To grow their rent roll, agencies need to reduce the administrative burden on property managers, allowing them to focus on building stronger client relationships.
Property management departments have long been focused on increasing the number of assets they can manage to supercharge their rent roll capabilities, but outdated systems have been holding the industry back.
On a recent episode of The Property Management Excellence (PMX) Podcast, Housemark CEO Natalie South said that a property management business’s ability to grow depended on the systems and structures it had in place.
When South joined the Housemark in 2023, it had 1,000 properties under management (PUM).
Fast forward three years, and the brand’s PUM has grown to more than 3,500, and the business has expanded across south-east Queensland and even into Victoria.
South said the rapid expansion was driven by the calibre of professionals within the team and working towards a singular vision.
“They are all very different, but are all very similar in what they imagine the property management industry looking like and what they can build,” South said.
“It’s not us in the leadership team; it’s our collective organisation and having a really crystal-clear vision around what property management can be.”
She said the scale of the property manager (PM) role has often been underestimated, but it is playing a pivotal role in investors’ wealth-creation prospects.
According to South, the quality of a PM could be the difference between an investor purchasing one property and continuing to grow their portfolio or stagnating.
“They’re dealing with millions of dollars of people’s assets, and they are genuinely impacting whether that landlord builds wealth or not,” she said.
Where the traditional model struggles
South said the successful property management businesses were those that prioritised relationship building with clients over administration and maintenance.
“So with the model we run, everything is relationships first. We want our PMs to be relationship managers.”
To allow PMs to focus on building and maintaining client relationships, South said Housemark developed a structure that offloaded tasks that didn’t require direct contact with landlords to an executive assistant or a junior PM.
By alleviating the workload of PMs within the business, South said they were better able to focus on the most dollar-productive activities and deliver stronger service to clients.
Additionally, she said that while PMs often acted independently of other departments, developing strong connections with sales agents could significantly boost their potential client base.
She said sales agents were one of the largest referral sources for PMs, with relationships outside their immediate network also serving as a pipeline for future business.
“It normally comes down to one: a lack of relationship with the business development manager (BDM) in their office, or two, a lack of confidence around service.”
An industry ready for change
South said there was a significant opportunity for agencies to better manage their rent rolls simply by understanding why it was important for it to grow and committing to the process.
“They’ve got so much going on day-to-day that, without some change in the way we model our teams and the support or education that we give, it will be challenging for the industry to change.”
She said that any meaningful change in the industry needed to come from those in leadership positions.
“I think that we have a responsibility as leaders, as directors, as owners of rent rolls to continue to give our PMs the support they need and to set the standards around culture and service.”
“Because, ultimately, that starts with us,” South concluded.
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