out a small place through Tamara, a property manager at Richard Luton in Manuka and she is fantastic. On the ball, bordering on efficious. Nobody is game to pay the rent late and she deals with problems before they arise! Only joking, the do arise, but she then rings us and they get fixed. Everybody is happy.

Good luck with it, and you will need it because it can just be the luck of the draw wherever you go.

Avoid PRD Nationwide.

Stay away from a southside one starting with K.

Ooops, forgot to include the task of advertising… (probably the most important one)

as a tenant I would recommend Brian Rumble in Phillip. For 2 years we have had the same property manager (a rarity) who has always been very efficient. She conducts her inspections well, ensuring to check the wear and tear on the house as well as if it is being kept clean etc. When a maintenance issue has arisen she has dealt with it promptly. Communications are always excellent and messages are always responded to.

Dear SomethingSomethingRubenstein,

What is the going rate? In my opinion it should be nothing more than a fixed fee (as opposed to percentage rate). There are set number of tasks that need to be performed – I don’t see how that justifies an ongoing payment to an agent.

For example, in a normal case these tasks consist (roughly) of:
(a)Collect applications from prospective tenants;
(b)do some thorough background checks and trim the list of applicants down;
(c)either the landlord or the agent picks a suitable tenant;
(d)tenancy agreement is signed, bond collected, condition report is signed;
(e)collect rent and keep records
(f)perform inspections (interim and final)
(g)collect keys and refund bond when tenant moves out

For each one of these items I’m sure you could determine what you think would be a reasonable price to pay someone.

Of course it’s when things go pear shaped that you want the extra help. For example, the tenant doesn’t pay rent on time (or at all), tenant is very messy and is causing excessive wear&tear/damge to the premises, tenant abandons the tenancy agreement, tenant breaches any of the tenancy agreement conditions.

In these not so normal circumstances I’m sure you could also place a value on someone coming in and rectifying the situation.

Add it all up and there’s your pricing model… anything else they charge you on top of that is cream.

If you really don’t want the hassle yourself and really do need someone to manage it for you at lease try and get a straight answer about what service you are getting for your money.