So often, we meet with investors who have had a poor experience with another property manager. The tales are usually very similar, along the lines of "Our property manager used to be great, but then moved to another role and we're left with someone who doesn't seem to know what they're doing". 

Our reaction to experiences like this used to be one of surprise. But negative experiences with property managers and real estate agents have become so common, bad experiences are considered normal by many working within and with the industry. 

Now, the commonly-heard anecdotal negative experiences have been quantified by research, and there are 5 main areas which can be identified as reasons for poor property manager engagement and retention in the industry. 

When meeting new landlords or tenants, we often receive comments such as "We hadn't heard of you before". This is understandable - our family-owned and run business is far from a household name, and that's fine with us!

But let's reflect on this. Does being a "name brand" in real estate really translate into superior service or reliability?

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has announced they will be doubling the number of audits scrutinising rental deductions for the 2018-19 financial year.

According to the ATO, in the 2017–18 financial year, more than $47 billion in deductions were made by over 2.2 million Australians. As a result, Assistant Commissioner Gavin Siebert has said that this year rental deductions will be a top priority for auditing.