Published on behalf of Tony Warren, Director
The property management industry appears to be regressing….. going back to some practices of the past without a thought for the problems they could be facing.
The frequency with which we are being asked by prospective tenants if they could ‘swing past and pick up the keys’ to inspect a property is being marketed as available for lease is growing rapidly. When told that this not our business practice and would they like to make a time that suits them to inspect the property, they are very appreciative.
In the ‘Dark Old Days’ of property management, tenants would call at the office, leave a minimal deposit and then inspect the property unaccompanied by the property manager. As the incidence of theft from vacant properties; or damage to the property; or the keys failing to be returned (when the deposit taken would not cover the cost of replacing the locks), the industry reacted by initially increasing the amount of the deposit taken. From my memory, which is a bit vague after all these years, it increased from $10 to $30.
However, the problems continued.
The next step taken by the industry was to photo-copy some form of identification as well as take a deposit. The rate of theft and/or damage did abate somewhat but not totally. Tenants were still inspecting vacant properties without being accompanied and the fact remained that the keys could be copied at any local locksmith with the original returned to the agent and the deposit refunded. The prospective tenant then had complete and unhindered access to the property.
With the increased incidence of claims against agents for negligence in their action in this regard, the practice of most property managers changed drastically. Leasing consultants were employed to open vacant properties and show them to prospective tenants. Set open times were advertised and the leasing consultant was normally on the run all day Saturday opening properties for minimal periods allowing the barest minimum of time between appointments.
The obvious did and does occur when a prospective tenant wants to take a little longer to look through a property or there are several groups wanting to look through one throwing the leasing consultants carefully planned timetable into chaos resulting in one or some of the advertised open times being missed.
This latter situation has become so common that we are now often contacted by prospective tenants wanting to make sure that someone be in attendance at the property at the advertised open time. At first, we were very surprised by this query but now, with this becoming the norm, you can only assume that many advertised open times remain unattended by the agent’s leasing consultant.
We recently leased a property to a former property manager from England who said he was shocked at the way properties were opened for inspection in Melbourne. He said in the UK, the leasing consultants were much higher up the food chain than the property managers and they were mostly senior people with a wealth of property management experience who could answer any prospective tenant’s queries.
On a recent holiday in Italy we leased a number of properties and on each occasion, the person who showed us through was the principal of the company – they took it that seriously.
What’s the norm in Melbourne?
The leasing consultant’s position is the ‘entry’ into real estate for many young people. It’s a dog’s body role and when they are not showing properties, they are generally doing other menial work within the office and this is because of the fact that this is how the position is viewed by the majority of property managers – a menial position, simply a door opener.
When we first started True, we made a commitment to only using our most senior people to show prospective tenants through properties. After many years in real estate, you have hopefully gained some innate ability to assess prospective tenants, knowing which questions to ask and have the ability to close the sale, there and then. You will have also gained the knowledge to expect the unexpected and allow ample time to show prospective tenants through a property and then get to the next one in time to present it in its best light….not just to stand at the door, opening and closing it as people come through.
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