​We have written previously about the benefits for a landlord of having a tenant on a fixed term lease rather than a rolling or periodic arrangement. Several of the main advantages include:

• Security and stability of income
• Improved cash flow management
• Insurance benefits

As a landlord who has engaged a real estate agent to manage your rental property, you would expect that the property manager would monitor the lease terms for each property and begin certain processes when ever a lease was approaching expiry. ​Unfortunately this is not always the case. 

When choosing a property manager, it can feel like everyone is offering much the same thing. The fees and charges between different options can make it hard to compare apples with apples. 

Many investors resort to creating a spreadsheet, listing all the real estate agents they can find and recording the management fee, lease preparation fee, monthly admin fees, advertising fees, etc. for each. Some even work out the annual cost of using each agency, and whoever comes in cheapest "wins". 

If this sounds even remotely like you, read on. In this article we cover the 3 criteria most people use to choose a property manager, and why these criteria are flawed. 

There's a well-known saying in property investment - "The best time to buy an investment property was yesterday. The second best time is today". Experienced and would-be investors alike know that the sooner they invest in property the sooner and more significant the gains can become. However, often the timing may not seem perfect and the investment journey can be delayed. 

In this post we take a look at 3 reasons why now really could be the best time to buy an investment property. 

In the current market many sellers are giving consideration to keeping their home rather than selling, and turning it into an investment property instead of a sale. Either there has been little interest, or the asking sale price they have been hoping for is not being achieved. 

In the meantime, their home is remaining vacant and non-income generating while waiting for a sale. In this article we suggest three questions to consider when weighing up your options around whether to hold out for a sale, or list your home for rent. 

With the noticeable increase in apartments and townhouse complexes in and around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in recent years, many investors are considering which is a better investment opportunity: a house or an apartment.

Just looking at the way the skyline has changed around suburbs such as Wickham, Charlestown and Warners Bay, there are seemingly never-ending opportunities to invest in apartments. But should you? In this article we take a look at the pros and cons of both houses and apartments as investment properties. 

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?