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 carries the admin and paper-trail side of managing a rental: rent tracking and arrears flags, lease and bond records, compliant rent-increase notices for all 8 states and territories, a maintenance and repairs log, reminders, a document vault and the EOFY tax pack. It does not advertise your property, screen tenants, do in-person inspections or entry and exit condition reports, organise tradespeople, or represent you at a tribunal. Those parts stay with you, or you outsource them per job.

Yes. The core is free - properties, rent tracking and arrears, leases and bond records, the maintenance log, reminders, documents, your live tax position and the EOFY tax pack - with no subscription and no card, across any number of properties. The only paid part is the optional AI layer - AI Pro, $9.99/mo or $99/yr.

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 - the point of self-managing with software is that paying for management becomes a choice, not a default.

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.