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What does a normal day look like for you?
A little crazy to be honest! As the department manager, my role is hugely based on supporting my team, the majority of the time I will sit down with my team individually and understand what their day looks like, what they need to focus on and how I can help them. Usually we begin with a short meeting which is then followed by arrears follow up calls. My team is very strict on our arrears policy and we like to ensure we keep our owners updated every step of the way. Once this is completed, we head out to complete our routine inspections and finalise these by making sure the reports are sent off once we return to the office. Following on from lunch we usually catch up on emails and return calls for the rest of the afternoon.
How long have you been in the PM industry?
I began my real estate career in 2009 as a sales PA for Ray White. After six months I moved into the PM department and have been there ever since.
How did you start your career in property management?
My mum is a property manager and has been for all of her working life. I remember being so excited when I was younger and I used to get to go to work with her. I would sit in the office next to hers and listen to all of her calls and remember being excited when she would let me come to properties with her. Along with my mum, my sister is also in PM so I guess I just followed in both of their footsteps.
What do you enjoy most about the property management industry?
I love that no two days are ever the same. I love that every day is a new challenge and I love how much of a difference we make - whether it be finding tenants a property to be their new home, going through the journey with an owner occupying who is moving out for the first time or just simply meeting a whole bunch of different people at open homes.
What does the next 12 months look like for investors and tenants in your market?
To put it simply, different! With the rental reforms slowly being introduced into our market it is going to cause a bit of chaos, not bad chaos, just chaos. At the best of times, us as humans don’t like change but even more so when it is out of our control. I am really excited about the changes coming into place as I believe they are going to provide more clarity about what is required by all parties and remove any grey areas that we have had in the past.
What’s the one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you started?
Probably that it’s best not to take things personally. My husband jokes that property managers are firefighters because we always seem to be putting fires out wherever we go. Whether we are dealing with current clients, past clients, future clients or our colleagues, we are dealing with so many people on a daily basis which means we can sometimes encounter someone who has had a bad day. Rather than be bothered by the interaction, it’s our duty to help and assist to solve the problem.
Do you have a favourite client story?
Yes of course! My favourite client story would have to be when I began at Ray White, I had a client who had two properties with us but I knew he had a lot more. As time went on and our relationship became stronger and I found out that he had another 10 properties with two other agents in the area. Over the space of about three years, I think I tried every quarter to take over the other properties however he would never sign them across as he had a personal relationship with the other offices. After many years of persistence he agreed to give me all of his properties. I’m proud to say we now manage all of his 12 properties.
Horror story - keep it PG :)
I remember when I was fairly new to PM I had a tough situation I had to deal with as it was a lockout for a family member of the landlords. What we found in the property was the most horrible thing I have even seen - there was dog poo smeared all over the walls and carpets, almost every wall in the house was spray painted with swear words, it was just an absolute mess! It’s fair to say the property required a lot of rectification works before we could lease it out again.
