As investors retreat, how can PMs keep their rent rolls expanding?

Recent ABS data showed that new investor loan commitments fell by 30.6 per cent in the September quarter, the largest fall on record, pushing property managers to up their game in a bid to retain and attract landlords.

According to Elever Realty director Simone Shirvington, sustainable growth was linked to investors and the services agencies provided beyond day-to-day property management.

“Especially when the market is starting to get harder, we’re seeing more investors leaving the market due to all the changes that we’re seeing from either government or legislation purposes,” she said at the Property Management Excellence conference.

“You’re really needing to have more reasons as to why landlords are staying with your business to help keep the growth coming through.

Shirvington said delivering value wasn’t simply about collecting rent and ensuring repairs, but about supporting the investor’s overall journey, including buying, selling, and adding value to the dwelling.

Here’s how to deliver value to landlords:

Educate clients

According to Shirvington, property managers should educate current and prospective clients, positioning themselves as trusted advisers throughout the investor’s property journey.

“Education is really key to growing our businesses because people need to know that you’re the expert and that they come to you for advice,” she said.

“The investor might be six months away from buying [another property], but they might be reviewing their current portfolio, considering whether they hold or sell,” she said.

Apart from verbally educating clients, Shirvington advised preparing materials, such as booklets, to inform clients about buying or selling in the surrounding area.

“Ours goes through the different areas of Orange, school catchments, important information because a lot of our investors are from out of the area,” she said.

“Just being able to give them that advice from the get go is really, really valuable to them because they can help make an informed decision.”

Understand investors’ goals

In addition to educating their clients, Shirvington said property managers needed to understand each investor’s goals to provide relevant advice and identify opportunities to add value to the property.

Shirvington advised professionals to have regular conversations with landlords, allowing them to plan ahead and keep opportunities in their business development pipeline.

“Getting that information is really important so you can see how their property is performing. Is it overperforming? Is it underperforming?”

By understanding an investor’s plans, she said property managers could identify potential improvements to increase a dwelling’s value, improve rental returns or help manage future costs.

“Have that information on hand; being able to add that into your pipeline is going to help with keeping those relationships going and making sure that you’re not missing out on any opportunities,” she said.

Ultimately, she said regular contact and providing useful information throughout an investor’s journey could also improve the likelihood of securing future business.

“If you touch base regularly, you’re going to get a much better outcome and conversion rate if you show care toward these clients along the way and with their journey,” she said.

Nurture relationships

Beyond touching base with clients, Shirvington said property managers needed to nurture relationships with investors by understanding them on a personal level to build trust.

“Really get to know your investor and having that rapport with them is going to make when you do have to have difficult conversations much easier because the trust and rapport is going to be there with the client,” she said.

“Make every interaction with your office part of an experience worth recommending, particularly when we’re dealing with difficult advice.”

Shirvington said checking in with clients was particularly important amid ongoing legislative changes, which had left some landlords feeling frustrated and unheard.

“It’s happening nearly every day. Owners are feeling very frustrated with changes of legislation. They’re feeling very unheard with things,” she said.

She said property managers needed to ensure their advice was “clear and concise”, while staying in touch and providing useful information to investors.

“If you get a new property that may suit them with what you’ve spoken to, give them a call and let them know that it’s coming up,” she said.

“Check in on them so that when they’re ready to sign, they’re already still warm from having spoken with you.”

Prioritise, systemise, and measure outcomes

To deliver the best possible service to clients, Shirvington said property managers needed to develop an efficient system that enabled them to prioritise, systemise and measure the outcomes.

“Prioritise conversations and follow-ups - I always like to do those first thing in the morning because the later in the day that you leave them, something else always keeps popping up and it’s easy to push it tomorrow,” she said.

Additionally, Shirvington recommended that teams tighten processes by scheduling follow-ups with landlords and assigning responsibility for each task to ensure important opportunities weren’t missed.

Importantly, she said businesses should measure outcomes, including how many managements the team won or lost, where opportunities came from, and whether they were retaining clients.

“Most importantly, are we creating a business that is sustainable for the team? Because if growth means that you personally have to work another 10 hours in the business, you may not have built a better business,” she said.

Shirvington also advised businesses to focus on client feedback and reviews to ensure they were always improving their performance.

“You need to be looking at the information you’re getting from your clients and taking that on board – that could be sending out surveys to current clients, or asking difficult questions.”