Time to Turn Complaints into Compliments?

I’m sure many of us in property management have noticed that our landlords and tenants are becoming more educated and demanding than ever. The skills of a property manager now need to extend to far beyond a collector of rent or a coordinator or repairs with expectations of a property manager higher than ever. This is partly because our client’s are easily educated by the internet, are persuaded by stories in the media, and are able to communicate both positive and negative experiences far easier amongst their community through social media.

Thanks to this, those we perceive to be “difficult clients” are far more prevalent in our day to day dealings and situations with potential for conflict are arising more often. At Real Plus our most common request for training is on communication and conflict resolution. What we see is that even experienced property managers in general are not always equipped with the communication and conflict resolution skills needed to cope with these increased demands, expectations and knowledge.

The most successful agencies we work have ongoing training plans into place to grow and develop their teams and business to both educate themselves, but also find ways to educate their clients, therefore becoming the expert in their field. Ongoing training will also enable them to add an array of communication techniques and training into place to help their teams avoid conflict and turn potential complaints into compliments. Some tips for ensuring you are staying one step ahead include:

• Stay educated – Ensure you know what your clients know so that you can proactively tackle any potential issues
• Keep training – Undertake ongoing internal and external training so that skills are continually being developed to deal with ever increasing client needs/demands 
• Peek out of industry – some other industries such as retail and hospitality can bring some great communication, conflict resolution and customer service skills to the table
• Look to improve – don’t assume that because it’s been done a certain way for a long time that it’s the best way to do it
• Listen – the best advice anyone working in property management can take on board, often we don’t actually listen and this is the root of most potential issues

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real+TV where you can watch our webinar Communication Concepts: From Complaints to Compliments

Happy Easter from the Real+ Team

With most of you hard working property managers enjoying a hard earned extra few days off this Easter long weekend, we’ve decided to place your regular weekly property management blog on hold, and instead, we have a more personal approach for you this week.  

This week, we’d like to remind you about balance. It’s easy to get caught up in the chaos that is Easter, what with chocolate egg hunts, kids running around and preparing family feasts. Make sure you are making the most of the break by taking time out to relax, rest and revitalise.

Take advantage of having no appointments and splurge on a sleep in, enjoy a cuppa and breakfast in bed, go for a walk or bike ride through the park (to balance out the chocolate), and most importantly, slow down! Focus on being present in the moment and enjoying the time off with your family and friends close by, so that come Tuesday morning, you are energised and excited to be returning to work!

Enjoy your break and Happy Easter from the Real+ team.

From the Eyes of a Prospective Tenant

I have recently been in the market for a rental property. Whilst conducting my own rental search, I have been taking note of my consumer experience as a prospective tenant in order to be able to deliver live customer feedback, information and training to our property management clients.

I’ve almost felt like a mystery shopper at times, secretly taking note of the quality of advertising & photos, accuracy of descriptions and photos, response times from agents, presentation of the agent and presentation of the property. Along the way I also reviewed the application process across several agencies and in particular - how I have been treated as a prospective tenant and ultimately how this affected my decision in choosing which properties to visit and ultimately lease!

There were definitely some property inspections and agent response times that left me feeling bad for the landlord that the agent’s actions had turned me off renting their property! And even further still that if I was a prospective landlord that I would not be choosing that agent to lease my property.

Don’t get me wrong, many of the agents were doing a great job, however my experience was very interesting and eye opening which has helped me identify some key areas that leasing agents need to work on at the leasing stage of their property management process. (Without meaning to toot our own horns, I was very pleased to see that one of the best experiences I had was with an agency who is a Real+ Member undergoing regular training across their property management team – the proof is in the pudding).

So, want to know more? Well next week I’ll be hosting a webinar on leasing – in which we’ll be talking about ways to get properties leased faster, reduce vacancy and ways to make your lives easier. I can tell you now that what I’ve learnt from being a prospective tenant will be going into this session so be sure not to miss this one if you want to know how to improve your leasing process!

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real+TV where you can watch our webinar Just Leased! Leasing made Faster, Smarter & Easier.

Property Investment Tips to Assist Your Landlords

There is a common perception that in order to own an investment property, you must be a wealthy investor with money to burn. The reality is that the opposite is more likely to be true, with many landlords overwhelmed by the actual cost of owning an investment property, which leaves many property managers wondering why the landlord was un-obliging over agreeing to a $100 repair.

As a property manager, it is essential to fully understand how much it costs an owner to own an investment property, and the type of investor they are in order to meet their needs, expectations and build the relationship (and of course provide better understanding and advice when convincing them to agree to the $100 repair).

There is fantastic 60 minute webinar within the Real+ membership called “Walking in the shoes of your investor” (presented by Fiona Blayney) to assist in training yourself and your property management teams on this important subject.

In this Real+ training webinar Fiona Blayney refers to the property management concept of Intentional landlords vs Accidental landlords.

• An intentional landlord made a decision to invest in property and has likely worked hard to own property, therefore has purpose and a plan.
• An accidental landlord may be one that has inherited property, has influence from parents, was unable to sell, someone who may be combining a household, or couldn’t afford mortgage.

Can you see that not only the needs of that landlord, but the financial motivations and challenges of the two will be very different? One group will understand the costs of investment much better, whereas the latter will not like or understand a lot of expenses.

We get amazing feedback from property managers on this training webinar – helping them to finally understand what it costs a landlord and see things from their perspective, making their lives easier not only in day to day dealings but also boosting their long term relationships with the client.

As a property manager it is important to understand what it actually costs the landlord to maintain an investment property, and the type of investor you are dealing with in order to build the relationship and have them trust in your service. But don’t try to figure it out on your own, next week, Real+ presents another property management live webinar on the topic. 

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real+TV where you can watch our webinar with special guest expert Chris Gray: Wealth Creation for Your Landlords.

What is the Key to Appraisal Success?

Preparation is KEY!

Preparation in any area of property management is the key to success, none more important than the appraisal of new business. Many a time, an appraisal is rushed from a precious appointment without allocating the proper time required for research and preparation - people aren't well trained to deal with and adapt to varying clients needs.

You can only get so far flying by the seat of your pants but you will be far better prepared to win a new client over if you've put in the time and effort to prepare personalised and relevant data and knowledge, and undergo regular training to prepare yourself to respond to their personal situation.

Pre-appraisal this may mean spending some more time on the initial call finding out a little bit more about the property, what their expectations are and perhaps their intentions, so that you can be best prepared to sell the information and service that they need, not necessarily what you assume they want.

Ongoing preparation means undergoing training on a regular basis, this will ensure your new business success and essentially, that you remain prepared for any situation that crops up.
 

The most successful new business people in the industry are both well prepared before the actual meeting and well trained, so they are adaptable to different clients needs and expectations.

Why not attend our webinar next week on Wednesday 12.30 where Fiona will guide you through essential preparation for the listing appraisal itself. As part of our New Business Bootcamp training series, we'll cover how you can be ready and prepared leading up to and the day of appraisal. 

If you are Real+ member, click here to visit Real+TV where you can watch our webinar: New Business Bootcamp - Preparing to List.

New Legislation in South Australia is Coming into Effect

We’ve just received word that new legislation surrounding the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 will be coming into effect on 1^st March 2014 in South Australia.

This initial phase of legislation amendments intends to increase the security and protection of all parties who sign a private rental lease agreement or a rooming house agreement. A second phase of legislation reform will come into play in the 2014/2015 financial year, dealing predominently with rental bonds and bond procedures.

Landlords and agents will be given a two month grace period from March 1^st. This transition time is to ensure that you have the opportunity to make all necessary adjustments to your rental property management practices and procedures.

The Real+ team is currently reviewing all modules and content to ensure our learning platform is completely current. We will advise when the relevant updates have been made in our platform to ensure you can make the most of utilising our program to re-educate yourself.

In the meantime, the Consumer and Business Services has issued a summary of the changes to legislation which you can find by clicking here: http://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/assets/files/Summary_of_the_Changes.pdf 

Are You Demonstrating Value?

A Facebook conversation caught my eye yesterday. There was a quickly developing chain of comments on the back of one friend’s status. The status was regarding her extreme disappointment with her property manager and asking around for an opinion as to whether she should self-manage.

People that I didn’t even know were owners of investment property were suddenly coming out of the woodwork to express their disappointment with their property managers too.

The conversation revealed complaints of lack of customer service, no response or communication, comments around not seeing value in having a property manager (to put it nicely) and comments around it being better to manage their properties themselves.

After 10 years working in property management, these kind of comments really disappoint and concern me. The fact that we are not seen to be the professionals we should be seen as, that people do not see value in what we do, and that there is a notion that property managers are “useless” means that something is not working.

We know how tough and demanding property management can be. We know the flack PMs can cop whilst working long and hard to navigate the complexities between keeping landlords, tenants, and contractors happy, whilst acting within office procedures and the legislation of your state. And we know how hard it can be to get back to everyone in a timely manner.

We are further challenged now than ever before as we are now expected to be experts in so many areas and wear many different ‘hats’ for our now well-educated 'Google generation' of landlords and tenants. Unfortunately now, even 20 years' property management experience sadly doesn’t mean we have all of the skills to deal with the expectations those educated clients of 2014 have of us.

In saying all of this, research shows that this notion of 'useless' being perceived from the outside often comes down to a basic lack of communication.

There is no doubt that ever-mounting inbox can become overwhelming. Top that with the clients phoning to see if you got the email that is sitting in your inbox and it can start to feel like there is a big monkey sitting on your shoulders.

What we need are additional techniques, skills and systems to overcome these challenges, and to fulfil our roles. Ongoing training and continual learning (for both property managers and their managers) is going to be the only way to deal with this.

There are a few (seemingly simple) communication techniques that you can use to better deal with these clients and mirror the level of customer service that they are expecting:

• Set expectations from the start of the relationship (such as your expected response times to phone/email/texts). Also seek out their preferred method of communication. It's no use waiting on a response to emails if they are a phone person.
• Set expectations on the whole property management process from the start - i.e. how often routines take place, what is an urgent vs non-urgent issue, how does the invoicing and statement process work
• Readjusting expectations if external factors mean you cannot deliver a result
• Have an auto response on your email account that thanks the client for their email, and gives them an expected response time. Also indicate response time on your voicemail (and of course deliver on that expectation)
• Update your client – even update them before they ask for an update, even update them if there is no update

Of course, all of these tips will only work if you do what you say you will, when you say you will do it. If you are prone to forget, diarise call backs in your outlook calendar at the end of the conversation. Utilise modern technology to assist with 'to do' lists and managing your time. 

Having your time more efficiently managed, (i.e. using blocking techniques) will make sticking to your own communication program easier. If you are unsure of how to implement and manage any of this, seek additional training.

If we start to use tips like these, and ensure we are constantly training and developing ourselves, perhaps we can start to change the notion of property managers being “invaluable” to being worth every cent of management fees. And that next time someone asks if they should self-manage – that the responses might look a lot different. 

NCAT is Now in Full Effect

In case you missed it, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) commenced on January 1 2014 in place of the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT).

NCAT integrated the existing 23 separate NSW tribunals in an effort to provide a single (less confusing) gateway in a bid to improve the accessibility, efficiency and accountability of the tribunal system.

To maintain consistency and transparency across the board, NCAT now consists of five different divisions – consumer and commercial, administrative and equal opportunity, occupational and regulatory, guardianship and victim support, in hopes of increasing confidence in the public with using these services.

Matters that had been lodged or in progress with CTTT before January 1^st do not have to be relodged.

For more information visit: http://www.ncat.nsw.gov.au/

Realmark Blog About the Real+ Product

Our clients over at Realmark have written a blog post about the innovative Real Plus product, and why and how it benefits their property management teams.

Follow the link to read the post:http://www.realmark.com.au/our-geeky-property-managers/

National Occupational Licensing System Dumped

On 13 December 2013, the Council of Australian Governments decided that the proposed policy for National Occupational Licensing System (NOLS) should no longer be pursued. This comes as a relief to many throughout the industry who believe a better option exists.

After discussions with the State governments, several concerns surrounding the NOLS model arose. If a policy for NOLS was pursued, there would have been significant costs for the governments and occupations involved so the jurisdictions encouraged that alternative approaches be sought.

An new alternative plan for labour mobility will be particularly beneficial for real estate professionals that live near the borders of two states as it will allow licensees to operate in any state of Australia using just the one license, rather than having to pay a fee or apply for additional licenses.

The NSW government is working alongside the other States to ensure a system is implemented, and the framework is likely to be similar to how the driver’s license system operates.

Stay tuned for more information on this as it develops.

The Rise of Long-Term Renters

As we have seen the number of Australians who own their home decline over the last decade, we continue to see a rise in the portion of the population who are renting long term – renting for a continuous period of 10 or more years.

Here are some quick stats on the current long-term rental landscape:

• In the last decade, the percentage of people renting compared to owning a house has risen from 18.4% to 25.1%.
• $347 is the average amount a household can expect to pay on housing per week – which is 19.7% less than homeowners with a mortgage pay per week.
• The average renter spends 20% of their gross income on rent.
• 10 years ago, around 27% of renters had been renting for 10 years or more. Today, 33.4% of renters have been renting for 10 years or more.
• 31.8% of people feel they need to rent for longer periods of time to save for a larger house deposit.
• The number of middle-aged Australians renting long-term continues to increase.
• More and more families are occupying rental properties, whilst the number of single person rental households is declining.
• A significant proportion of people who rent don’t feel a sense of community in the area they live, and are less satisfied financially.

What does this mean for property managers?These statistics highlight how important it is to value and take care of your tenants, rather than viewing them as dispensible. If tenants are frequently moving in and out, a property is going to experience a lot more wear and tear.

Property managers should encourage their landlords to find long-term tenants and keep the positive aspects of not having a vacancy in mind when considering when and how often to raise the rent.

CTTT to Become Known as NCAT

As of January 1 2014, the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) will become NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

CTTT is currently composed of 23 separate NSW tribunals and this system can be quite confusing. NCAT seeks to integrate these existing tribunals to provide a single gateway in an effort to improve the accessibility, efficiency and accountability of the tribunal system and increase the public’s confidence in these services.

To ensure NCAT can meet the needs of Tribunal users, it will consist of five divisions – consumer and commercial, administrative and equal opportunity, occupational and regulatory, guardianship and victim support. This is a response to the challenge which has been maintaining consistency and transparency across over 30 tribunals whilst still providing quality service.

CTTT have announced that any matters which have been lodged with them and not heard before January 1^st do not have to be relodged with NCAT, and any the resolution of any matters currently in progress will not be affected.

For further information visit: http://www.tribunals.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/

Free Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service for NSW

NSW tenants, landlords and property managers can now utilise a free tenancy dispute resolution service which aims to resolve residential tenancy disputes rather than having them heard by the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) which will be known as the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) as of 1^st January 2014.

Areas where Fair Trading is able to assist in resolving disputes includes:

• repairs and maintenance
• non-urgent health and safety issues
• alterations and additions
• access to the premises including inspections
• non-compliance with the tenancy agreement
• water saving devices and smoke alarms
• provisions of correct notices
• ending a tenancy
• breaking a lease, and
• condition reports

Rather than have parties go through the standard initial conciliation process at tribunal, this new resolution service seeks to resolve disputes through a teleconference or onsite meeting. This method relies on the co-operation of both parties and their willingness to reach an agreement out of court – Fair Trading recommends that parties involved in a dispute are open to various suggestions of how to settle the dispute.

In any instance where Fair Trading cannot help the parties reach a mutual agreement in regards to the resolution of their dispute, either party can lodge a claim with NCAT. Additionally, NCAT will continue to deal with all other areas of residential tenancy that Fair Trading does not handle.

Visit the Fair Trading – Residential Tenancy Disputes page, or call 13 32 20 for more information about the free dispute resolution service.

RentRight: New Mobile App for VIC Tenants

Consumer Affairs Victoria have developed a free mobile app ‘RentRight’, designed to assist Victorian tenants in knowing their rights and responsibilities, whilst also providing various resources to aid renters in managing their tenancy.

This app provides renters with a wealth of information at their fingertips, but provided Property Managers are diligent in keeping up to date with legislation and best practice, there is no need to see the app as a threat or problem.

Some of the key features of the ‘RentRight’ app include:

• Legislated information for renters on topics where renters may have previously been unclear of their rights and responsibilities. Areas such as leases and notices, standards, repairs, and entry rights are clearly and thoroughly explained.

• Helping tenants understand condition reports. The app outlines the actual purpose of the report, and also the importance of being diligent with inspecting the property prior to tenancy. It specifies the requirements of both the landlord and tenant.

• Lodging legal notices for repairs, damages and utilities directly to the property manager. The app can lodge urgent and non-urgent repairs or damage to the premises, with the functionality to include photos in the notice. It can also lodge a legal notice if the tenant has paid utility charges that are not the tenant’s responsibility.

• Various email templates regarding issues such as ending a lease (e.g. before a lease agreement expires, because the premises are unsafe, because the landlord has given notice to vacate) and breaches of duty (e.g. keys have not been provided, the premises have not been maintained in good condition).

• Calculating weekly rent costs, to assist renters determine how much their payments will be, whether they are to be paid fortnightly, monthly, six-monthly or annually.

• Budgeting calculator which is designed to track the various up-front costs that may be involved in renting a new property.

It is vital that Property Managers continue to educate themselves on industry standards, legislation changes and their responsibilities – lucky for our Real+ members it’s easy to stay on the ball.

The various learning modules on the Real+ learning platform help test your knowledge and see which learning areas may need improvement.

You have access to resources such as learner guides to assist in managing arrears, maintaining property and even landlord letter templates, whilst we also aim to keep you informed on industry changes with announcements in the ‘News’ section of the platform.

New Strata Laws in NSW to Match 21st Century Lifestyle

As property managers, I’m sure we’ve all been frustrated with strata rules at some point or another. Thankfully, proposed new laws are finally bringing strata rules into the 21st century, according to NSW Fair Trading Minister, Anthony Roberts.

Whilst changes are still some time away, the media is going to be heavily focused on these changes over the coming months, meaning your landlords will hear a lot about it all. In order to be prepared for their concerns and questions, we need to be aware of the proposed changes and start to think about how this will affect our processes.

These changes have been prompted by the growth in strata title across NSW over the last 50 years, with more than 30% of NSW’s population now either owning, living or working in strata and community schemes, the department proposes to introduce these new laws by mid-2014.

The new legislation will provide a number of options for more modern, innovative and positive outcomes for all – including owners, investors, tenants and managing agents.

Some of the proposed changes will include:

For tenants:

• Smoke drift – no longer will tenants be allowed to smoke on apartment balconies.
• Pets by Default – tenants can no longer be banned from having a pet or require special permission to do so.

For landlords:

• Renovations – such as addressing noisy timber and tiled floors before they are laid, as opposed to the current system where noisy floors can only be addressed after they become a problem.
• Overcrowding, building defects, levies, debt recovery, sinking funds, insurance, money management, dispute resolution, compliance and enforcement will also be covered.

Executive Committees & Voting

• Allow strata schemes to choose alternative methods of attendance at meetings including social media, video and teleconferencing. Postal or electronic votes from owners who are not physically in attendance will also be acceptable.
• Tenants will have the right to attend and participate in meetings of the owners corporation tenants will not be given new voting rights.
• Executive committee members in strata schemes will have to declare conflicts of interest and may be required to remove themselves from voting on issues if such conflicts emerge.
• Strata managers, building managers, caretakers and agents will no longer be allowed to sit on executive committees

• Proxy votes will be restricted in schemes of more than 20 units to 5 percent of the ownership. In buildings of 20 units or fewer, owners will only be allowed to carry one proxy vote.

What does this mean for you?
We will be keeping a close eye on confirmation of the proposed changes and keeping you in the loop of how it will affect your landlords, and what you can do to update your property management processes and office policies.

For more information about the new Strata Reform, check out the NSW Govt Srata Title Law Reform Position Paper or visit this section of NSW Dept of Fair Trading site.

New Swimming Pool Laws in NSW

New legislation affecting backyard swimming pools and spa pools has been introduced in NSW to enhance the safety of children around private (backyard) swimming pools and spas. How will this affect you?

Pool owners

Swimming pool and spa pool owners are required to register their pools on an online Register to be provided by the NSW State Government. Owners are required to self-assess and state that their pool complies with the applicable standards when registering.

The NSW Swimming Pool Register is available for use at www.swimmingpoolregister.nsw.gov.au. Owners must register their pools by no later than 29 October 2013. There is a penalty for owners who fail to do so. Owners may also register their pools via their local council.

Owners may apply for a Swimming Pool Compliance Certificate from their local councils or an accredited certifier so they are in a position to confidently register their pool. However, there is a fee payable for this service.From 29 April 2014 pool owners who wish to sell their property must apply and obtain a Swimming Pool Compliance Certificate to be attached to the contract for sale, and pool owners who wish to lease their property must apply and obtain a Swimming Pool Compliance Certificate and provide a copy to the tenant.

A Swimming Pool Compliance Certificate is valid for 3 years.

Managing Properties Affected by the NSW Bushfires

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the Bushfires in NSW... For our Real+ Members managing properties near the affected areas - we wanted to provide you with some information on what to do if any of your tenancies are affected by the disaster. It’s also great information to know even if you are not in those affected areas. 

Office of Fair Trading: 13 32 20

For all Real+ members around Australia this tragic time is a timely reminder to ensure you have efficient procedures in place in regards to landlords insurance. Depending on the policy in your office and state you need to be recommending or ensuring to your landlords to always have up to date Home and Building Insurance so that they are adequately covered in an event such as this.

If you need help setting up an ongoing annual programme to ensure your landlords insurance policies remain up to date, and to eliminate any risk to your agency if your landlord chooses not to insure, don’t hesitate to give us a call at Real+.

What Face Do You Show on Facebook?

Cheeky status updates on Facebook can be fun and create a lot of ‘attention’ from your friends. Downside is, these types of posts give a client or work colleagues way too much information about your personal life and risk painting the wrong impression.

If business acquaintances have access to your personal page, then it’s time to shift your attention from just ‘social’ posting and include posts which highlight your values and character.

‘Un-friend’ any unsavoury types you’re connected to, avoid mixing alcohol and Facebook updates and try to steer clear of compromising photo opportunities.

Ultimately, the responsibility of what appears on your Facebook profile lies with you. If you’re concerned about your image, now would be the time to adjust your privacy settings and photo tagging permissions.

Your social media profile plays a huge part in how you present yourself publicly and should be the very best representation of you. After all, that potential client you’re trying to impress, could be weighing you up on Facebook right this very minute!