Managing a rental property yourself is not only extremely time consuming but requires a great deal of knowledge of some quite complex law and regulations put in place. These regulations is put in place by the Rental Housing Tribunal. The SA law tends to side of protecting the tenant and not the landlord and if your contract and communications from the start is not 100% with the rules from day one you could quickly find yourself in a dispute.
Credit checks are vital and the advantages working with a qualified agent is that you the landlord also gets protected under Privy Seal. All rental agents are legally required to have annually updated Fidelity Fund certificates (FFC) in order to trade and must be registered with the Estate Agency Affairs board (EAAB). With the right management, maintenance and rental escalations your property will generate more income under a good rental agent than it would under your own care.
The small monthly agents fee suddenly seems like a very good deal!
