Property Management Services

Eiriu

Sorry for starting a thread with my first post, but I'm a long time lurker and I wanted to get some specific advice with regard to setting up a property maintenance company- specifically performing any task a landlord might need done in relation to a property.

My father and my uncle were both plumbers and have been getting very little work of late. My uncle also has a son who is a carpenter who is also quiet with regard to work. These men are quite handy and can do all maintenance work to high standard, and could even do building work if required. They can also fix domestic appliances such as washing machines dishwashers ect ect. They are definitely in the old school when it comes to doing handy work, and would provide a much higher standard of service than is provided by any property maintenance companies I have yet encountered. They are also the type of people that people would trust immediately and residents would appreciate their services. They have some of their own properties as well so are used to dealing with tenants.

I myself am an accountant so I can look after all the regulatory requirements and could even expand into looking after the financial side of things if required by clients.

Is there a market for this type of service in Dublin at the moment? There does seem to be a massive amount of rental accommodation in the city.

Also what way would you charge for a service like this? Would you charge a yearly maintenance charge, or charge by the job-I'd imagine a yearly service charge would make more sense? I know that any maintenance charge would be tax deductible so might make this service worthwhile for landlords. I know there are property management companies at the moment in Dublin such as Space, but I am looking at providing a service that might cater more toward the smaller residential landlord.

athtrasna

Under recent legislation you would have to be licensed http://www.npsra.ie/website/npsra/npsraweb.nsf/page/index-en

As to whether there is a demand - it's not easy to break into this market and after that it's word of mouth that gets business. I don't know that you would be able to charge an annual fee with no background or proven track record.

Eiriu

Yeah I know what you mean by breaking into a new market.

These lads would do a great job, they're not totally motivated by profits, and would go over and above what was needed. I think it would be a matter of getting to know a few landlords and work from there. Judging by what service is provided to tenants at the moment I know they would be well above average. The thing about them to is that they can do everything, they could even rebuild the house if necessary. A lot of people today providing maintenance are not that skilled. I could look after all regulatory requirements as I'm a qualified accountant and also have a law degree. I definitely believe there is a market out there for decent skilled maintenance that is ran by people that actually want to help out.
The standard of service generally provided is quite poor.
The fact that they themselves are also landlords could also work in their favour.

Any thoughts on where to begin, looking for customers?

Milk & Honey

There are estate agents who provide letting and management services. Some have large portfolios of property to maintain. They are generally more interested in the sales and letting side of the business and keep a panel of tradesmen who carry out the maintenance. Linking up with some of them would be a good way to start.

BostonB

My experience is the standard of letting agents is pretty dire. Alos how they handle repairs it pretty poor. It wouldn't take much effort to provide a superior service than most of them. The main work with letting is really in dealing with difficult LL's or tenants and non payment of deposits, rent, hidden damage or alterations in breach of the lease agreement. Consider how you will deal with those situations.

Eiriu

Thanks for all the responses so far- I'm definately going to look into this!!
I think that industry needs a higher standard of service!