Christmas estate agency closures leave tenants and landlords high and dry

So Christmas has come and gone for another year.  This year again our office remained open for business between the Christmas and New Year period, and prior to Christmas we scheduled open for inspection times each day to allow prospective tenants plenty of notice to attend some inspections during that time.

Over the four days, we ran 70 inspection times and had more than 145 prospective tenants attend our properties. On January 3, we had received 35 applications, and we conducted another 17 inspections during this week and received a further five applications during the first week of January.

I wanted to share this information with everyone because I found several things fascinating over the past 10 days.

Firstly, the majority of agents close between Christmas and New Year.  And yes as a business owner, I would love to have the luxury to close and enjoy the break like everyone else, however as an investor with a vacant property, I want to know everything possible is being done to secure a tenant for me during this period that will minimise both the vacancy period and my stress levels at this time of the year.

While processing applications we found agents who simply closed their front doors.  There was no message on the main telephone line to say they were closed, no information on any of the team’s mobile numbers and nothing on their website to advise of different hours during the festive season.  One of the agents was a Mornington Pennisula agent – surely at this time of the year, wouldn’t business be booming for them?

Other agents closed before Christmas and somehow forgot to tell their tradespeople.  So what happened to those tenants who experienced the terrible storm on Christmas night or on Boxing Day? Well, they rang the plumber and he did what he could do until the agency re-opened days later.  And I while I acknowledge we all have our own way of running a business, I have to ask: how are some of these agencies still in business?

And what about rent received during this period?  Tenants continue to pay electronically and the money still comes through to the agents trust account. But the money still needs to be transferred to the owner.  So what is a reasonable timeframe for an owner to wait until they receive their money?

I have another example of a Melbourne agent who closed on December 23, 2011 and re-opens on January 9, 2012. That’s 16 days!!  How can this be correct?  What about the lost income to both the business and the owners whom have had vacant properties during this time?  If this agent managed my property, let’s just say I would be making some changes immediately as part of my 2012 resolutions.

For me, this highlights that some agents really don’t consider what’s best for their clients at this time of the year, and furthermore agents are really not all the same.

Leah Calnan is the director of Metro Property Management in Victoria and is the chairwoman of the REIV Property Management Chapter.