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Agencies have been encouraged to invest in their property management teams to strengthen investor relationships, boost returns, and drive long-term business growth.
Housemark founder Jonathan Bell sat down with host Phil Tarrant on a crossover episode of the REB Podcast and The Smart Property Investment Show to discuss why agencies should invest in their property management branch to build stronger relationships with investors.
With a large portion of the population renting, Bell said that agencies must go beyond sales and invest in strengthening their property management services.
“One third of our country are tenants,” Bell said.
“We play such a pivotal role as property managers (PMs) to support investors to be able to achieve their dreams and their family’s dreams, but also to have a home for their tenants.”
Bell said that when he first began his real estate journey, he was surprised by how little attention property management services received.
“It blew me away because it is such an important part of the business and ultimately it has such a big impact on both the tenant and the landlord’s lives,” Bell said.
According to Bell, one of the most significant issues facing the industry has been high staff turnover, with PMs lasting an average of 8 months in the role.
“Most landlords are dealing with a new PM every eight months,” he said.
“The reason is they get no support, they’re being underpaid, and the business owner doesn’t give them the attention and love that they need.”
Improving the life of a PM
Bell said that businesses can do to ensure they get the best out of their PM division by including three key aspects: free up time, pay well and provide training when necessary.
He said that by removing distracting and administrative tasks, PMs were free to focus on delivering the best results for landlords by doubling down on more critical tasks, such as relationship-building and strategic planning.
By improving their communication and relationships with landlords, PMs ensure continuous revenue for the agency, which will then be more likely to use their sales division to sell or buy properties.
Additionally, by freeing up more of their time, businesses can upskill their PMs and help them develop a more well-rounded knowledge base.
According to Bell, if PMs are well compensated by their employer, they are more likely to stay with the business, and it also makes it easier to attract new top talent.
“It’s a really good job, it’s just underpaid,” Bell said.
Managing investors
In addition to bringing more business to their agencies, PMs can also educate investors and help them have a higher return on their investment.
Bell said that when investors aren’t achieving the returns they want on their investments, it is often because they treat their portfolios as a side hustle rather than a business.
“[Landlords] need to make sure that they treat it like a business and you have good quality consultants or team members that are helping achieve goals,” he said.
“The ones that typically don't get really good results, they've never seen the property, and then they've never spoken to their PM.”
“[Landlords] need to have a relationship with their PM and have targets.”
Bell said that landlords were often costing themselves up to “hundreds” a week in rent by not looking at the market around their property.
“I think landlords are just doing an average increase of $20 or $50 a year, but that’s not what the market is doing. The market’s going nuts.”
Bell said that if landlords wanted to consider giving their tenants a discount, they should determine their property's actual rental value and work backwards from there, rather than using their current rent return as a guide.
He said that by speaking to their PMs, landlords can get a better understanding of the market in their specific areas.
“The market goes up faster than that, and it doesn’t go up the same every year.”
“The increase should be based off the market,” Bell concluded.
Listen to the whole episode here
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mathew Williams
Born in the rural town of Griffith NSW, Mathew Williams is a graduate journalist who has always had a passion for storytelling. Having graduated from the University of Canberra with a Bachelor of Sports Media in 2023, Mathew recently made the move to Sydney from Canberra to pursue a career in journalism and has joined the Momentum Media team, writing for their real estate brands. Outside of journalism, Mathew is an avid fan of all things sports and regularly attends sporting events across Sydney. Get in touch at
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