I have recently advertised my NOR rental property in the West newspaper, with little response. I have successfully self-managed the property for a number of years, but it looks like I will need to use an agent on this occasion.
I would be interested in what others are paying in this market.
A local agent scouted my ad, called me, and sent a follow-up email with the following terms:
We are somewhat flexible as to the monthly % we charge, from 8% plus GST. The more properties you have the lower the rate. There are some one off charges applied to the property such as;
2 weeks rent plus GST
Initial Property Condition Report (20 to 30 pages properly/completely describing the condition of the property with photos), this is done by an independent company and is non- bias.
We advertise on 5 internet sites at no charge.
The other fees are only charged once a year, if applicable.
It all seems rather expensive to me, but I would welcome any comment.
Sounds in the reasonably normal range - I think I got a good deal at 7.5%+GST a few years back with my agent (but had two properties with them - I've sold them now).
The first two weeks rent is their 'letting fee', aka what they get for getting it rented out.
The Initial PCR is obviously going to be labour/time intensive if done right, and therefore possibly not that cheap. However, you do want this to be comprehensive if you need to claim anything off the tenant in the future (eg bond costs at exit) - to ensure you can prove the condition when they entered.
I assume there will also be an inspection fee (not usually rolled into the 'Management fee'), and that can be a bit too - but of course depends on how often the inspections are done (at the time I was recommended a 3 month one at the start - to confirm everything is OK - and then go six monthly. Had a couple of longer termers that ended up being annual as was pretty confident with them - however you can never be sure about new partners or family who may suddenly appear).