Agency principals are seeing it more often now: senior property managers are handing in their notices. They’re overworked, what with the never-ending stream of constant tenancy compliance changes and a seemingly relentless workload that isn’t letting up.
So, like any smart agency, you, too, are looking into outsourcing property management virtual assistants, because on-site replacement isn’t getting you very far.
The market’s in a knot. Agencies across Australia are fishing from a diminishing talent pool, and they’re calling in the Property Manager Shortage in Australia:
Kolmeo’s analysis of SEEK job listings found more than 5,300 property management roles sitting vacant nationwide in April 2026, while salaries have continued climbing without solving the retention problem.
Salaries have risen without fixing retention, so it’s not about the pay. And behind all this, the workload keeps increasing, while the workforce shrinks.
How do you address your own hiring concerns in time? What do property management VAs do, and why are more and more companies outsourcing them?
Do I need to hire a property management virtual assistant?
You may need a property management virtual assistant if your licensed property managers spend more time on repetitive administration than on landlord relationships, compliance, inspections, and complex tenancy matters. Tasks such as lease paperwork, maintenance coordination, inspection scheduling, and arrears follow-up can often be delegated, freeing local staff to focus on work that requires licensing and professional judgment. If recruitment is taking months, workloads continue to grow, or your team is showing signs of burnout, a property management VA can help increase capacity without replacing the need for licensed Australian property managers.
Why Australia’s Property Manager Shortage Keeps Getting Worse
An April 2026 report from Kolmeo’s analysis of Seek job listings couldn’t have summarized the problem better: only 1 in 5 property management vacancies are being filled. There are currently 5,300 vacant property manager roles in Australia. Victoria’s one of the heavier weights, with their 1,100 unfilled positions.
What’s baffling is that the property manager salary in Australia’s on a high. They’re presently advertised at up to $120,000.
Property Manager Exodus in Australia
The REIQ points to what’s driving managers out: the sheer volume of work, legislative updates that are in the habit of constantly changing, difficulty securing tradies, and fewer property managers left to share the load.
Their busyness has become year-round. Seasonal spikes used to be accompanied by seasonal lulls, which were once relied on for workload relief.
The increase in compensation’s not enough to outweigh the heavier burden of legislative and regulatory reforms. Not enough to encourage local managers to throw their resumes in.
Analysts are now more certain than before that throwing money into it isn’t loosening the knot.
Illustration: Elise is licensee-in-charge of a ~350-property rent roll in Toowoomba. Two of her four property managers resigned within six months of each other. The senior property manager of the remaining two has expressed wanting to leave as well.
Each replacement search took over three months. The new hires needed months longer to learn how her team works and reach full productivity with little supervision. That entire timeline means they were technically understaffed for most of the year,
What To Do: Count how many property manager resignations your agency has processed in the past 18 months. Or if you’re in the hiring phase, count how long it’s been since you got yourself a good resume, if any were even submitted.
All in all, it’s “value” that you’re losing (and possibly experienced property managers who once loved their jobs), along with what the shortage is costing you.
Which Tasks Actually Need a Licensed Property Manager?
Why Are Property Managers Getting Burnt Out: The Workload Reality
It’s clear, and it’s been announced on news cycles and on socials, that headcount isn’t the main culprit in the shortage. It’s the result of a more serious problem.
To understand what Australia property managers are contending with daily, here’s a rundown of the same overloaded mix of tasks on their already full plates:
The left column has to be in the hands of a local property manager. No excuses. The right column doesn’t need a licensed property manager doing it, yet, by default, that list is the same licensed PM responsibility. The workload? Enough to bring in one or two more roles to handle them regularly.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland reveals inefficient systems and a lack of support as named drivers of burnout in the sector, alongside workload volume and legislative reform.
Simply adding another property manager without changing how the work is divided doesn’t solve that problem.
However, this statement isn’t to understate the issue. Agencies will still need to hire more property managers as portfolios grow. They shouldn’t be hired merely to keep up with administrative work that someone else should attend to, day after day.
What To Do: What are your property managers’ recurring tasks in a typical week? Divide them into two: L for “requires a license or relationship,” and A for “repeatable, administrative.” How long the A side is will tell you it’s time to hire a property manager virtual assistant, and not another local, licensed PM.
Extra Read: For another role AU businesses are hiring offshore and quickly, here’s What Does a Project Manager Do?
What Does a Property Manager Virtual Assistant Do in Real Estate?
Daily Responsibilities of Property Management VA
#1. Tenant and Lease Administration
From lease renewals to rent review paperwork and tenancy agreements, the workflow stays largely the same regardless of the property. Once the process is in place, it’s repeated from one tenancy to the next, exactly the kind of repeatable work that doesn’t need to stay on a licensed property manager’s desk.
- Drafting and sending lease renewal offers and rent increase notices within legislated timeframes
- Processing new tenancy applications and reference checks
- Preparing tenancy agreements and lodging bond paperwork
- Updating tenant and lease records across the property management system as terms change
What To Do: Identify which lease-related documents look as though they can be templatized. Ones that follow a similar process every time. These belong to the delegation tray and can be fully transferred to a remote property management virtual assistant.
Ones that don’t involve direct negotiations with a landlord.
#2. Maintenance Coordination
Maintenance coordination is about keeping the process moving. Logging requests, organising contractor quotes, scheduling the work, and following jobs through to completion. Tasks that are largely a matter of staying organised and making sure everything’s always on track.
- Taking maintenance requests from tenants
- Getting and comparing contractor quotes
- Booking repairs and arranging access with tenants
- Keeping track of repairs until they’re finished and updating the system
What To Do: Hand the logging and follow-ups over first. That’s usually where property managers lose the most time between everything else they’re juggling.
#3. Inspections and Condition Reports
Someone still has to be at the property to carry out the inspection. But the booking, reminders, paperwork, and follow-up don’t have to belong to that same person.
- Scheduling routine, entry, and exit inspections
- Confirming appointment times with tenants
- Preparing condition report templates ahead of the visit
- Filing completed reports and flagging discrepancies against the previous report
- Sending reminder notices ahead of scheduled inspection dates
What To Do: An inspection comes with plenty of work before and after the visit. The only part that has to happen on site is the inspection itself. Everything else, from scheduling and paperwork to confirmations, can be done offsite (and from anywhere else in the world).
#4. Arrears Follow-Up and Rent Reconciliation
Rent arrears follow a fairly predictable sequence. Someone checks the ledger, then sends the next reminder. The same person records any payments. The process is repeated until the account is up to date.
- Monitoring rent payments as they come in (and against the ledger)
- Following up on overdue rent, according to schedule
- Reconciling and logging payments
- Identifying cases that need to be escalated (overdue cases, tenants haven’t responded)
What To Do: Most rent arrears can follow the usual process. But once formal notices, tribunal applications, or disputed arrears come into the picture, there should be no confusion about when the property manager takes over again. Whoever handles the routine work should already be familiar with your software.
Illustration: Warrick runs a 9-person property management agency in Wollongong. He handed maintenance-request logging and contractor follow-up to an offshore VA, including chasing quotes and confirming job completion with tenants.
His two senior property managers stopped personally fielding routine repair calls. Within the following quarter, each took on two additional landlord accounts they hadn’t had capacity for before.
Extra Read: An insider take on Understanding the Role of Estimators in Australia.
Direct Channel
Have questions? Drop our team a line anytime.
Property Management Software Tools:
When screening candidates, property management experience is a good filter. Especially if the candidate’s fulfilled the same role remotely. But tools are a more precise gauge. What you want to know is if the virtual assistant has used the same platforms your agency does.
What To Do: Give candidates time to tell you about a previous workflow, like logging a maintenance request. Ask them to explain how they did it using the platform your agency uses (if they’ve used the same one).
Time Zone Overlap and the Compliance Questions Agencies Actually Ask
There are two major elements many AU agencies wrestle with as they step over and onto the line of outsourcing real estate VAs and property management VAs.
Time zone. There’s a 0 to 3-hour time difference between the Philippines and Australian states, with Australia ahead in local time. A VA’s Philippine-based schedule overlaps with that of the local team, with only as little as two hours of an offset.
No reason for communication lags or delays. Meetings can be scheduled during overlapping hours. No need to wait for one time zone’s evening before work resumes the next morning in another.
The second is compliance. Compliance questions are more specific, and these are the ones agencies frequently raise before committing to a remote hire.
Who’s liable if the VA makes an error in a tenancy notice or condition report?
This risk falls within the agency’s boundaries, in direct contracting. In managed outsourcing, the outsourcing partner themselves takes on the responsibility, since they typically serve as the hire’s professional representative. Though this should be confirmed with the managed provider.
Can an offshore VA access the trust account or tenant financial data?
Not always, since most agencies limit VA access to data entry and reconciliation support. Access to direct trust accounts is usually within the licensed property manager’s domain.
Does this affect the agency’s obligations under tenancy legislation?
No matter who drafts the paperwork, the legislative obligations are the licensed property manager’s. Virtual assistants can prepare a notice without a hitch, but cross-checking and correcting it is up to the property manager.
How is tenant and landlord data protected?
This is a data-handling question the agency should raise directly with whichever partner or contractor they engage, since practices vary by provider.
Worth Noting: This isn’t legal advice, but the above section is a basis for agency-specific engagement structure. Legal responsibility for tenancy compliance is under the licensed property manager’s watch. Fully. The rest of the tasks can be entrusted to property management virtual assistants.
When the Property Management Task List Needs Another Manager
It can be daunting, hiring an offshore property manager, especially if this is your first time doing it. You’ve never even hired out-of-state. But to assure you, proof of the fact that this works – bringing in remote property managers to join your local team – has been out there for decades.
How can you tell? Because growing agencies continue to outsource the role. The difference, though, is how they do it. If you go the freelance route, everything’s your responsibility, from candidate vetting to payroll. But with managed providers like Remote Staff, that part’s ours.
We’ve been matching Australian property management agencies with the ideal property manager virtual assistants for over 18 years. And we don’t leave you be after hiring. We remain your constant support for payroll, HR, and admin work. Our team will also support you in other parts of your operations— here’s how you can stay compliant in staffing: Modern Slavery Australia.
FAQs
What property management tasks should an agency outsource first?
The administrative side: lease renewal paperwork, maintenance request logging, inspection scheduling. Start with these, since they follow the same process every time and don’t require a property manager’s licence. In other words, start with tasks that don’t require anything involving compliance, in-person landlord negotiation, or legal notices.
Is it legal for an Australian property management agency to outsource to the Philippines?
Yes, outsourcing or offshoring to the Philippines is legal. Property management agencies commonly do this through direct contracting, with many partnering instead with a managed outsourcing partner. Legislative responsibility for tenancy compliance remains with the local licensed property manager.
Can a virtual assistant conduct property inspections?
No. The inspection itself has to be done in person, with someone physically in Australia. The VA can schedule the appointment and prepare and file the condition report template. Attending the property in person is always a local task.
How many hours apart are Australia and the Philippines?
The Philippines sits 0 to 3 hours behind Australian states (depending on which state you’re comparing). Daylight saving time adds an hour to that time difference.
What software experience should a property management VA already have?
Use your own agency’s platforms as the reference. Most property management agencies use PropertyMe, PropertyTree, Console Cloud, or REST Professional. Ask VA candidates about their workflow inside these tools.
There’s a Shortage. Outsourcing Is Part of the Answer.
…and it’s been proven. The role exists offshore for a reason: Australia’s property management agencies are facing a shortage that isn’t stopping.
It’s been confirmed time and again that in Australia’s property manager shortage of Australia, pay raises aren’t the way out. Workload continues to rise. Local property managers’ plates are overflowing.
More of those still hanging on are thinking of leaving the profession altogether, understandably.
Your competitors are already offshoring their property manager VAs so their licensed managers can focus on what they’re supposed to do. The number of properties under management is growing. It’s time to find your property management and real estate virtual assistant Australia… offshore.
Call us or Request a Callback today.
Vaune Everis Cura has always been a writer in the truest sense, drawn to the art both as a personal creative pursuit and as a profession. Her experience penning content across digital marketing spaces and collaborating with business owners and market shapers has broadened her craft to include strategic direction and SEO insight. Having spent years with the InterContinental Hotels Group before stepping boldly into freelancing, she understands that at the centre of it all are genuine, meaningful brand–customer relationships built on purposeful, human content.
