Gold Coast Property Management

Hiring A Property Manager – everything you need to know to get started

Hiring a Gold Coast Property Manager?

Hiring the right Gold Coast property manager is the key to owning a successful investment property. Ray White Labrador is a family agency backed by the biggest name in Real Estate. We manage properties across all areas of the Gold Coast with a focus on the suburbs of Labrador, Chirn Park, Southport, Parkwood, Arundel, Biggera Waters, Coombabah, Molendinar, and Ashmore as well as all surrounding suburbs.

Our Property Management Services

At Ray White Labrador we help residential landlords, just like you, to find and retain great tenants. We also manage maintenance and repairs for your property, we make sure that the tenants are paying rent on time, and we provide you with monthly income and expenditure statements, as well as a consolidated statement at the end of each financial year. Our Gold Coast property management team markets your property and processes rental applications to ensure only the best tenants make it through the tenant selection process.

Types of Properties we Manage on the Gold Coast

We manage all types of residential properties on the Gold Coast including houses, luxury properties, units, apartments, duplexes and townhouses. The process surrounding management of each type of property is much the same.  Whether you have a $350/week unit or a $1200/week luxury property, the same care and attention is given to every inspection and every interaction with landlords and tenants.

Our Gold Coast Property Management Experience

We have been managing residential rental properties on the Gold Coast successfully since 2014, with local knowledge spanning four generations.

Our team of experienced registered real estate agents and property managers will be able to look after every aspect of your gold coast property management, led by experienced Principals and husband and wife team Darren and Sandy Davey.

What Sets us Apart as a Property Management Company

Ray White Labrador owners, Darren and Sandy Davey, are supported by their daughter Meagan Davey who is the Senior Property Manager, as well as a great team of long term staff.  Property management is our passion!  It is just as important to us as it is to you that we place excellent tenants into your property who pay rent on time and look after your property – that’s our job and we take that responsibility very seriously!

We have a modest rental portfolio serviced by three full time property managers.  Each of our property managers has the time to manage your property proactively, taking care of your property with forethought and planning.  Another point of difference that our agency offers is that the property manager who looks after your property will manage every aspect of your rental management from start to finish, which ensures consistent communication between you, your property manager, and your tenant.

Our Approach to Managing Properties on the Gold Coast

We achieve the best return for our landlords by following five key principles:

1. Make sure that the correct market rent is charged
2. Professional online marketing – great photos and professional copywriting give you a wide range of great applicants
3. Carefully check every tenant – make sure they have a clean rental history and sufficient income to pay the rent
4. Proactive management of maintenance – using qualified trades and performing regular maintenance
5. Respect for tenants – be firm but fair in all aspects of property management.

Our Gold Coast Property Management Fees

We charge a percentage of the rent collected on your behalf because in this way our income is linked to your income, which means that we are focused on ensuring that the tenants’ rent is always paid up to date.  If an agent charges a flat fee, their income doesn’t change even if the tenant is behind in rent, which doesn’t sound like they have your best interests at the forefront of their management.

Gold Coast Property Management FAQs

How often will you inspect my rental property?

We inspect your property every 12-16 weeks (approximately 3-4 times per year). After each inspection you will receive a detailed report including colour photos showing the condition of your property inside and out.  You will also receive a call from your property manager to discuss the report.

Why do you need to do a rental appraisal when on my property?

We really need to inspect your property so that we know that we are comparing apples to apples.  Market rent can vary quite a bit depending on the age of the property and whether it has been renovated or updated, so we would love to take 10 minutes of your time to come and have a look at your property to provide an accurate market rental appraisal.

How will you advertise my Gold Coast rental property?

We can take photographs and have your ad uploaded to the main real estate portals on the same day.  We advertise on www.realestate.com.au and Domain.com, and also about 8 smaller portals.  Your online advertisement is the most important tool in finding you a good quality tenant quickly, and we take great care to write the perfect ad and show photos that display your property in its best light.  We like to write our rental ads like sales ads by describing the features and benefits to paint a mental picture for the tenant.  This leads to a high number of tenants at every inspection, finding you the best tenant in the quickest time.

How will you spend my money on maintenance?

We are careful with your money, which means we won’t send out a plumber to change a tap washer when we know that a handyman can do it at a fraction of the cost.  Alternatively, if you like to be advised of all maintenance first, we can customise our management so that it suits you – that’s what you get when you have a boutique agency looking after your property! We also don’t take any commissions or fees from our tradespeople, and we check every invoice carefully, so that if we need to query their work or the charges we can do so impartially.

This is a huge point of difference in how we manage your maintenance, and it ultimately saves you money.   We understand that maximising your return on investment is critical to having a successful rental property and it’s what sets us, and our agency, apart.  This is achieved by having a senior property management professional managing every aspect of your property from start to finish.

What other fees do you charge in addition to a management fee? 

To keep our fees and charges transparent and easy to understand, everything we do to manage your property is included within the management fee percentage.  To put a new tenant into your property we charge a let fee equivalent to one weeks rent.  On an ongoing basis our management fee is just 6% plus gst of the rent collected on your behalf.  There are zero lease renewal fees, zero inspection fees, and zero QCAT attendance fees* (*if Ray White Labrador has placed the tenant) – everything we do is included in one simple management fee.

How do you manage rent arrears? 

Ray White Labrador uses Console Cloud Property Management Software, which is the latest in Property Management software.  Arrears management is one of the key performance areas that we focus on, and as a result of our excellent arrears management procedures the total arrears across our rental portfolio is extremely low.

Having state of the art property management software enables us to track arrears on a daily basis, and issue and record breach notices if necessary.  All tenants who are behind in rent from as early as 2 days will receive phone calls and text reminders.  We also offer a direct debit option for tenants which provides them with discount vouchers for many goods and services in exchange for automating their rent payments so they are always on time.

When you find a great tenant to rent my property, do I get to make the final decision? 

Yes, absolutely!  Before renting out your house, we check the tenant’s identification ensuring we have 100 points of ID for every applicant, we also check recent payslips to ensure they have adequate income to pay the rent, and we obtain a rental ledger and a written reference from the tenant’s previous rental agent.  Once we have established that the tenants are bona fide, we then call you and email a full summary of their application to you letting you know what we have verified, and the final decision is always yours.

My previous agency constantly changed the property manager I was dealing with, how do you ensure this doesn’t happen?  

This is a common problem in large real estate agencies as they manage too many properties and don’t have enough staff.  Property Management is a difficult and stressful industry at times, and property managers often burn out and move agencies every 12-18 months.

At Ray White Labrador, we have three full time property managers and they each manage a lower number of properties than you would typically see at other agencies.  This ensures that our property managers can look after their properties proactively and with greater care and attention to detail.  By adopting this approach to property management, our staff are long term and we don’t have frequent staff turnover.  Yes, it costs us more to manage properties in this way, but we see it as essential to provide the high quality property management service that you and your property deserve.

How do I change my current Gold Coast property manager? 

All management agreements can be terminated by giving just 30 days notice.  When you appoint us to manage your property, you don’t have to do a thing!  We will notify your current agent on your behalf, collect the file and keys from your current agent, and introduce ourselves to the tenants.  The process is easy, all you have to do is sign a Management Agreement with us and we will take care of the rest – simple!

What Should I Consider when choosing a property management company?

1. How many properties the agency manages in total and how many properties each property manager manage
2. Will the property managers personally handle all aspects of the lease including finding a tenant, routine inspections, arrears, maintenance, entry and exit reports
3. What other fees and charges will be charged throughout the lease in addition to the management fee
4. How often will your property be inspected, and whether you will receive a report and photos after every inspection
5. Will the property manager call you after every inspection?
6. Does the agency have property management software which tracks arrears, maintenance, renewing tenants, and vacating tenants?
7. How do they monitor and manage rental arrears?
8. When processing a new tenant application do they obtain a written reference from the tenant’s current agent as well as obtain a copy of their rental ledger?
9. Does the rental company have a system in place for upgrading your rental properties in line with the new smoke alarm upgrade legislation ?

Looking to Rent Out Your Property on the Gold Coast?

We’d love to speak with you about renting your property on the Gold Coast. We can schedule either a meeting in person, over the phone, or via video conference, so you can get to know us.

To get in touch with us, please call Sandy Davey or Meagan Davey on (07) 5552 1000 or email sandy.davey@raywhite.com