Self-Manage Your Property from Abroad
Find out how RentBetter can help make your life easier as an overseas investor in Australia.
Self-Managing your investment property from abroad might feel like a challenging task, especially if you’re not prepared for it. You might feel like you have no way of being sure that the property’s being looked after properly, that repairs are being handled in the best way possible, or that your tenants are following the rules set out in their lease agreements.
The good news is that there are some things that can make this process far easier and more efficient. (...Hello RentBetter!)
Keep your communication lines open.
Make sure you have a good working relationship with your tenant and that you're able to communicate effectively. This will help ensure that your property is being well-looked after.
Tenants who are familiar with their landlord are far more likely to respect the property than those who don’t.
Looking for a tenant?
If you’re looking for a tenant, you might be worried about not being there in person to be able to verify or communicate with them. RentBetter makes this easy with access to the National Tenancy Database to conduct digital tenant background checks.
You can also advertise your property online through realestate.com.au, domain.com.au and rent.com.au. Applications will filter through directly to your RentBetter dashboard so that you have a view on exactly who's applied for your property.
If you need to host an inspection or viewing, thats certainly something you need to be there in person for. We’re excited to announce that we’ll soon be covering this off within the platform too!
Stay tuned on rentbetter.com.au for more over the coming weeks!
Stay up to date with what's going on.
Keep up to date and make sure you're aware of any issues that may arise such as maintenance as well as the rent amounts coming in. It’s easy to forget about these things when you’re not in the same country as your property but it’s important to stay vigilant. You don't want to discover somethings gone wrong with the rent or theres been some damage thats gone unnoticed.
Conducting Routine Inspections
It’s important to conduct regular rental inspections of your property to allow you to identify any maintenance issues, ensure your tenants are keeping the place in a good condition and maintain the value of your property.
This can be difficult if you're a landlord who isn’t in the location of your property. Never fear though, you can outsource your condition reports and routine inspections and have them completed by a professional who are experienced in conducting these types of tasks which means they’ll be able to spot issues someone less experienced could miss.
Find out more how you can outsource your condition report and routine inspections here.
Handling the Rent
As for rent, it can be hard to monitor these things if you’ve got a lot of transactions coming in and out of your account, you may not notice if something has been missed or is late. To combat this we’d suggest having the rent go into a separate account for your rent to go into so you can easily see whats coming in and out.
If you don’t want to take the risk or are sick of chasing tenants for rent, RentBetter gives you more control over rental payments to ensure you get paid on time, every time. Your tenants can pay rent using a credit card or their bank account and the system will ensure payments run on schedule as per your lease agreement.
Payments are tracked, the rental ledger is automatically updated, and receipts are sent to you and your tenant.
RentBetter will send automatic alerts and notifications to both you and your tenant - It’s peace of mind to ensure nothing is missed and all payments are received on time.
Be prepared to act quickly.
If there are any problems with your property, you'll need to be prepared to act quickly in order to resolve them. Need to hire a gardener? Find an emergency plumber? Track down a local electrician?
When self-managing your property, it’s important to have a network of reliable tradespeople at your fingertips – just in case!
There are certain time periods each state in which you need to respond to emergency repair issues such as hot water or electricity so it’s important you ensure these details are on hand and saved somewhere you can access anywhere at a moments notice.
Through RentBetter in partnership with ServiceSeeking.com.au, you can instantly track down and lock in a qualified professional to get all those essential jobs done for your property. It’s easy and done in just a few steps:
- Search by what kind of tradesperson you’re after (tiler, cleaner, electrician etc.) in your suburb or postcode.
- Share some details about your job and attach photos if available. Confirm when you need the job done e.g. urgently, this week or on a particular date.
- You will receive prices and quotes from local professional tradies based on your suburb and job requirements.
- Compare quotes and decide on the best person for the job. Finalise the time and details with your tenant. Easy!
Have a contingency plan.
Things don't always go according to plan, so it's important to have a plan in place in case something goes wrong. Having a trusted friend, family member or neighbour that you can call up to check on things always helps.
As does ensuring you keep the numbers of official government bodies or agencies such as Fair Trading if you’re in NSW in case you need official advice.
We have listed who to contact in each state below:
NSW - Fair Trading
Phone: 13 32 20.
Website: https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/
QLD - Residential Tenancies Authority
Phone: 1300 366 311
Website: https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/
VIC - Consumer Affairs Victoria
Phone: 1300 558 181
Website: https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/
SA - Consumer and Business Services
Phone: 13 18 82
Website: https://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/
WA - Department of Commerce
Phone: 1300 304 054
Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/
TAS - Consumer, Building and Occupational Services
Phone: 1300 366 311
Website: https://www.cbos.tas.gov.au/
ACT - Access Canberra
Phone: 13 22 81
Website: https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au
NT - Consumer Affairs
Phone: 1800 019 319
Website: https://consumeraffairs.nt.gov.au/
If you’re using RentBetter, our team are always also on hand to help via our website through instant chat or you can reach us by email at info@rentbetter.com.au. We’ve been known for our speedy replies so don’t hesitate to reach out if you need some help.
We also have a wealth of articles through our Blog, Help Centre and YouTube Channel.
By following these tips, you can help ensure that your property is well-managed even if you're not there to oversee things yourself.
…Did we mention RentBetter?
The RentBetter platform is perfect for overseas investors to manage their property. From setting up and signing your lease, collecting bond and rent, dealing with repairs and maintenance and tax time reporting - everything can be done easily online.
Even the more more complex tasks like Condition Reports and Routine Inspections where you need to be at the property in person to carry out the task can be handled through the platform. You can easily book a professional directly through RentBetter to handle these things for you. It’s a stress-free, hands-off option when you’re not able to be in the location of your property.
Take advantage of our tech driven platform to help you take the hassle out of managing your property and allow you to manage it no matter where in the world you are!
There’s no need to spend big on agent fees, RentBetter gives you all the tools you need so you can go on that extended holiday or take that international job opportunity without worrying about what’s going to happen to your property.
