A new agency director had to learn the basics of property management as he transitioned into leadership, growing its rent roll to 100 in the first year.
When his former director retired, VICPROP director Lam Nguyen found himself at a career crossroads.
After a few months with another office, Nguyen jumped at the opportunity to run his own agency, which left him facing a new challenge: finding his feet in the property management space.
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Since making the move 12 months ago, Nguyen has organically grown a rent roll of 100 properties.
Nguyen said developing the property management side of the business was a vastly different experience.
“To be honest, it was very difficult, because I think you have to really be in it to understand it,” Nguyen said on a recent episode of The PMX Podcast.
He said that while learning the intricacies of the space, he relied on having the right systems in place to support the business.
Navigating the early stages
When he began developing his property management division, Nguyen said his first thought was to figure out why home owners were looking for new PMs.
He found the most common landlord concerns stemmed from poor communication, so he made that his top priority.
“If there are pressing matters that need to be dealt with, we will first be on top of it, then call you. Not with the problem, but with the solution we have done to rectify the problem,” he said.
“That’s what I feel that property managers are lacking at the moment. It’s not just about collecting rent and sourcing new tenants, things like that.”
With the influx of changes to Victoria’s rental sector, Nguyen said PMs couldn’t afford to leave clients in the dark.
Additionally, Nguyen said the property management business had benefited from a focus on understanding the client, a skill he developed during his time in sales.
“If you don’t know who your clients are, and you don’t know who you’re servicing or their backstory, then how can you provide that service?” he said.
He said that a client-first approach to sales also generated new properties under management for the business.
Nguyen said that putting the client first in the transaction opened the door to referral business down the line.
On the right path
According to Nguyen, every new property under management was added proof of the successful business he had grown.
“I personally love taking over management because it gives me confidence that what we are doing is correct,” he said.
While he has had opportunities to purchase existing rent rolls to support the business, he said he continued to prioritise organic growth.
“My mentality around it is: why buy it when you can build it?” Nguyen said.
“Eventually, if we get to a point where we need or want more growth in the business, the rental has slowed down on our end, and if there is an affordable one where we can continue to keep growing the rent book, we want to entertain it.”
While developing a larger rent roll would strengthen the agency’s position in the market, Nguyen said it was important to consider the staff.
While many PMs were expected to be available at all hours, Nguyen said they should also have the option to switch off and be present in their own personal life.
“It’s not just appeasing the clients we take on, but also making sure that our staff are taken care of as well.”
Before targeting further growth, Nguyen said that to ensure the agency was positioned to handle more clients, he would first support his team internally through upskilling or by hiring new staff.
“I think that as a leader, we’ve got to be able to provide for the staff but at the same time, not shoot ourselves in the foot as a business.”
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