The Bloom Difference

Other company’s real cost is over 25%.

This property was transferred to Bloom after the previous property manager allowed an expensive and high risk situation to develop and refused to do things that would mitigate the issues.  Their tenant vacated the property owing rent near the end of their fixed term lease and did not intend to return. The previous property manager’s policy was to wait until the lease expired (a month later) to inspect, clean, or remove the old tenant’s goods or collect keys. They would show the property ‘as-is’ – dirty, smelly and with random furniture and rubbish left behind. The bond would not cover lost rent or other expenses. The client’s previous experience with this manager indicated they took 2 months or more to let a property even when it was pristine. The loss to the property owner would be 9 weeks’ rent or 17% of the rental income. But that was not the only cost.

The client contacted Bloom right away to manage their property. They did not want to go through all that (again) with their old property manager. The additional benefit for the client was the work that Bloom did with the previous tenant on their behalf. Bloom had the old tenant agree to Bloom acting fast to reduce the expense to them (and risk to the property owner), starting with collecting the keys they had left outside the back door(!), and doing everything to get a new tenant ASAP, including getting a cleaner and a photographer, removing rubbish and unwanted goods, mowing lawns, and marketing the property on popular sites within two days of them leaving.  Bloom reminded the outgoing occupant of all their obligations and invoiced them promptly for work done on their behalf which made them happy to pay.  New tenants were secured within a fortnight at a higher rent, and the old tenants signed over their bond to cover costs and unpaid rent.  The total cost to the owner was only $100 towards photography and marketing.  Everything else was covered, including rent being paid for every single day.

The old company (based on their policy and client’s experience of them over multiple lets previously) intended to leave the key unsecured outside the property for over a month, creating security risk, on a false understanding of the tenant’s right to re-enter. They would do no lawn or garden care or cleaning during first 5-6 weeks of vacancy, increasing security risk/vandalism and reducing property appeal, because it hadn’t occurred to them to contact the old tenant for permission.  They did not take professional photos, and had minimal ad copy. They kept the asking rent the same, with plan to drop price if no interest, because they had no innovative strategies to attract prospects. They would make no deductions from bond for cleaning or garden and lawns as it would present ‘reasonably clean and tidy’ at the final inspection scheduled 5 weeks after vacating date, putting cleaning costs on the owner or presenting it dirty to new tenants.  They felt no incentive to choose new tenants quickly as old tenant was responsible for rent for 5 more weeks, even though they were already behind and not responding to their phone calls or emails. If they secured a new tenant, they would also charge the owner a letting fee.  On top of this lack of performance, the company charged the departing owner commission on rent arrears, claiming right to fee as it happened during the notice period, even though rent was not collected by them and they were doing nothing to relet the property.

The other company cost for this mess would be over 25% of the annual rent. Plus bond delay, rent reduction, security risk, mortgage interest costs, and owner’s stress.  Bloom saved the client more than our year’s fees in just the first 3 weeks, and managed to help them get the old company to reverse their claim for the management fee when they were not doing their job. 

Needless to say, this client is very happy they shifted to Bloom. They can see we are better together.

Insufficient inspections cause big expenses

It’s no secret that many property management companies rely on volume—the more properties each property manager can service, the more profitable they are. This results in serious overwork for most property managers, and there is simply not enough time to deal with issues properly, let alone routine things like inspections.

A client switched to Bloom Property Management after they realised their current property manager wasn’t following up on maintenance issues and simple things were taking months to resolve, if they were resolved at all.

After Blooms inspections of their properties we discovered theír tenants were universally dismissive of previous companies inspections, characterised as a quick ‘how’s things?’ and snapping a few photos before dashing out the door again. We discovered many items that had never been mentioned in the inspections, or were still unresolved, including many areas where water was causing damage to their properties. One of those things was a leaking tap the other company’s plumber ‘fixed’ but hadn’t sealed properly. This slow leak rotted out timber, requiring another plumber, plus a builder, plasterer, and painter to resolve at great expense. The other company hadn’t checked the quality of their plumber’s job, nor noticed the wet timber in the mere minutes they spent at the property.

The property owner was disappointed this portrayed them as someone who provided sub-standard housing to their tenants, someone who wasn’t happy getting things fixed. It telegraphed to the tenants that the owner didn’t care about how the property was treated, so why should the tenants be gentle with their rental?  This wasn’t the case at all.

With Bloom’s help and our quality tradespeople, we are working through a long list of deferred maintenance items to bring this property back up to a good standard, as well as educating tenants on property care. Because Bloom limits client numbers and takes time to onboard each, we have time to work through property issues and ensure everything is resolved to a satisfactory standard. Bloom’s comprehensive inspections take time to identify and document issues and report back to the owner what was found, along with the solution to the issues. Tenants love that we keep the property in great condition, and that is reflected in the pride of place they display.

Tenants are given an excellent orientation of the property at the beginning of their tenancy, as well as guides on how to look after items, ventilation, and other tips. The initial property inspection report is very detailed, and if any issues arise, we work with tenants to resolve matters amicably.  Should that fail, evidence collected before, during, and after the tenancy hold up well in the Tribunal should it be needed.  Excellent quality tradespeople do not need to return to repeat repairs, and there are no subsequent damages to make good. That adds substantially to your return on investment.

Final inspection farce and double dipping on let fees lead to Bloom taking the reins.

Another client had a tenant vacate before their one-year lease ended, and they agreed to find a replacement tenancy, as the law requires. Their understanding was that the outgoing tenant had to cover all costs of finding a replacement tenant.

They sought permission to do improvements to the property while it was unoccupied while the previous tenant was paying the lease, via their property manager, and the tenant granted this. 

Their property manager wouldn’t do the final inspection however until the current tenant’s obligations ended (by either getting a replacement tenant, or the lease expired).  The client told the property manager there were a few things that needed attention, but the property manager was firm on their stance of when the final inspection would be done.

This meant the client did not get compensation for cleaning the house (which the owner needed to do prior to painting), treating a big stain on the carpet, or weeding the gardens, as the property manager hadn’t seen any of those things (nor offered to organise a solution when informed about these by the owner, as the tenant ’still had the right to remedy while they are paying the rent’), and didn’t accept the owner’s photos as sufficient evidence to pursue this.  When pushed by the owner to talk to the tenant about the stain, the property manager reported “They said it was there when they moved in”, without referring to their initial inspection first to confirm it wasn’t, nor offering a solution to this situation.  When they finally did their ’final inspection’ for the tenancy, it was a very quick in-and-out, taking about 10 minutes tops, and didn’t give compensation for the stain or cleaning.

On top of this, the property manager charged both the outgoing tenant and the owner fees for finding new tenants, and wouldn’t compensate either for the ‘double dipping’.  When this owner’s next vacancy under similar circumstances arose, they decided enough was enough, and chose Bloom instead, as they knew I actively sought beneficial solutions for everyone to problems exactly like these and didn’t charge letting fees to owners—something that saved them about 5% of their previous expenses, which together with the old companies management fee, more than covered Bloom’s fee. Their mental and financial health has improved as a result of the switch; definitely Better Together.

Owner needed ‘a round toit’. Bloom has it.

This client had been managing their own property prior to coming to Bloom. As part of the tenancy agreement, they had agreed to do the lawns and gardens at the rental because it was just down the road from their own home.  Those, along with many other duties like inspections, HHAA work, and many more, were just not getting done for their sitting tenants because, well, life got in the way.

The result was overgrown lawns and gardens encouraged mice to take up residence, which nested in a critical part of the water system. Their nibbling caused short circuits, electrician callouts, plumber callouts, new parts, and over $2,000 of expenses to fix.  A cost that would have been easily avoided, along with the disruption and annoyance to the tenant as well as not getting what they paid for with lawn care—something that could set the owner up for a Tribunal hearing and fines.

In the first week under Bloom’s management, I arranged a lawn care service, regular mouse baiting programme, HHAA assessment, set up regular inspections, took care of a number of maintenance items the tenant hadn’t told the landlord about, and arranged a long overdue rent increase equating to around 10% of their annual rental.  The rent increase plus preventative maintenance more than covered the financial cost of management.  The owner is very relieved this millstone is off from around their neck too, they finally got ‘around to it’ by simply delegating to an expert.

The occupant is happier too, as the property is better to live in and things get done promptly.

When we readvertise the property the lawns and gardens will be the tenant’s responsibility, putting more money back in the landlord’s pocket. The rent will likely increase again too, because it will be presented and marketed very well.

In our conversations about Bloom’s long-term strategies for property improvement to satisfy the triple bottom line, the property owner now sees the value in keeping the property in the best condition to get the right tenants and maintain value, maximise cashflow, and reduce their risks.

This stuff is ‘bread and butter’ for Bloom Property Management. We’re better together.