I had the pleasure of catching up with a great bunch of business owners and team leaders today at one of my PM Collective casual learning and coffee catch ups and there was a real concern for the way some real estate offices are operating.
The biggest risk is the disconnect between property managers and business owners.
The biggest opportunity business owners have is knowing their numbers. I am not talking about the bottom line of the P & L. I am talking about the numbers inside the property management department – Average rents – ancillary % - cost to manage each property etc
Where is the future of agency ownership heading and what do you need to give priority to ??
1. People & Management needs to be the number 1 focus. There is no excuse to be ignorant to the department and the growing needs of staff. I am not talking pointless staff meetings as an attempt to managing staff. I mean having a true understanding of the department, and knowing the concerns and the pain points your staff have
2. Recognising your strengths and weaknesses. If you are a sales lead agency owner and are driven by your sales team with no interest in property management. Then employ someone who can be the middle person and give the department the attention and time it needs to run smoothly with minimal staff change over
3. Know your numbers – we can not hide from the fact that Property Managers are leaving the industry and we will see wages rise over the next 2 years. Can your rent roll handle a 10 - 20% increase on wages over the next 2 years ?? Now would be a great time to assess your portfolio to allow enough of a buffer to handle this should it happen OR create better efficiencies in the business to allow for this change.
It will be a race to the bottom for the agency owners that don’t start bridging the gap between themselves and the property management department. If you need help with where to start then book in a consult with Mark Sinclair from Real Estimations or contact me to discuss options that could help.
