What good property management actually looks like: inside the KPR system

Most owners only think about their property manager when something goes wrong: rent that sits in a trust account until the end of the month, an inspection report that is two lines and no photographs, or a phone that rings out because the person who knew the property left last quarter. This article is about the opposite, what property management looks like when the system is built properly, and it describes how KPR Property Management actually runs.

One senior property manager, end to end

The industry standard model is a leasing person, a routine inspections person, a maintenance person, and an accounts person, none of whom know your property well, with the file passed between them and details dropped at every handover. We run the opposite model. The portfolio is deliberately boutique, and it is looked after personally by our Senior Property Manager, so the person who leased your property is the person who inspects it, manages its maintenance, and answers when you call. Owners are also welcome to come in: the office is at 338 Beaufort Street, Perth, with easy parking, and you sit down with your property manager rather than deal with a call centre.

A boutique portfolio is a choice with a cost, because the easy way to grow a rent roll is to keep saying yes until every manager has hundreds of properties. We keep the number deliberately low, because arrears get chased on day one rather than at month end, maintenance gets followed up rather than filed, and tenants get looked after, which is why good tenants stay.

Your rent, paid as it is paid

KPR Property Management runs every tenancy on Managed App, and the difference owners notice first is the money. Rent is not held for an end of month payment run. As the tenant pays, the money comes in and goes straight back out to the owner, less only what the owner has approved, typically reaching your account within two business days. Money that arrives weeks earlier is money working against your loan weeks earlier, every month, for as long as you own the property.

The same platform pays bills on the property automatically on their due date, splits payments where a property has more than one owner so each is paid their share directly, and gives every owner a portal. Log in any time, on a phone or a computer, and see the rent, statements, invoices, inspection reports, and property documents, with nothing to chase and no email required.

Inspections that are actually reports

Routine inspections are thorough, quarterly, and reported with proper photographs, because an owner should be able to see the condition of their property rather than take two lines of text on trust. Arrears are handled with a zero tolerance policy: rent is followed up the moment it is late, which is precisely why it so rarely gets late.

Strata knowledge, where it counts

A large share of the portfolio is apartments, villas, and townhouses across Perth’s inner-city corridor, and managing strata property well takes knowledge that most agencies do not hold: what the strata company maintains versus what the owner maintains, how by-laws bear on a tenancy, and who to call when a common property problem lands in a tenant’s kitchen. That knowledge sits in the business because the sales side of KPR specialises in strata. To be clear about what we are not: we are not strata managers, we do not manage strata companies or administer levies. We manage residential rental property for owners, across the Perth metropolitan area, from older 1-bedroom units through to houses renting for well over $1,000 per week.

Talk to us

If your property deserves better than the standard model, talk to our Senior Property Manager on 08 6385 6800 or [email protected], or read about switching to KPR Property Management, including the reduced rate for your first 12 months. Switching is far simpler than most owners expect, and we handle the changeover with your current agent from start to finish.

This article is general information about residential property management, not legal or financial advice.

By KPR Property Management, 338 Beaufort Street, Perth