Sydney is an apartment rental market first. Investors hold units in big blocks around Parramatta, Olympic Park, Ryde and Chatswood, the Inner West adds terraces and warehouse conversions, and the outer west is detached houses on larger blocks.
Plenty of owners live interstate or overseas, so hiring or changing a manager happens online.
Anyone managing a rental for others in NSW works under a real estate agent licence issued by NSW Fair Trading, either as the licensee or as an assistant holding a certificate of registration, and careful owners ask to see it.
Rent passes through a trust account, bonds are lodged with the state, and the Residential Tenancies Act sets the rules on notices and repairs. Owners judge managers on how quickly they hear back about a tenant problem, far more than on the headline fee.