Switching property managers, step by step.

How to change property managers in Queensland

Moving a tenanted property from one agency to another follows the same order every time, and most of the work sits with us.

1. Tell us about your property

   Request an appraisal or give us a call. We’ll review the rent, the lease and any notice period with your current agent. We then send you a written management proposal that sets out our services and fees.

2. Give your current agency written notice

   With a standard PO Form 6 appointment, 30 days’ written notice is the most you’ll need to give. Very old agreements, from before December 2014, can say otherwise, so we check yours before you give notice. We draft the termination letter to your current agent for you to sign.

   The notice comes from you, because the appointment is between you and your agency. You can send it yourself, or we send it for you with you copied in. The date it takes effect becomes the handover date. We then write to your agency, again copying you in, to confirm that date and ask them to have the file, the keys and any money held for your property ready for it.

   Locked into a notice period? We’ll time the handover around it, so nothing overlaps and nothing gets missed.

3. Sign your PO Form 6 (appointment)

   At the same time, you appoint Homefront with a standard PO Form 6 (appointment): the management agreement between you and us. Your current agency’s appointment doesn’t carry across, so this is a new one. We ask you a short set of questions, draft the agreement from your answers and send it to you to review and sign online. Every fee is set out in your management agreement before you sign.

4. Handover day: we collect the file

   Then we deal with them directly: keys, documents, the tenant ledger and any funds held. On the handover date we collect:

   • keys, remotes and fobs
   • the tenancy agreement (the lease) and the entry condition report
   • the bond details, including the RTA bond number
   • the tenant ledger, showing the date rent is paid up to
   • the last routine inspection report and any notices issued to the tenant
   • open maintenance, invoices, and smoke alarm and other compliance certificates
   • a final statement for you, and any money held for your property, which comes across to our trust account with your written authority

   The entry condition report matters most. It’s the record any bond claim at the end of the tenancy is measured against, so it’s the first document we file, and if it’s missing we follow it up in writing.

5. The bond: RTA Form 5

   Your tenant’s bond stays with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA). We take care of updating the RTA’s record to show Homefront as the new manager, using RTA Form 5 (Change of property manager/owner), and we deal with your previous agency to get it done. There’s nothing for you to sign or chase.

6. Your tenant hears from us

   When the transfer takes effect, we email your tenant our bank details for rent, the link to report maintenance and the other details they need, and their property manager calls to introduce themselves. Their lease carries on unchanged, so there’s nothing new to sign: their rent, their bond and the terms of their agreement stay as they are. If a payment still goes to your old agency after that, we follow it up with the agency in writing until it’s transferred to us.

   Your tenants are introduced to us and rent keeps flowing without interruption. You get portal access, your property manager’s direct contacts and a statement from month one.

Questions owners ask about switching

Can I switch property managers in the middle of a lease?

Yes. The lease is between you and your tenant, so it carries on unchanged when the manager changes. RTA Form 5 is the form for exactly this: a change of agent during an ongoing tenancy. Your notice period with your current agency still applies, and we time the handover around it.

Does my tenant need to do anything?

Very little. They don’t sign anything, and nothing in their lease changes. The one thing they do differently is pay rent to us from the handover date, using the bank details in our email.

How long does switching take?

Mostly, as long as your notice period. The handover date is set by the notice you give your current agency, so with 30 days’ written notice we take over about a month after it’s given. In the meantime your PO Form 6 (appointment) is signed and your property is set up in our system, so we’re ready to manage from the handover date.

Does it cost anything to switch?

No. There’s no fee to switch to Homefront. Your current agency’s agreement may have its own terms for ending it, so we check yours before you give notice.

More questions about fees, rent and repairs? See our Landlord FAQ.