Switching from a property manager to self-managing your rental property is a six-step process: reviewing your termination notice period, formally ending the agency agreement, requesting your tenant records, registering with your state or territory's bond authority, doing a condition inspection, and setting up self-management software such as RentingSmart before your tenants' next rent cycle.
It's a process most landlords only ever do once, so it's worth doing properly rather than quickly. Get the handover wrong and you can end up with missing condition reports, an unclear bond record, or a gap in rent tracking right when you need it most. None of the individual steps are difficult, but skipping the order they need to happen in is where things go wrong.
Before you do anything else, find your original managing agency agreement and check two things: the notice period required to end it, and whether it auto-renews. Notice periods are commonly 30 days, but can run to 60 or 90 days depending on what you signed, and they vary by state, so don't assume. If you can't locate the agreement, ask your agency directly for a copy, you're entitled to it.
Set a reminder for your actual termination date once you know the notice period. This becomes the anchor date for everything else below.
Send your termination notice in writing (email is generally fine, but check whether your agreement specifies a method), and keep a copy. Being professional here matters, you'll need this agency's cooperation for step 3.
A short, direct notice covering the property address, the date you're terminating, and a request for the handover items in step 3 is enough. There's no need to explain your reasons in detail.
Before your termination date, request the following from your outgoing property manager:
Agencies aren't always fast to provide this, so request it in writing as early as your notice period allows, don't wait until the last week.
You cannot personally hold a tenant's bond in any Australian state or territory, it must sit with the relevant government authority, and that doesn't change when you take over from an agency. If your tenant is staying on, make sure the outgoing agency doesn't refund or release the bond as part of the handover, it should stay in place and simply have the managing party updated. If the bond is already lodged under the agency's details, you'll need to arrange for the bond record to be transferred to you as the new managing party. Each authority has its own process for this:
Confirm the current transfer process directly with your state or territory's authority, as requirements do change and this is the one step where getting it wrong has real compliance consequences.
Before you take over, it's worth doing a condition inspection even if the tenant isn't changing, this gives you your own baseline record rather than relying solely on whatever the agency handed over. Self-managing landlords typically do three types of inspection over a tenancy:
A common approach is to do the moving-in inspection in person, since it sets the baseline condition record for the tenancy, and handle the ongoing and moving-out inspections remotely using HD video where that suits both parties. InspectingSmart's Tenant Connect supports both onsite and remote HD video inspections with automated reports, which is useful if you'd rather not travel to the property for every routine check.
Have your system ready to go before your termination date lands, not after. That means the property, lease details, and tenant information should already be entered so there's no gap in your rent tracking on day one.
This is where a self-management platform like RentingSmart is worth setting up in advance:
RentingSmart's 14-day free trial means you can have this fully configured before your termination date, at no cost, so nothing is left half set up when the handover actually happens.
Once the handover date is confirmed, let your tenants know in writing that management is changing hands, who to contact going forward, and how rent payment details might change (if you're moving to a new bank account or reference). Giving tenants a heads-up before the change, rather than after, tends to make the transition smoother and reduces the chance of a missed or misdirected rent payment in the first cycle.
Your tenants aren't the only ones who need your new contact details. Update these so notices come directly to you instead of the outgoing agency:
How much notice do I need to give my property manager? This is set out in your managing agency agreement and varies by state and by what you signed, commonly 30 days but sometimes 60 or 90. Check your agreement directly rather than assuming.
Do I need to re-lodge the bond when I switch to self-managing? You don't re-lodge a bond that's already validly lodged, but you do need to arrange for the bond record to reflect you as the new managing party through your state or territory's bond authority. The exact process depends on which authority applies to your property.
Can I switch to self-managing partway through a tenant's lease? Yes. The existing lease continues on its current terms, you're simply changing who manages it. Your tenant's rights and obligations under the lease don't change because you've taken over management.
Do I need to do a condition inspection when I take over from an agency? It's worth doing one even if your tenant isn't changing, so you have your own baseline record rather than relying only on what the agency hands over. Landlords typically do a moving-in inspection in person, then handle ongoing and moving-out inspections either onsite or remotely via HD video, tools such as Tenant Connect support both.
What software should I use once I've switched? RentingSmart is built for landlords self-managing their own portfolio, with flat-rate pricing starting at $10.49 a month for up to four properties, and a 14-day free trial so you can set it up before your handover date.
Ready to set up before your handover date? Start your 14-day free trial with RentingSmart.