Transparency Rules

Someone I know had a property manager taking care of their property while he and his partner were in the United Kingdom. While out of the country they assumed things were going fine, and didn't open up the statements they were sent each month to see what had been spent. They did know the property manager fairly well, and trusted them as a friend.

When they returned to New Zealand they prepared their tax returns for the previous year and opened up those statements. They were not happy with what they found. They knew their property had required repairs and maintenance. They did not know their friend the property manager sourced the parts needed from Trademe auctions. What's wrong with that? Goods sold at auction do not carry any warantee or guarantee, they are strictly 'as is, where is'. If you are paying for a trades person, you want to install parts that will last in order to justify the skill in installing them. That wasn't the case here.

They had assumed their friend the property manager had attached copies of their invoices to those statements. When they opened up the attachments they found all the invoices had been generated by 'XYZ Property Management', rather than the trades person who did the job. This is a problem because a) they do not know what the trades person charged or what had been added onto it by XYZ b) they don't know who worked on their property so future call backs to set right are impossible c) they don't know if the trades person was suitably qualified. The latter is important as you don't want your insurance invalidated by dodgy wiring, right as your house burns down.

At Rental Results we know how important these things are. For our clients peace of mind they get copies of all original invoices emailed to them with their statements. They can see exactly what the trades person said, charged for, discounted etc. We don't inflate the bills, and in fact we look for discounts and pass those on where-ever possible. Our invoicing is very clear.

All our tradespeople are suitably qualified, it is one of the many things we discuss with them over a two-page induction process. We like that you know who we are using - reputation is important, and shonky tradies don't get called back.

At the end of the financial year we send a summary to our clients, which makes it easier and cheaper for your accountant to prepare your taxes. Our clients can email their accountant the invoices as well should there be any questions about what was done.

If you are considering property management, do ask how transparent their processes are. The more transparent, the better.