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Five years of hard work has culminated in a brand-new property management offering in Brisbane, under the leadership of a high-performing agent and property manager.
In conversation with REB, Locate Property owner Suzana Wade has revealed the major motivation that drove her to start her own business in the property management space.
“To be honest, the main reason I wanted to kick off Locate was when I experienced first-hand how business owners treated the property management side of their real estate business differently,” she said.
“I have been on both sides — sales and property management — and it was quite disappointing to do such a good job and exceed our clients’ expectations with sales to then have the management side and then drop the ball with little or no accountability from the owner of the business.”
Having then transitioned into property management, Ms Wade said: “I loved the fact that I got to form long-term real and lasting relationships with my owners — but again, quite frequently the systems and the team weren’t operating at a level that I wanted for my clients.”
Ms Wade considers Locate Property to be the result of “five years of learning and creating concepts and ideas that I knew would work in a new, fresh and innovative business”.
It also required a huge leap of faith to get off the ground, and saw her walk away from a high-profile role in an established company.
From her perspective, there are two factors embraced by the business that set it apart from other offerings.
The first, from Ms Wade’s perspective, is Locate Property’s digital marketing presence.
“I have a good team around me that have done an extremely good job at positioning us in the marketplace,” she commented.
Secondly, it’s the use of the operating software Managed App.
She sees systems and technology as “a game changer” in any property agency’s ability to deliver both efficiencies in business and the best level of service to landlords.
“Property management can be quite operational”, Ms Wade noted, before adding that “teams can easily get bogged down in the tasks associated with managing properties”.
“I knew if I was going to deliver the best service to my clients as well as stay out in the field developing the business, I needed an operating system that would support me to actually stay connected to my clients and not just provide a simple rent collection service,” the business owner explained.
According to Ms Wade, having good systems in place means she and her team can spend “more time doing the jobs that matter”.
She touts the importance of undertaking constant rent reviews in a hot market and spending time on the phone with tenants and landlords.
With growth in the business already evident, the business owner has flagged the feedback she has received since launch as “overwhelming, like truly”.
“A lot of my clients have been commenting ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner?’ I think they knew that I was going to set something up before I did,” she reflected.
“If I’m being honest, I didn’t want to let them down, so I took my time and put everything in place first so when I made the move, it was done right.”
Ms Wade then added: “In six short but awesome months, I feel we have already silenced any critics and have won even more fans.
“At the end of the day, we want to be here to provide the best service possible. Our growth and the satisfaction of our clients has proven to me that this approach is the right one.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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