Property managers around the country will be using National Property Manager’s Day on 24 July to mark one of their most challenging years yet.
The coronavirus pandemic has put immense pressure on the rental market and property managers have pivoted quickly to handle legislative changes to tenancy acts, rent negotiations between tenants and landlords and larger portfolios than they may have previously had – all of this while working completely mobile and paperless.
By going above and beyond their job descriptions, these real estate professionals have helped keep many Australian tenants in a home and ensured landlords are able to continue paying off their mortgages.
Leah Calnan, president of Real Estate Institute of Victoria, said property managers deserve to be celebrated because “they are the conduit in every tenancy.”
“They manage the difficult conversations, they deal with the issues, they provide support to both parties at different times and they need to have an understanding of legislation, maintenance, finances and social work,” Ms Calnan said.
The future for property managers continues to look like it has over the past few months, however, most have found themselves adapting to a new norm.
They have supported emotional clients
There is no denying that most Australians are going through a highly emotional time, in fact, Lifeline Australia experienced a 25% increase in calls for help in March 2020 compared to the same time last year, with the majority of callers wanting to talk about COVID-19.
The home is a very important part of our lives so when something threatens that, it impacts emotions.
With many individuals being stood down from jobs due to lockdown laws, there has been a surplus of tenants and landlords who have found themselves in financial hardship.
For tenants, this means they struggle to pay the rent and bills, and for many landlords, mortgage repayments have become a struggle.
Property managers have found themselves dealing with highly emotional tenants and landlords. Picture: realestate.com.au/rent
Amy Sanderson, network head of property investment management for LJ Hooker, said herself and her team have dealt with many distressed tenants and landlords during the health crisis, and have become more resilient as a result.
“Everyone has been emotional and when people are emotional they don’t necessarily respond to things, they react to things,” she said. “When people react, it’s not always in the best light and property managers have done a great job in dealing with that.”
Ms Sanderson explained that at the beginning of COVID-19, it was difficult to keep on top of all the changes to legislation across all states and territories. She said her team would receive calls from tenants and landlords asking questions that they didn’t yet know the answer to.
“Tenants were abusing us and we couldn’t give answers, we were too nervous to give answers, because if we gave answers and new legislation came out, we would be locked in to something that wasn’t right, we needed the certainty and clarity to know what we were talking about.
“And that’s where the property managers have had to be really strong, because they get blamed for a lot on social media, and it’s not necessarily within their control, they’ve had to have broad shoulders,” Ms Sanderson said.
They have become highly skilled negotiators
Not only did new COVID-19 tenancy legislation mean property managers had to wrap their heads around what now applied to the rental industry, but many saw an increase in listings added to their portfolios.
This was especially true for property managers working in inner-city markets.
Georgia Soldatos, team leader and accountability manager at Belle Property Management, manages properties in North Melbourne and Carlton.
With less demand from international students due to border closures and an increase in short-term listings converting to residential listings, Ms Soldatos and her team have been managing more properties that they are used to.
Negotiating with tenants has become the new norm in inner city areas. Picture: realestate.com.au/rent
“Some of my team members have got 10 vacates coming up,” she said.
With this increase in listings and without nearly as much demand, Ms Saldatos said they have found themselves heavily negotiating to try to keep tenants in a property.
“Tenants are seeing that and know they can get properties for $50-$100 cheaper, so we’re trying to convince owners that they’ve got really good tenants who are maintaining the property and we don’t want to see them go,” Ms Soldatos said.
“It’s about convincing the owners that even if they take a $50 a week rent reduction, they’ll still be in a better position than having a property sitting vacant, trying to lease it out, paying advertising, letting fees.
“We’re trying to find a happy medium between tenants and landlords, because many properties are out there at the moment that are cheaper and tenants think it’s an easy way out. It’s about negotiating, a lot of negotiating with owners to drop rents so they don’t lose tenants.”
They are becoming mobile agents
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on many industries, many of which have had to shut down. But the real estate sector has had to push past the hurdles brought on by the pandemic as it is classed as an essential service.
Many real estate agencies have closed shop with employees forced to work from home instead, and property managers are no exception.
Inspections are still going ahead but they are now being done via private appointments or virtually, particularly in Victoria, creating a new challenge for property managers.
Terri Keskinen, head of property management at Code Property Group, said COVID-19 has really pushed herself and her team to becoming completely mobile and paperless, which she says is an exciting prospect for the future.
“We had to change our systems and our processes, because property management is traditionally a paper nightmare,” she said.
“We have always prided ourselves on being a paperless office, but COVID gave us the kick to realise we still actually do use paper. We are now 100% paperless in our office… that was our biggest change in that we converted everything to online.”
Ms Keskinen’s team also embraced digital inspections to showcase rentals and saw top results.
“Our leasing girls adapted so much quicker than we ever thought, they jumped on with 360 degree cameras, video walk throughs, Facetiming – they just flew out the door, we were renting an average of 10 properties a week,” she said.
“I think for everyone in my office, they’ve just absolutely embraced change, they’ve adapted, they’ve grown, because it was a matter of sink or swim.”
What does the future have in store for property managers?
While in some states, restrictions are easing, in others including Victoria, strict lockdown laws are back in place.
Despite the latest federal government stimulus announcement that JobKeeper and JobSeeker wage supplements will be extended at a reduced level until March 2021, the prospects for the rental market will look much the same as it has over the last few months.
Property managers know that they must continue to push through this difficult time to support the rental market, using their new skills to ensure tenants and landlords remain happy.
Property managers will continue to deal with a difficult rental climate amid COVID-19. Picture: Getty
“This isn’t a short-term issue, it’s going to be a long-term issue and in order to stand out, the property managers and the companies, the real estate agencies, will have to be really proactive in negotiating, providing some rent relief and maintaining the tenants they have,” said Ms Soldatos.
“Not just being reactive but proactive, [that is] contacting owners now more than ever. I’ve really pushed the team to start calling the owners and find out how they’re going so they don’t think we’re just a person behind a screen. We need to give them the heads up about what’s happening and what we have to do.”
Note: The headline of this story has been updated since publication to better reflect the tone of the article.
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