There are calls for a cultural shift in property management where PMs initiate strategic discussions with owners about investment opportunities and market trends.
In an episode of The Property Management Excellence (PMX) Podcast, REB’s Alex Whitlock sat down with Nick Georges, industry veteran and director of growth at offshoring service provider Wingman Group, to explore the future of property management and how property managers could offer high-value services to the owner or property investor.
The conversation delved into the challenges facing the property management industry, with Georges emphasising that the future of property management lies in the property manager adopting an energetic approach and proactively discussing investment opportunities and providing information to owners.
“Investors buying a property and handing it over to the property manager to collect rent and facilitate maintenance is archaic,” he said.
“It’s a relationship. In any relationship, it’s always got to be give and take. I think that’s something that business leaders need to adopt. Business leaders need to embrace and prop up their property management business to get to the next level.”
Deep dive into the owners’ needs
Whitlock highlighted that agencies that build a thriving property management business would potentially build a valuable, saleable asset. However, he stressed that property managers are required to understand the nuances of the owner and their investment goals.
“If you don’t understand who you’re providing a service for and what exactly their expectations are, how on earth are you going to win and succeed?” he asked.
Georges agreed, and observed that many property managers do not have an intimate understanding of the investor and the nuances of purchasing an investment property. He said they do not have the information required to advise the investor of a good or bad opportunity.
“They might need some advice from a property manager regarding another investment, or they might need some advice from a tradesperson. There are so many different avenues that you can go down once you’ve got the investor in your ecosystem,” he said.
“Unfortunately, as a whole, the average property manager just doesn’t understand the level of detail that’s required to actually advise an investor.”
Citing the example of working with a real estate business in Brisbane, Georges said he invites tradespeople to accompany their property managers to sites so the tradies can explain how a hot water system, an electrical box, or other systems in the property function.
“This is to give them a base level understanding when an owner or landlord calls up and asks them a question,” Georges explained.
“They might not be able to answer it, but they’ll have a vague understanding.”
Georges continued: “I think it’s our responsibility as leaders in the industry to educate. With information so readily available, we can get creative with educating our property management professionals on what it is to be an investor and [give them] a deeper understanding of what an investment property is.”
Create multiple touchpoints
Georges also spoke about working with property management specialist Housemark, which has organically grown its rent roll to over 3,500 properties under management in six years. The key to their success, Georges said, has been providing sufficient resources to staff in Australia so they have the bandwidth to build relationships and trust with the owners.
“The property managers are on average looking after between 250 and 300 properties each, with an executive assistant in the Philippines through Wingman. But their only KPI is to speak to the landlord once a month,” Georges said.
He noted that client retention becomes straightforward when a business communicates with them at least 12 times a year.
“If you look at the property management space specifically, there might be a relet where you’ll speak to them another five or six times,” Georges said.
“There might be a repair where you would talk to them a couple of times. So, you’re speaking to your landlord 20 to 25 times. No longer do you get the phone call [asking] ‘what the hell’s going on, I haven’t heard from someone’.”
“It’s a different conversation. It’s a relationship-based conversation. It’s a professional conversation.”
Flip the negative to a positive
Another opportunity for communication is changes to interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), especially in the current environment where rates are increasing, and owners are anxious about their mortgage repayments.
Property managers could switch this negative event into a positive conversation about undertaking home improvements or repair works, so owners could potentially increase their rent.
“That’s going to flip the conversation from ‘oh crap, I’ve got an increase in my rates’ to ‘I could potentially get another $50 a week in a few months’ time’. You’re being a proactive property manager, and you’re adding value by taking a front-foot approach,” Georges said.
This shifts the relationship from reactive conversations about rent collection and maintenance to strategic discussions about investment and growth, Georges said.
He concluded: “There’s always something to talk about.”
Managed was built to help next-generation agencies win market share fast. It is the only comprehensive property management platform that exclusively delivers secure, instant, and automated direct payments from tenant to landlord, eradicating the need for a trust account.
If you’d like to find out how Managed can help power your growth, call Conor on 0452 298 394 or book a discovery call today.