In short, don’t pick a personality or a price tag. Choose a system that protects your rental return, your property, and your headspace. Pick the right property management company and ownership feels calm and predictable. The wrong decision turns into frustrating work.

You might be in your 30s or 40s, career in full swing, maybe kids in the mix, and you own one or two investment properties with possible plans to grow over time. Property isn’t your whole world, it’s a long-term play for financial security, freedom, or a comfortable retirement. You want performance without drama. This one’s for you.

Here are the real frustrations most owners describe

• The manager keeps changing, and you’re the one bringing them up to speed
• Messages go unanswered, or you get a robotic response with no real insight
• You’re told everything is fine but never see the proof
• Maintenance feels like it costs too much and you don’t know why
• You begin to think all tenants are hard work, when in reality, the system is the problem

These problems come from people dependent processes with poor accountability. Here is how to choose differently.

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The short answer

• Confirm their guarantees and what actually triggers a claim
• Test their response times, not just what they promise
• Ask for a real-time compliance dashboard so you can see safety checks and certificates
• Expect full maintenance transparency, including all renter requests and approvals
• Compare services, not prices. Choose what your property actually needs, not the cheapest option.

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The rules you need to know

In Victoria, the red tape for renting out a property keeps getting thicker. Minimum standards and safety checks are becoming stricter each year, and the Residential Tenancies Act is increasingly focused on renter protection.

Your property management company should keep your property fully compliant and uphold your responsibilities under the lease, including ensuring the property is properly maintained. That’s the bare minimum, it's the starting line, not the finish.

What you really want is a property management system who not only meets the legal requirements but also protects your property, prevents unnecessary loss, and maximises your return with as much certainty as possible along the way.

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Common mistakes to avoid

• Focusing on the property manager, not the system behind them
• Comparing personalities instead of performance and proof
• Choosing the lowest fee instead of the service your property actually needs
• Accepting promises without clear guarantees
• Assuming a local office means better management

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The 20 minute interview and verification framework

Use this when you meet any manager, traditional or modern.

1. Guarantees that actually mean something

Ask for the plain-language terms and what triggers them. For example, what happens if rent is late, if a tenant causes damage, or if you message and get no reply?

What to expect:

They should have a clear, written policy outlining what happens if rent is late and how you’re protected when things go wrong.

With Cubbi Full Management, the system enforces this automatically:

• If rent is 1 day late, the late-rent workflow activates.
• At 6 days late, Cubbi Cover pays the rent directly to you, regardless of whether the renter has paid or not, so your cash flow never stops.
• If the renter falls more than 14 days behind (in Victoria), the formal termination process begins automatically, handled in line with the legislation.
• Once the renter moves out, Cubbi manages any insurance claim on your behalf so you’re not out of pocket.

The outcome? You stay paid, protected, and free from work or risk. Exactly how a rent guarantee should work.

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2. Visibility equals accountability

Visibility is bigger than you might think. For a management company to give you full visibility, they need a clean, connected system, one that’s organised, accurate, and built to handle scrutiny. When you can see what’s going on, they can’t hide mistakes or delays. It keeps them accountable by design.

On the surface, visibility means you can check what’s happening without waiting for someone to get back to you.

But underneath, it’s what keeps the whole system honest. When everything is visible, the management team has to keep their house in order. It means fewer excuses, fewer surprises, and far less chance of something slipping through the cracks, even when you’re not looking.

What to expect:

You should have access to either a mobile app or a web dashboard showing at a minimum:

• All payments, including renter payments and any bills paid on your behalf
• Access to all financial reports, including end-of-financial-year summaries
• Compliance status, including next inspections and certificates
• Renter applications and full screening reports
• Current rent status and arrears history
• A complete maintenance dashboard from first request through to completion
• Rent reviews supported by real market data
• Current and previous leases, including renewal options

With Cubbi Full Management, all of this is built in. You can even ask simple questions like “What is my rent paid up to?” or “Can you send me the last rental statement?” and get an instant answer or the full report if you need it. It gives you clarity when you need it, and it keeps Cubbi accountable all the time.

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3. Experience when it matters most

A good system keeps everything on track 99% of the time. Rent is paid, maintenance is managed, and everyone knows what’s happening. But rentals isn’t always smooth sailing. Storms can brew, a tenant falls behind, an urgent repair drags on, or emotions start to rise.

In those moments, you need calm, steady hands on deck, someone who can steer things back on course, communicate clearly with you and the renter, and protect the relationship as well as the return. That kind of judgement only comes from experience. 7 years or more in the field gives a property management expert the ability to see patterns before they unfold, almost like being able to see around corners.

This person doesn’t need to be your main contact or handle the day-to-day, but they need to exist within the company. When things get tough, someone with real experience must be able to step in at a moments notice, guide the outcome, and get the property back on track.

In addition to the management experts who keep things running, every owner should also have access to a dedicated investment advisor, someone who looks beyond the day-to-day to help maximise income and meet long-term goals. They focus on tailored strategies that reduce vacancy, lift rent returns, and keep your investment moving forward.

When systems run smoothly and experience is close at hand, your property stays steady no matter what the market throws at it.

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4. The renter experience

You want a management system that genuinely cares about renters because they’re your clients too. Treat them well and they’ll treat your property well. Respect goes both ways, and while this should go without saying, it’s still not prioritised enough. Many say they value renters, but few truly live it.

What to expect:

• Responsiveness to renter enquiries
• Test it yourself. Send an enquiry for one of their advertised properties and see what happens. How long does it take for someone to reply? Can they answer your question about the property clearly and accurately? If they can’t respond quickly and provide useful detail good renters will move on, leaving your property on the market longer and increasing the risk of vacancy.
• Fast, transparent maintenance communication
• Maintenance delays are one of the biggest frustrations for renters. They often submit a request and hear nothing for weeks. A modern system keeps them informed at every stage — from the request to quotes, approvals, and completion. Even if repairs take time, visibility builds patience. Renters are far more understanding when they can see progress rather than silence.

A renter who feels respected and informed is easier to work with at every stage, from granting access for repairs to leaving the property clean and settled at the end of a lease. It’s not about keeping renters happy for its own sake; it’s about building mutual respect that protects your property and your return.

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5. Personal preferences

You want to protect your time and headspace as much as possible, while still staying across the things that matter most to you.

You can think of these as automations for your rental property, the same way you might set up automatic bill payments. Not everything needs your attention, but some things always should.

Examples:

• You might want to be notified when the next routine inspection is scheduled so you can attend, especially if it’s been a few years since you’ve seen your property in person.
• You may want to approve any general repairs above a certain cost, like $500.
• You might want to be notified about all repairs in the kitchen because you’re planning a renovation soon.
• You might want to do all plumbing jobs yourself because you’re a plumber.
• If you live in a different time zone, you might allow automatic approval for urgent repairs so they’re handled immediately.
• For late rent, you might prefer to review and approve any termination before the process begins, while others will want this to happen automatically.

At Cubbi, we call these Property Preferences because they’re personal and often different for each property. They let you decide how hands-on or hands-off you want to be, while still knowing the system is following your exact instructions.

It’s about building a management experience that works the way you do, efficient, low-stress, and predictable.

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6. Fees, for the service level your property needs

Good management costs money, but poor management costs more. As a general guide, if you’re paying less than about $150 per month, you’re unlikely to get the level of service your property needs — especially in Victoria, where additional safety and compliance requirements apply.

That works out to around 5% on a $700-per-week rental.

3 things to check before comparing fees:

1. Average vacancy per property

Ask how many days their properties are typically vacant each year. Vacancy is one of the clearest signs of how well a property is managed.

As a guide, zero days should be the aim, but around 7 days per year is considered very good. You’ll always need at least 4 or 5 business days between renters to finalise the outgoing renter, complete any cleaning or maintenance, and prepare the property for the next move-in.

Anything over 3 weeks of vacancy per year on average usually means something in the process isn’t working - advertising too late, weak renter follow-up, or leases ending in quiet market periods. For example, if a lease ends just before Christmas, the property could easily sit vacant for another two weeks simply because enquiry slows over the holiday period.

Smart management systems automatically avoid longer vacancy periods which directly affect your bottom line.

2. Tenant arrears performance

Ask what percentage of their tenants fall more than 7 days behind on rent.

As a guide, more than 10% suggests a screening or late rent follow-up problem.

Fewer than 2% should ever reach the point of forcing them out via tribunal.

These numbers vary by area, but a well-run system keeps arrears consistently low.

Cubbi’s rent guarantee keeps us accountable to this standard because if rent isn’t paid, we pay it.

3. Annual rental investment check-in

Ask whether they schedule a formal investment check-in with you each year, ideally a 15 minute video call to go over your property’s performance and opportunities ahead.

A good check-in looks at:

• Your current rent compared to the local market
• Upcoming lease renewals and planned rent increases
• Vacancy and demand trends in your suburb and how to time changes for maximum return
• Simple improvements that could lift rent or attract longer-term renters

This conversation should feel strategic, not administrative. It’s about maximising income, keeping good renters, and planning ahead so rent growth happens by design, not by chance.

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The right level of service for your situation

Sometimes your property may not need a premium level of management.

For example, if you’re an experienced owner who likes to stay involved, or your property is due for renovation soon (so it’s only the rent you need to worry about), a lower-cost option could be fine for a year.

Just make sure you’re covering the basics: tenant screening, rent collection and late rent follow-up, and rent reviews, and you have good landlord insurance.

You can read more about this approach in our related article: Should I manage my own rental property or hire a property manager?

At the end of the day, your goal is to pay for the right service level that you and your property needs, not the cheapest.

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Choosing differently

Most owners compare prices, personalities, and promises. But now you know better, the real difference is in the systems, visibility, and accountability that sit behind the scenes.

The right property management system protects your rent, your property, and your headspace. It gives you confidence that everything is running the way it should, and that when the unexpected happens, experienced people and clear processes step in.

If that sounds like the kind of management you’ve been looking for, Cubbi Full Management was built for you. It combines proven experts with a system that delivers certainty, transparency, and performance, every day.

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Be among the first to experience a smarter, calmer way to own a rental property.

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