An article by Lisa Pentland.

When was the last time you read through your Management Agency Agreement?

Don’t worry, if you’re blushing right now, thinking, I’ve never read through the entire agreement, sadly, you’re not alone.

The thing is that no matter what role you play in your property management team, it is essential that you take the time to read through and understand the terms and services you’re agreeing to provide and be bound by.

There has been numerous changes and additions to standard agreements over recent years and taking the time to go through the agreement with your landlord gives you opportunity to have some great conversations about their management preferences and the services you can provide.

It’s also imperative to ensure that BDM’s and Property Managers are on the same page when it comes to your customer service offerings.

How to tackle this:

1^st

 I would recommend that you nominate team member to go through your standard Management Agency Agreement. Allow plenty of time, to read and digest each part.

It is important to consider:

• Is every question answered in full, with no blank spaces and no abbreviations?
• Will the way each question is answered stand the test of time?

E.g.. Don’t use exact amounts for cost recoveries i.e. $47 Tribunal Application Fee rather “at cost at the time of application”

• Take the opportunity to review your fees, are they still relevant or long overdue for an update.
• Have you adopted a fee schedule for the management of insurance claims and renovations over a certain value? If not, you’re doing all that work while the property is empty and you’re not getting paid.
• Disclosure of rebates – do you offer things like connection of services for new tenants and owners or landlord insurance? Are they clearly listed?
• How often are you undertaking to inspect the property – are you exposing yourself to a breach of agreement?
• One of my favourites… “send the owner a copy of all correspondence” you’ve probably been ticking it for years without even realising. Is it necessary or even what your clients want?

 

2^nd

Perhaps the team member could develop a list of discussion points and queries to be solved as a team.

3^rd

Once that is done you could complete the ideal sample template to be used until your next review.

4^th

Finally, quality control – every management agreement should be checked by a 2^nd pair of eyes prior to being filed.

The livelihood of your agency depends on it!