We have all seen (for what feels like absolute decades now) an endless stream of renovation
We have all seen (for what feels like absolute decades now) an endless stream of renovation shows on television, where your average accountant/teacher/advertising executive suddenly learns how to design and build and transform their home (in weeks or just days!) with a budget anywhere from shoestring to Lamborghini.
I suspect that just about every season final corresponds with a surge at Bunnings as countertops get swapped out, rooms repainted and (my personal favourite and the limit of my handy skills), door handles get changed over. Those kinds of things are all within the realms of what the average layperson can get away with doing themselves. When it comes to water, electricity or a more serious kind of powertool though, well that’s when you start looking to an expert to do it for you. Why? Well, as much as it might come at a cost, that cost is a lot cheaper than having to do the same job twice (or three times), having an end result that looks nothing like the desired outcome, or just plain winding up with an injury.
Similarly, while there are some things in property that are fine to DIY, one area that I am seeing more injury than success of late, is DIY property management – where owners look after their own properties without employing an agency or property manager.
In the right (experienced, time rich) hands, it can work out beautifully, with a great tenant relationship, transparency into maintenance requirements and a wonderful outcome. In others (unfortunately), it can result in delayed maintenance, missed opportunities with rental income, loss of income and commonly, issues with an ever changing (and complicated) legal framework.
Quite often, it can come about through nothing but good intentions. Tenants don’t want to bother landlords with minor maintenance issues like a leaking tap in the kitchen – innocent enough. But a $5 washer becomes a $2,000 cabinetry job due to water damage over time. Similarly, leaving rent as-is for an extended period of time to maintain an even keel is a lovely gesture. But I can promise that it doesn’t often help the shell-shock of a much overdue market review. Nor does it help an owner adequately fund the maintenance a property deserves over a rental tenure.
Even for the astute property owner, a middle (wo)man can still be beneficial – just to not be the one to get the 2am call about a busted pipe, or follow up on overdue rent from someone that has become a friend. It might not be glamourous, but competent property management is a job well worth the cost.