PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

If only they'd known about

Finning First National

Property Management Services!!

"Excellence Through Customer Service"  is the motto of our Property Management Department and our dedicated team of professional Property Managers is committed to providing the absolute highest standard of service and satisfaction, as confirmed by the many testimonials we receive from our delighted Investment Clients.

Our team undergo a program of continuous training and development to ensure that they are completely up to date with the ongoing changes to legislative requirements.  Our Best Practice Gold Accreditation and an annual assessment and audit of our procedures and policies, plus our adherance to the highest standards of ethical business practice is our guarantee to our owners that your valuable investment property will always be managed to maximise the returns on their investment.

Probably an owners most important consideration when choosing someone to manage their valuable investment property is how much experience they have had in the Property Management Industry.  Some agents put their most junior staff into their Property Management departments, and in some cases these individuals have very limited "life experience" and do not even know what it is like to rent a property themselves.

The Finning First National team consists of a Company Director (Lorraine Tucker) and three dedicated Property Managers who between them have over 75 years of experience within the industry.  Few other offices in Australia can offer owners such a depth of experience from the members of their team.

Every investment property owner expects to receive a reasonable return for their investment in the rental market and of course expects their property to be well cared for by their tenant. 

The actions and attitude of their managing agent (and in turn their Property Manager) can have a significant effect on these two factors and there are a number of matters which should be taken into consideration when choosing the agent to manage your valuable investment property.

The Property Management systems and procedures which we have developed at Finning First National over more than half a century are reviewed and revised continuously.  This ensures that our investment property owners can rely on the absolute highest levels of professionalism, service and ethical business practices in all of their dealings with our company.

Just a few of the "points of difference" which you will experience with our company include:

1.  Viewing Appointments:  Without exception, every viewing of a property by a prospective tenant is carried out in the presence of a Property Manager.  Keys are never given to any person to inspect a property on their own. This not only ensures the security of an owners property but also gives our property managers an opportunity to assess a potential tenant's suitability for any property they are applying for.  Our office receives in excess of 100 tenancy enquiries every week via our web-site, the telephone, walk-in enquiry and through repeat and referral business from past tenants.

2.  Minimising Vacancies:  By arranging viewings of properties prior to them becoming vacant, we are able to minimise the periods when an owner is receiving no income on their investment.  Some agents do not attempt to show any prospective new tenants through a property until after it becomes vacant, so that they can reduce their workload and simply hold a Rental - Open For Inspection for potential applicants.  This not only causes the property to be vacant longer than necessary, but also may result in the owner missing out on an excellent tenant because it is not convenient for them to inspect the property at the time that suits the agent.  Even an extra one or two weeks unnecessary vacancy of a property can result in an owner losing far more than the difference in fees between an agent who simply collects the rent for them, and one who is totally focussed on managing the owners property to always maximise the return on their investment.

3.  Selection of Tenants:  Perhaps the most important aspect of a Managing Agent's duties is that of interviewing and selecting the right tenants for an owners property.  All applicants for a rental property are screened to the maximum extent permitted by legislative guidelines and the tenants details are then checked against a National Tenancy Database and a full public records check is also carried out.  All suitable applicants details are referred to the owner for their consideration and the owner is not left wondering what is happening with the leasing of their investment property.

4.  Care of an Owners Property:  At the commencement of every new tenancy, a comprehensive Condition Report is prepared at every property and regular six-monthly inspections are made throughout the tenancy.  A comprehensive report is forwarded to the property owner immediately following each inspection to ensure that they are kept informed of any issues or items requiring immediate or future attention.

5.  Repairs and Maintenance:  In the event of any maintenance or repairs requiring attention at a managed property, it is essential that these be dealt with in an efficient and timely manner.  In accordance with an owners instructions, we arrange for quotes if required and ensure that all items are attended to by a qualified tradesperson and we then account to the owner for these by way of their regular rental statement.  Copies of all tax invoices which we have paid on an owners behalf are forwarded to them so that their Accountant can claim them as deductible expenses on their tax return.

6.  Arrears Management:  One of the most neglected aspects of Property Management by some agencies is their handling of rental arrears.  Our company has a zero tolerance attitude to rent arrears and all tenants are made fully aware of what is expected of them in relation to the payment of their rent.  Arrears are monitored by our system on a daily basis and in the event that a tenant falls behind in their rent, action is commenced immediately to recover any outstanding monies owing (within the limits imposed by current legislation).  The choice of the right tenant in the first place, establishing the right relationships with the tenant and close and continuous monitoring of the status of the property go a long way towards ensuring that any arrears are kept to an absolute minimum.

7.  Accounting to the Owner:  Some managing agents only run their rental statements at the end of every month, meaning that an owner could theoretically be waiting for up to four weeks to receive monies paid by a tenant on their property.  At Finning's, we believe that an owner should receive their funds at the earliest possible opportunity following payment by the tenant.  It is for this reason that we run our Landlord Statements twice each week and available funds are transferred electonically to the owners specified bank account to avoid any delays in postage and clearing of a conventional cheque.

8.  Financial Statements:  Interim financial statements are supplied to all Owners who require them for their quarterly BAS returns and at the end of each financial year a detailed statement of income, disbursements and expenses is sent to each owner to assist them and their Accountant in preparing their annual taxation return.

9.  Maximising an Owners Investment:  The rental market is in a constant state of change, based on the current financial environment and the simple laws of supply and demand.  It is essential that a Managing Agent stays abreast of the current rental market to ensure that an owners return on their investment in a rental property is maximised at all times.  The Finning First National Property Management team meet every week to discuss all aspects of the rental market and to assess individual properties to ensure that rentals are keeping up with current market expectations.