Most landlords choose a property manager on a fee quote and a good first impression, then spend the next two years finding out what they actually bought. The appointment meeting is the only point at which you hold any bargaining power, and it is almost always spent discussing the one number that matters least.
The problem with the standard advice is that the questions everyone tells you to ask can be answered with adjectives. Ask an agency how they screen tenants and you will hear “very thoroughly” from the best office in your state and the worst one on your street. The answer carries no information.
Below are eight questions that can’t be answered that way. Each one requires a figure or a document, which means a manager either has it or does not.
How do you choose a property manager?
Choose a property manager on evidence rather than fee. Ask for four numbers before you discuss the rate: average days on market for re-lets, current portfolio arrears rate, average tenancy length, and how many properties the manager assigned to you holds. Request a sample inspection report and meet the person who will actually manage the property, not the one pitching for the business. The fee matters far less than the vacancy days, and tenant quality those numbers predict.
That is the whole method. The detail is in what a real answer sounds like.
The eight questions
| Question | A real answer sounds like | A deflection sounds like |
| What was your average days on market for re-lets last quarter? | “Eleven days across 40 re-lets; I can send the report.” | “We’re usually pretty quick.” |
| What percentage of your portfolio is in arrears right now? | “1.8%, and two of those are at tribunal.” | “We stay on top of arrears.” |
| How many properties does the manager assigned to me hold, and who else works on that portfolio? | “She holds 180, with a leasing officer and an accounts person behind her”. | “She has a manageable workload.” |
| Can I see three recent routine inspection reports with the names removed? | Produces them, with photos and dated comments | “They’re confidential.” |
| What is your average tenancy length across the portfolio? | “About 26 months, higher on houses than units.” | “Our tenants tend to stay a while.” |
| Who approves maintenance under $500, and do you take a margin on trade invoices? | “You do, unless it’s urgent, and no, we pass invoices through at cost.” | “We use our trusted trades.” |
| How many tribunal matters did this office run last year, and how did they go? | “Nine, we won seven, one settled, one we lost on a notice defect.” | “We rarely need to go to tribunal.” |
| What is your notice period, and is there an end-of-management fee? | A figure and a straight yes or no | “Let’s not worry about that part.” |
A few of these deserve unpacking.
Days on market is the one that decides your return. At $700 a week, every vacant day costs $100, which means a manager who takes three weeks to re-let has spent more than the entire annual difference between a 6% and an 8% fee. That is the argument set out in full in our guide to property management fees, and it is why this question comes first.
What counts as good depends on where you are. With vacancy rates under 1% across Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, a re-let measured in weeks describes the manager’s process rather than the market. In softer pockets of Melbourne, the same campaign legitimately takes longer. Ask what their number is and what the suburb average is, and listen for whether they know both.
The tribunal question is a character test. “We rarely need to go to tribunal” sounds like competence and often means the opposite: an office that settles everything rather than enforce a lease, or one that has never chased a bond claim to conclusion. A manager who can tell you they lost one on a notice defect is telling you they run the process properly and learn from it.
The maintenance margin question is the one agencies least expect. Some agencies add a percentage to tradespeople’s invoices, and it is rarely volunteered. Ask directly, and ask whether you can nominate your own trades.
How many properties should one property manager handle?
There is no single safe number. The traditional full-service benchmark was roughly 100 to 150 properties per manager, but portfolio size only means something alongside the support structure behind it. A manager holding 120 properties with no administrative help is more stretched than one holding 250 with a leasing officer and an accounts team. Ask for the number and the structure together, because the number alone tells you very little.
This matters more than it used to. Staff turnover across the sector has been heavy since the pandemic, with remaining managers absorbing larger portfolios, which is why a stable team is worth more than a low fee.
Ask two follow-ups. How long has this manager been at the agency, and how many different managers would my property have had in the last three years? Three handovers in three years means nobody has ever read your file properly, and every problem gets rediscovered from scratch. Continuity is the quiet thing that separates good agencies from polished ones.
Meet the person who will actually manage your property.
The person sitting across from you at the appointment is often a business development manager (BDM) whose job ends the moment you sign. Your property is then handed to a manager you have never met, holding a portfolio you were never told the size of.
Ask to meet them before you sign. A good agency arranges it without hesitation because they are proud of the person. An agency that resists is telling you the polish stops at the pitch.
Ask that manager the eight questions rather than asking the BDM. The answers will be less smooth and considerably more useful.
How do you switch property managers?
Switching is simpler than most landlords expect, and the incoming agency does the work. Check your management agreement for the notice period, commonly 30 days but sometimes 60 or 90, then appoint the new manager and give written notice to the old one. Your new agency handles the handover: collecting the lease, condition report, tenant ledger, keys and maintenance history; arranging the bond transfer with the state authority; and notifying the tenant of the changeover date.
Two things to do yourself. Read the tenant ledger before the handover is complete, as the outgoing agency’s willingness to explain historical entries drops sharply once the file has moved. And get a written key inventory, since keys are the item most often short at handover.
You do not need to wait for the lease to end. The management agreement and the tenancy agreement are separate documents, and the tenant is generally unaffected beyond a change of payment details.
Landlords managing from a distance have the most to gain from moving early. If you kept a property after relocating and cannot inspect anything yourself, the manager’s judgement is the entire product, and a weak one will cost you far more than the switching effort.
Three signs it is already time to move.
- You only hear from them when something is wrong. No proactive rent review, no market update, and no call at lease renewal. A manager who never contacts you isn’t managing; they’re collecting.
- The rent has not been reviewed in two years. Underletting is invisible and expensive, and it quietly erodes the rental yield you bought the property for. It is also the easiest thing for a manager to avoid, as raising rent means a conversation and leaving it does not.
- Maintenance takes more than one follow-up. The first unanswered request is a bad week. The third is the system.
None of these show up in a fee comparison, and all three cost more than the fee.
Before you appoint anyone
Interview three agencies, ask all three the same eight questions, and write down the answers. The exercise sorts itself: two will answer in adjectives, and one will reach for a report.
Then check the fee schedule against the answers rather than against the other quotes. A manager who re-lets in ten days and holds tenants for three years is cheap at 8%. One who cannot tell you either number is expensive at 5%.
We maintain vetted lists of property managers across every capital city and major region in Australia, chosen on track record rather than advertising spend. Start with Sydney or your own city, shortlist three, and take the eight questions with you.
