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Redefining landlords and property managers

By
28 October 2015 | 11 minute read
ian grace

If you are serious about dramatically increasing your rent roll, then for almost all property managers the focus needs to change completely, as does the relationship with landlords.

Trust me, I can promise that no one woke up one morning with a burning desire to become a landlord. Rather, in my experience, people decide to invest in property for reasons of accumulating wealth, for use as superannuation and security for the future, to provide for children’s education, etc.

So, it is important to relate to them as ‘property investors’ not ‘landlords’.

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Now for ‘property managers’. When I ask a room full of them what they do, I get an extremely long list of duties, all related to looking after the property and ensuring, in turn, revenue for the office.

So, instead of property managers managing properties for landlords, approach your customers with a view to working with them to increase their property investment portfolio, income and profits, because that is what they want to achieve.

When you think of it, who is better suited to work with them to do that? Who has all the knowledge about property, values and potential? You! Now you have become and are thinking like a property investment manager.

Think how often you could sell them another investment property (and then manage it for them). On average, in most markets, the answer is approximately every two years that an investor looks at increasing their portfolio.

In adopting this approach, you not only generate more sales and income for the business, but you effectively double your rent roll every two years, which will keep compounding.

With regular contact (I recommend every three months, using a spreadsheet approach, which I cover in detail in a blog on ‘referral riches’) – you will also pick up other properties they may own that are managed by other agents because you are now working with them, building relationships, earning their trust and offering value-added information about the management of their investment and how they can increase their wealth and long-term financial security.

From my past experience in training and networking with real estate offices, I have witnessed offices that have increased their property managements by almost 60 per cent just by acquiring their existing investors’ other properties to manage.

Finally, it also plugs another hole, when investment properties are sold off and lost from the office (I was with a principal once who was horrified to find out that his top salesperson achieved around 48 per cent of his sales by selling off the rent roll, leaving the property manager to fill the gap). Now you can sell the property to another one of your property investors you are working with.

So, by changing the relationship with your property investors, the dynamics of the relationship change completely and as can be seen from above, revenue will increase, often quite dramatically, from a number of different directions. 

I'm sure that will raise some eyebrows and more than a few questions, but I hope this post stirs up some positive dialogue. For further discussion, I can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or www.iangrace.com

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