Use this when you want rental maintenance work from a real estate agency near you: repairs, lawns and gutters, painting between tenants, end-of-lease cleans. Send it to the head of property management or a named senior property manager, not the sales agents. Many agencies list their property management team on a separate page of their website.
The email has one job: get you on file. It doesn't ask for work today. It offers your licence and insurance, because a manager needs those before they can send you a job. Send it from your own business mailbox to the address the agency publishes, and keep the sender details and unsubscribe line (the guide to cold email and the Spam Act explains why). For what managers look for once you're in, see how property managers choose tradies.
The template
Hi [First name], I’m [Your name], a [Your trade] in [Your suburb], and I run [Business name]. We do a fair bit of rental work around [Suburb they manage]. I know the hard part of maintenance is finding someone who answers and turns up when the tenant was told. We [How fast you confirm] and send before and after photos with every invoice. [Extra line] If you’re ever short a [Your trade], I’m happy to take a small job first so you can see how we work. Should I send our licence and insurance through so you have them on file? Thanks, [Your name] [Business name], ABN [ABN] [Phone] If you’d rather not hear from me, reply ’unsubscribe’ and I’ll take you off my list.
What to put in each part
| Part | What to put there |
|---|---|
| [First name] | The property manager’s first name from the agency’s team page, such as Sarah. A name beats ’Hi team’ every time. |
| [Your trade] | What a manager would call you, in one word: plumber, painter, electrician, gardener. |
| [Suburb they manage] | One or two suburbs where the agency has rentals listed. Check their rentals page, for example ’Goodna and Redbank Plains’. |
| [Your name] | Your first name, as you’d answer the phone. |
| [Your suburb] | Where you’re based, so they can see you’re close to their rent roll. |
| [Business name] | Your registered business or trading name, the one on your invoices. |
| [How fast you confirm] | A promise you actually keep, such as ’confirm every job the same day’. |
| [Extra line] | One more thing a manager values, such as ’We also take after-hours emergencies.’ Delete it if nothing fits. |
| [ABN] | Your ABN. With your business name, it tells them who sent the email. |
| [Phone] | A mobile you answer during the day. |
Filled in, for a made-up business
Hi Sarah, I’m Kelly, a painter in Logan, and I run Southside Rental Painting. We do a fair bit of rental work around Springwood and Daisy Hill. I know the hard part of maintenance is finding someone who answers and turns up when the tenant was told. We quote within two business days and send before and after photos with every invoice. We can also patch and repaint over a weekend when a home needs to go back on the market quickly. If you’re ever short a painter, I’m happy to take a small job first so you can see how we work. Should I send our licence and insurance through so you have them on file? Thanks, Kelly Southside Rental Painting, ABN 00 000 000 000 0400 000 000 If you’d rather not hear from me, reply ’unsubscribe’ and I’ll take you off my list.
Tips
Start with agencies near your jobs
A manager wants someone close to their rent roll. Begin with the agencies whose signs you already see in the suburbs you work in.
Write one email per agency
Change the suburb, the name and the extra line each time. A manager can tell when they’re one of a hundred.
Have your documents ready before you send
If they say yes, send your licence, insurance certificate and ABN that day. Slow paperwork after a yes undoes a good first email.
Offer to register on their platform
If the agency runs maintenance through a platform such as Tapi or OurTradie, change the last line to ask whether you should register there.
Or have it done for you
Curlew writes and sends emails like this in your business name, up to 50 a day, and passes on anyone interested.
Mistakes to avoid
Listing every service you offer
A manager reads a wall of services as a stranger with a brochure. One trade, one area and one reason to trust you gets read.
Writing to the sales agents
Sales agents don’t send maintenance work. Your email sits with someone who can’t use it.
Attaching documents to the first email
An attachment from a stranger is often left unopened and makes the email look more like spam. Offer them, then send when asked.