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How do I evaluate and choose a co-living property manager for a nine-bed investment in Melbourne?

· Yannick Ieko

Answering: How do I evaluate and choose a co-living property manager for a nine-bed investment in Melbourne?

Estimated reading time: 14 min read

Choose the manager who can show you, in writing, three things: how they will lease nine rooms one agreement at a time, who holds the rooming house operator obligations, and what every fee costs in dollars. A manager who cannot answer all three before you sign is not a fit for a nine-bed property, however polished their occupancy figures look. At The Harmony Group, specialist property managers sit inside the partner network around every nine-bed we build, and we hold them to the same standard any investor should.

The day-to-day job is described in what a specialist co-living manager actually does differently from a general agent. The decision about who does that work is yours, and it is made in a contract.

Overview

Decide the operator model first, because it decides who needs the licence and who keeps the records Victoria has required since 13 October 2026. Then judge managers on room-by-room systems, fees written as dollar amounts, an agreement that names every duty, straight answers to a short list of questions, and occupancy evidence that is dated and counted by the room.

Table of Contents

Settle who the operator is before you compare anyone

In Victoria, a building where one or more rooms are available for occupancy by four or more people, in return for rent, is a rooming house, and it has to be registered with the local council under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008. A nine-bed let room by room sits in that category. The licence, though, attaches to a person, not to the building, and that is the first thing to settle with any manager you are considering.

Consumer Affairs Victoria is clear about the split. The operator, an individual or a body corporate, must hold a rooming house operator licence before operating, unless it is a registered housing association or housing provider. A manager engaged by the operator for day-to-day management does not need a licence. That manager is instead a “relevant person” on the operator’s licence, is named in the application and must meet the same fit and proper test. If you own the rooming house business and engage an estate agency to manage the leasing, the agency is a managing agent and you, as the operator, need the licence. If the manager changes, the operator must tell the Business Licensing Authority immediately. There is a third model: an owner who leases the whole building to someone else who runs the rooming house business does not need a licence at all.

Those are three different arrangements, with different paperwork and different people answerable to the regulator. A manager worth appointing will ask you which one you intend before quoting a fee. The approvals themselves are set out in our guide to the operator licence, council registration and Class 1b sign-off; the point here is that your agreement must name the model in its first pages.

The criteria that separate a co-living manager from a general agent

A general residential agency is usually set up for one household, one agreement and one rent payment. A nine-bed is nine agreements, nine rent ledgers and shared space that belongs to everyone and no one. Whether a manager is built for that can be checked against documents rather than taken on trust.

  • Room-by-room systems. Separate agreements, rent ledgers and condition reports for each room, with reporting to you that shows each room, not just a building total.
  • Rooming house experience they can evidence. Properties currently under management that are registered rooming houses, and staff who have been named as relevant persons on an operator’s licence before.
  • A records process for the minimum standards. Since 13 October 2026, operators must keep records sufficient to show the property meets the rooming house minimum standards and give them to Consumer Affairs Victoria on request. Ask to see the template they use.
  • A shared-space routine. A written schedule for kitchens, living areas and outdoor space, and a clear line on who pays for it.
  • Building classification fluency. A manager who asks to see the Class 1b certification and the council registration before taking the property on. Under the current 2025 National Construction Code, Class 1b stops at a dozen people ordinarily living in the building and 300 square metres of floor across all levels, so how the rooms are let has to sit inside the classification.
  • Independence from the sale. A management fee that does not depend on which builder, lender or product you chose.

If a manager meets four of these and waves away the other two, ask why. The weak points in a nine-bed usually show up in the records and the shared space first.

How the fees should be structured

Victoria does not set property management fees. Consumer Affairs Victoria says you can negotiate all fees and expenses with an agent except those fixed by law, that the authority you sign must record who pays which fee and expense, and that a fee charged as a percentage of rent should also appear on it as a dollar amount. Use all three rules, because in a nine-bed the multiplication is where costs hide.

Letting fees are the clearest example. They are usually charged at the start of each rental agreement. In a single-household rental that might happen once every year or two. In a nine-bed, every room has its own agreement and its own start date, so a letting fee that looks modest per room can add up across a year of normal turnover. Ask the manager to model a year’s fees on nine separate agreements, in dollars, with the assumptions written down.

Then look at who else pays the manager. The principle we apply to our own fee is the one to apply to theirs: whoever pays the fee shapes the advice. Clients pay The Harmony Group $0; we are paid by the builder at settlement, at the same rate across every builder on the panel, so nothing in the fee steers us towards one builder over another. A manager’s fee should be just as plain. Commissions from a lender, a furniture supplier or a developer are worth knowing about before you sign, not after.

  • Every recurring fee shown as a dollar amount, per room and for the building.
  • Letting, advertising and re-letting fees modelled across nine agreements.
  • Shared-space cleaning, utilities and maintenance call-outs: included, or charged on top.
  • Any payment the manager receives from anyone other than you, disclosed in writing.

What the management agreement has to contain

The exclusive leasing and managing authority is, in Consumer Affairs Victoria’s words, a binding contract between you and the agent. For a nine-bed it needs to do more work than a standard authority, because it is where the rooming house duties are either allocated or quietly left with you. Read it against this list.

  • The operator model: who the licensed operator is, and that the manager’s staff will be named as relevant persons where the operator holds the licence.
  • Minimum standards records: who keeps them, where they are stored, how often they are updated, and how you can see them at any time.
  • Council registration: who lodges and renews it, and who deals with council inspections.
  • Room-by-room leasing: how each room is advertised, how residents are selected, and how quickly a vacant room is relisted.
  • Shared spaces: the cleaning and inspection schedule for every common area.
  • Inspections and notice: how often the property is inspected, and a duty to tell you about damage or unpaid rent, both of which Consumer Affairs Victoria says the authority should state.
  • Money: every fee in dollars, who pays each expense, and how often rent is paid out of the trust account.
  • Reporting: monthly statements by room, showing occupancy, arrears and maintenance.
  • Changing managers: the notice terms, the handover of records, and, where you are the operator, the reminder that the Business Licensing Authority must be told immediately.

The questions to ask before you sign

Put these to every manager on your list, and ask for the answers in writing.

  • Which operator model do you work under, and which would you recommend for this property?
  • How many registered rooming houses do you manage today, and how many rooms is that?
  • Have your staff been named as relevant persons on an operator’s licence?
  • Show me the records template you use for the rooming house minimum standards.
  • What is your total fee for a year on nine separate agreements, in dollars?
  • Who else pays you in connection with this property?
  • How do you select residents for a shared home, and who decides when a room is offered?
  • How do you handle a dispute between two residents over shared space?
  • What did your vacancy look like, by room, over the last twelve months?

Clear, specific answers are the point. A manager who answers the fee question with a percentage and the records question with “we handle all of that” has told you what you need to know.

Red flags that end the conversation

Some answers are not negotiating points. They mean the manager is set up for a different kind of property, or a different kind of business.

  • They propose one agreement for the whole house, or treat nine residents as one household.
  • They cannot say who the operator will be, or suggest the licence question can wait.
  • They are willing to let rooms before seeing the Class 1b certification and the council registration.
  • Fees come only as percentages, with no dollar figures and no model across nine agreements.
  • The management fee is bundled into the sale of the property or a product, or another party pays them and they will not say who.
  • They lead with a yield or occupancy figure and cannot show the rooms, the dates or the portfolio behind it.

None of this is about naming bad operators. It is about recognising a management model built for a single tenancy, or for a house that was never certified for the way its rooms are let. If you want the wider version of this screen for the companies selling co-living rather than managing it, our guide to choosing a co-living investment company covers it.

What occupancy evidence to ask for, and how to read it

Occupancy is the number every manager will offer first, so set the terms for it. Ask for vacancy counted by the room, across every rooming house the manager runs, with the date it was measured. A building-level average over a good quarter tells you very little. A dated room count across a whole portfolio tells you how the manager performs when a room turns over in a soft month.

This is the form in which we publish our own figure. Counted that way, the record of our property management partners reads: 6 rooms empty out of 477 under management in October 2026, a 1.26% vacancy rate, with occupancy held at 98% and above. It is useful because it is a room count with a date on it, and it can be re-checked. Expect the same from anyone you interview, and read our piece on what happens when a room sits empty for how vacancy is handled in practice.

Where The Harmony Group fits

Specialist management is written into The Harmony Formula rather than added afterwards. Each site passes the 118-point method, whose Property Specification pillar alone covers 38 points, and we decline around 85% of the opportunities we assess. Class 1b certification is confirmed on every property before commitment, and none of our delivered properties has had a legal or certification issue. The building is nine rooms, nine bathrooms, single storey, and specialist property managers are part of the partner network that sits around it.

That does not remove your choice. You are still the person signing an agreement, and the questions above apply to our partners exactly as they apply to anyone else. The team brings 15+ years of specialist accommodation experience to that conversation. We build in Melbourne, our investors come from every state, and none of these questions needs you in the room to ask them.

Frequently asked questions about choosing a manager

Q: Does my co-living property manager need a rooming house licence?

Not usually. In Victoria the licence sits with the operator. A manager engaged for day-to-day management does not need one, but is a relevant person on the operator’s licence, must be named in the application and must meet the same fit and proper test. If you lease the whole building to someone who runs it as a rooming house business, you do not need a licence either.

Q: How much should a co-living property manager in Melbourne charge?

Victoria does not set a fee, and fees are negotiable except where fixed by law. Compare managers on a year’s total cost across nine separate agreements, in dollars, including letting fees, shared-space cleaning and maintenance call-outs. A low percentage with a letting fee on every room can cost more than a higher percentage that includes them.

Q: Can I change property managers after I sign?

In most cases you can end an agent’s management by notifying them in writing, subject to the terms of your authority, so read those terms before you sign. If you are the licensed operator, you must also tell the Business Licensing Authority immediately when the manager changes, and the agreement should require a full handover of the minimum standards records.

Q: Does The Harmony Group choose the property manager for me?

Specialist property managers are part of the partner network around every Harmony nine-bed. The agreement is still yours to read and sign, and the same questions about operator model, records and fees apply to it.

Learn how the building is run before you choose who runs it

The free co-living education program explains how co-living property works in Australia: how the numbers stack up, how sites and builders are chosen, and what happens if you decide to go ahead. Its core runs to about 45 minutes. Finish any 9 modules and a booking link opens for a one on one with one of our directors. If co-living isn’t suitable for you, we’ll tell you why.

Citations

General information only. The Harmony Group provides general information about property and co-living investment, not personal financial, tax or legal advice, and does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). It does not account for your objectives, financial situation or needs, so consider its appropriateness and seek advice from a licensed financial adviser, mortgage broker, accountant or the ATO before acting. Past performance is not a guide to future results and historical figures may not be repeated. The 2027 negative gearing reform was enacted on 26 June 2026 and applies from 1 July 2027. The definition of a new residential dwelling is still being settled after Treasury’s consultation, so whether a nine-bed is an eligible new build remains unsettled. Other tax or regulatory measures described are subject to change.