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Working from home has introduced a greater level of flexibility to the property manager role, but the new normal may have also blurred the boundaries of the role to a concerning degree.
Adam Hinds, Sorted Service’s national business development manager, works with property managers daily to streamline their processes and says he’s constantly hearing how the pandemic changed the nature of the job, with property managers squeezed for time now more than ever before.
“From my general day-to-day correspondence with property managers, the one thing I continue to hear over and over is that many of them find it difficult to switch off and harness work-life balance outside of work hours,” Mr Hinds said.
“This has been especially prevalent during the global pandemic, where many property managers are either still working remotely or adopting a hybrid working situation. They can find it hard to set the necessary boundaries to resist responding to tenants/renters who are messaging and calling at odd hours of the night or over the weekend.”
And that’s not all. Other factors such as legislation and rental reform changes introduced over the past two years have added considerable time to a PM’s normal day.
It’s why Mr Hinds is increasingly encouraging PMs to turn to tech for help. But in his view, they need to make sure they’re using it for the right reasons.
He encourages PMs to automate daily tasks and use tech to eliminate mundane, admin-heavy jobs, focusing their energy on client communication and connection – not the other way around.
“In my opinion, the Australian real estate industry is about human connection and building strong relationships. Over the last two years most connections have been either via Zoom, email or another form of technology. Technology needs to be used to help property managers, not be its number one form of communication,” Mr Hinds commented.
Ultimately, Mr Hinds has found that having the time to dedicate to relationship building also allows PMs to set firmer boundaries with both clients and employers about when they’re available and when they’re not.
“By automating their day-to-day tasks through proptech solutions, it allows property managers to spend more time on the important stuff and less time worrying about things like paperwork or chasing up on outstanding rent payment,” Mr Hinds said.
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