How renter relationships can translate into rent roll growth

For Anthony Wiseman, property management compliance and legislation lead at Marshall White, that progression has become part of his experience over almost two decades with the agency. Some owners who now entrust him with their investment properties first knew him as their property manager when they were renters.

“When they’ve wanted to rent their investment property out, they’ve called me up,” Wiseman said on the PMX Podcast with Managed co-founder Alex Whitlock.

He recalled renters who began in an apartment, moved into a house after having a child and later bought their own home and an investment property. When they needed a managing agent, the service they had already experienced influenced their decision.

That continuity offers an insight into Marshall White’s approach to growth. Established in Malvern in 1964, the privately owned, independent agency has expanded across Melbourne, Bayside and the Mornington Peninsula while retaining a focus on prestige residential property.

Its approach to property management places considerable weight on the relationships around each home. Owners prepared to maintain their properties, renters who feel supported and trusted tradespeople all contribute to a service that can earn confidence over time.

For an agency seeking to grow its rent roll, the renter’s experience becomes an early demonstration of how the business looks after a property and the people involved. A maintenance problem handled well today may be remembered years later when that renter has a home of their own to lease.

Delivering that care consistently takes organisation. Wiseman described a team with dedicated leasing staff and colleagues supporting compliance inspections and rectification. Those specialists allow property managers to concentrate more closely on day-to-day relationships with owners and renters.

The technology supporting that work is also significant. Marshall White has used Managed for around seven years, with Wiseman describing a substantial change in how the team handles payments, work orders and communication.

“It makes it so much more streamlined,” he said.

Through Managed, a renter can lodge a maintenance request and attach photographs. The property manager can send that information with a work order to the relevant tradesperson, while retaining a record of the issue and the response.

That process helps connect the renter’s concern with the work required to protect the owner’s property. It gives the tradesperson information to work from and the property manager a history to revisit if the problem returns months later.

Wiseman said documenting maintenance and discussions with renters and owners was important to establishing what had been reported and what action had been taken. A clear record helps the agency follow a problem through, supporting the reliability clients expect from the people managing their home.

Managed also gives renters access to lease information and payment history, alongside a way to communicate directly with their property manager. Making that information available helps reduce the need to request documents or clarify routine details, leaving more opportunity for the conversations that require personal attention.

Alongside maintenance and communication, Managed automates rental payments to owners. Wiseman described an operation of more than 65 people without a dedicated trust account team. That sits within a service model organised around giving property managers the support to maintain their client relationships.

The commercial value of those relationships depends on the care delivered through the daily work. Wiseman said property management was becoming more demanding and questioned an approach centred on collecting rent and charging the lowest fee.

“You have to spend more time, you have to do more. It’s all about the detail,” he said.

He argued that the quality of an agency’s client relationships and the homes it managed mattered to the value of its rent roll. His experience with former renters becoming landlord clients provided a practical example of that value developing over time.

The principle extends beyond the prestige market. Whitlock said well-maintained accommodation and owners who respected their renters were important at every rental price.

“I think you can have quality accommodation in the lower price bracket,” he said.

For growing agencies, Marshall White’s experience gives renter service a clear place in the business development proposition. For the former renters who later chose Wiseman to manage their investments, that service was already familiar.

He recalled their message simply. “When you looked after us as renters, we had a great experience.”