Having recently grown a rent roll by 700 properties, a property management professional said that agencies needed to be prepared to capitalise on a growth opportunity should it present itself.
When joining Belle Property Mornington | Mount Eliza in late December 2025, partner Alistair Shearer had one priority: ensuring his new network was ready for its biggest rent roll acquisition.
Since then, the office has more than tripled its rent roll, adding 700 properties under management
“When I first started here, it was my highest priority to ensure that we were ready for an acquisition should one come up,” Shearer said.
“You’ve got to always be prepared so that, if you are in a growth mindset, your existing team is ready to onboard it and your technology is in place and ready.”
While agencies consistently target scale, Shearer said that doing so without preparation or having the correct systems in place can be detrimental to long-term performance.
Handling rent roll expansion
Shearer said that while acquiring a rent roll would benefit the business, owners needed to understand that it was more than just a larger revenue stream.
An acquisition could come with a new office or territory, providing an opportunity to build out a sales team in a new area, according to Shearer.
He said the success of an acquisition often came down to how the business's staff were equipped to handle it.
One of Shearer’s first steps was to address the team's structure and how he could best support professionals.
“Your property managers were doing everything by themselves with very little support. It solely relied on them to manage those portfolios, which created all sorts of other potential problems,” Shearer said.
“That was not a scalable model or structure. We couldn’t just duplicate that and make it feasible at that thousand PUM mark.”
He said that as a portfolio grew, agencies should create dedicated teams to support their property managers, allowing them to focus more on building relationships.
By dividing administrative tasks across departments, Shearer said property managers could focus on asset performance, while field services handled inspections and another team processed applications.
“Those three teams are essentially all connected and make the moving pieces work together seamlessly,” he said.
The common mistakes made in property management
According to Shearer, investors were looking for more from their PMs and were willing to pay higher fees for a premium service.
“They are willing to pay a higher fee because they can see the difference and they can see that it’s not just somebody collecting rent,” he said.
He said that businesses were often not adequately equipped to provide property managers with the time and support needed to prioritise client advice.
Shearer said that agency leaders were responsible for developing the necessary support for property managers.
“It starts at the top in the business, and it has to be through the whole organisation.”
Additionally, Shearer said that one of the biggest mistakes agencies were making in developing their property management was getting stuck on maintenance rather than providing advice.
“They just get in there, and they fall into the trap of fixing taps and the basics of property management and not elevating their PMs to be those investment advisors.”
“They’ve got a lot of knowledge to share, but unfortunately, the sales side of the business will overshadow the PM team, and they don’t get time to really shine and show the clients what they can truly do.”
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