Despite not usually interacting, brokers and property managers can unlock mutual benefits by collaborating to share data, boosting efficiency and maximising client satisfaction.
Property managers and brokers can unlock hidden potential when they collaborate, boosting efficiency and client success by sharing insights.
In a recent episode of The Property Management Excellence (PMX) podcast, Finney Mortgages principal Eva Loisance and Real Estate Business (REB) director Alex Whitlock spoke about the twofold relationship.
Loisance said that while a close broker-property manager relationship was uncommon in the industry, her office chose to work alongside PMs to ultimately achieve better outcomes.
She said that by working together, brokers and PMs could conduct simultaneous reviews of rental properties and the investors’ portfolio and, by sharing information, ensure they had the most up-to-date data.
“When you have a lease renewal, that could also be the time you review your portfolio and see if you should sell, increase the rent or … sell the property,” she said.
“But often, property managers and brokers don’t talk to each other.”
Loisance said there were numerous reasons brokers needed property managers’ intel, including market conditions, rents, required maintenance and overall status.
Additionally, she said property managers had a deep knowledge of the dwelling and its maintenance issues and could often predict its value in advance.
“They can tell us long in advance, ‘These clients might need an equity release at this time, and I know the market, so they know the property has increased in value – might be a time for them to get $20k out and fix the property’.”
She said the relationship often began when a broker needed a rental appraisal and sought assistance from a property manager.
“It goes from, we need a rental appraisal, because the lease is due to be renewed, and the investor doesn’t know if we should sell or if we should renew – do they have a capacity to do more?” she said.
According to Loisance, when a firm has long-term investors, an ongoing relationship can form between brokers and the same property managers.
As the collaboration continued, she said there were also times when property managers needed brokers’ knowledge about investors’ spending capacity and overall portfolio.
“We can feed them intel about what the investor is doing, and they might be able to find them another property or a better tenant,” she said.
She said in addition to helping investors make returns on the home, property managers needed to ensure tenants were satisfied, including maintaining the property and organising repairs when needed.
She said that as part of their jobs, brokers understood investors’ cash flow constraints, maintenance costs and the overall expenses of holding a property.
“[Brokers] can make sure when we set up our clients, they have buffers, so they are more stable investors for the property manager and also obviously for the tenants,” she said.
“That’s one thing that our PMs are telling us – ‘At least I don’t have issues with those investors, they’re always ready to maintain the property’.”
As a result, Loisance said property managers could increase the likelihood of tenant retention and investors can be satisfied that the PM is doing their job to the best of their ability.
“So they’re keeping them on their rent roll, so it’s all a partnership for long-term retention.
“Everyone seems to be a lot happier in that, in that relationship. The PMs that I talk to are saying, they’re saying they feel a lot more credible in their role because everybody is looking at them as the solution partner,” she added.
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