Self-managing your investment property in Australia

Yes. Every Australian state and territory lets an owner manage their own rental property - a licence is only required to manage property on behalf of someone else. When you self-manage you take on the landlord obligations in your state's residential tenancies legislation yourself: lodging the bond, giving proper notices, handling repairs and following the rent-increase rules. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Management fees are commonly quoted between about 5% and 9% of the rent depending on the state, plus GST, and published fee guides put the national average around 7.5%. Most agencies also charge a letting fee of roughly one to two weeks' rent when they place a new tenant, and many add lease-renewal and other administration fees. On a property renting for $550 a week, a 5% to 9% fee plus GST works out to roughly $1,600 to $2,800 a year before letting fees. The sources for these figures are listed at the bottom of this page.

Vestly is a tax tool, not a management tool. It keeps the records that end up on your rental schedule - rent received, expenses by deduction category, loan interest, receipts, depreciation - and turns them into an EOFY tax pack you review and verify. It happens to hold lease, bond and maintenance records too, because those feed the same picture. It does not advertise your property, screen tenants, do inspections or condition reports, organise tradespeople, or represent you at a tribunal, and whether you use an agent for that work does not change what Vestly does.

Core covers rent, expenses, receipts, leases, bond records, maintenance, reminders and your live tax position. Pro adds the generated EOFY pack, downloads, sharing and supporting AI tools. Both plans start with a 14-day card-required trial.

Yes. The notice generator applies each state and territory's rules - the minimum notice period (for example 90 days in Victoria, 60 days in New South Wales and Queensland, 30 days in the Northern Territory), the frequency limits, and the prescribed-form requirements in Victoria and Western Australia - and produces a print-ready letter pre-filled with your tenant and property details. Tenancy law changes, so always confirm the current rules with your state authority before serving a notice.

The recurring ones in every state: lodge the bond with the state bond authority within the required timeframe, give the tenant the prescribed information at the start of the tenancy, respect minimum notice periods before entering the property, respond to urgent repairs within the required timeframes, meet smoke-alarm and minimum-standards requirements, and follow the rules for rent increases and ending a tenancy. The detail differs under each state and territory's residential tenancies legislation - check your state authority, and get professional advice for anything contested.

Honestly, in several situations: you live far from the property or overseas, you hold several properties and the hours add up, the tenancy is difficult or heading for a tribunal, or you simply do not want the difficult phone calls. A good manager also brings tenant-selection experience and tribunal familiarity that software does not. If any of those apply, a good agent can be worth every dollar, and this page is not here to argue you out of one.

No. Vestly does not advertise your property, run opens or screen applicants. Most self-managers list on the major portals through a private-landlord listing service and do their own reference checks. Once your tenant is in place, Vestly tracks the tenancy: lease dates, bond, rent payments, arrears, maintenance and the paper trail.