Talking Property Management
Welcome to Talking Property Management the podcast that dives into the untold stories and challenges of property management in Brisbane. Hosted by Samantha Eason, Principal and Licensee of Exclusively Managed, this show peels back the curtain on the not-so-pretty side of managing investment properties and mistakes made in the business.
From tricky tenants, untrained property managers, to unexpected maintenance disasters, Samantha brings her expertise and unfiltered insights to the table, offering listeners a behind-the-scenes look at the realities of property management.
Whether you're an investor, a landlord, or just curious about the industry, Talking Property Manager delivers honest conversations, practical advice, and a touch of humor to navigate the ups and downs of property management in Brisbane's unique market.
Join Samantha as she shares stories, tips, and solutions to help you tackle the challenges and make the most of your property investments.
And who knows, she could be talking about your property manager on the next episode.
Talking Property Management
Agencies Are Cutting Corners: Who's Paying for Government CPD Training?
Queensland's property management landscape is shifting dramatically with the introduction of mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training requirements. This long-overdue change promises to elevate industry standards and ensure property managers stay current with legislative changes, ethical practices, and risk management strategies – ultimately better protecting investment properties and tenants alike.
Yet beneath this positive regulatory development lurks a troubling trend. Many property management agencies are refusing to cover the costs of this essential training (approximately $175 per course) or allow staff to complete it during work hours. This shortsighted approach forces property managers to choose between professional development and personal finances, creating an environment where some professionals simply can't afford to stay properly trained.
The consequences manifest in concerning ways. Anonymous forum posts reveal property managers struggling with fundamentals – accepting rent payments before signing leases, mishandling breach notices, or lacking basic property management knowledge.
These aren't isolated incidents but symptoms of an industry where training has been historically undervalued, leaving your investment properties vulnerable to costly mistakes and potential legal issues.
If you have any questions or scenarios you would like us to discuss on an upcoming episode, please email samantha.eason@exclusivelymanaged.com.au or visit https://www.exclusivelymanaged.com.au/
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Hello, it's Samantha Eason here with another episode on Talking Property Management, and today we're unpacking a change that's long overdue the new CPD Continuing Professional Development Training Regulations for Property Managers is coming into effect this week, and it is a big deal and it's well overdue, so let's get into it. As of this month, it is now mandatory for property managers and real estate professionals in Queensland to complete annual CPD training through a registered training provider. The goal, of course, is to lift the standard of our industry, and it's to ensure that we're equipped with the latest legislative knowledge, ethical practices and risk management tools to basically do our jobs well and safely. So, whether it's understanding changes in tenancy legislation, improving communication or refining how we manage risk and maintenance, this training is designated to benefit not just the property managers but their clients too, and that means investors, tenants and property owners all stand to gain from better trained and up-to-date professionals. But something that is concerning me and something I saw on the weekend in one of our public forums we now have managers and business owners who aren't putting their teams through the regulator training, and that directly benefits their clients, which means you. So they're not paying their staff to do the government regulator training. They're basically putting it back on their staff. So, whether you're a landlord or a tenant, you're relying on someone who may not be up to date with legislative obligations, best practices or compliance requirements, simply because their agency hasn't prioritised this essential part of education. And it gets worse there are so many officers, from what I found out on the weekend, expecting the staff to complete this government mandatory training, unpaid and in their own time. It's about $170 or more per course, and we have to do two or three of them. So I find it ridiculous that officers aren't paying for this. And the reason why I find it ridiculous as well is because in one of the groups I'm in, we have property managers in Queensland that ask, you know, numerous questions to other property managers to try and get a better understanding of what they should do, best practice and some advice. And there are countless posts on this group now that are from anonymous members, and the only reason they're anonymous is because they don't want to be ridiculed for not knowing something that is, to an extent, basic part of our job, no matter what the problem or issue that they're seeking assistance with, and a very good example of this is someone has anonymously written in just some advice please.
Speaker 1:A new tenant saw one of our rentals on Thursday and was happy to go ahead with their application. We did all the relevant checks and, speaking to the owner and the tenant's, all good. We approved the application and money was paid and the lease was sent, but the tenant hasn't signed it yet. The tenant called today and decided it's not for them and wants their money back. Some advice, please.
Speaker 1:The lease is not signed, but advert was taken down after sending lease and receiving the two weeks rent and four weeks bond. Very simply, the lease, the tenancy hasn't been executed, the contract has not been signed. You cannot take money from a tenant until the money, until the lease has been signed. It is always best practice to advise tenants that they sign the lease first and then they send over the two weeks and bond to secure the property. This person doesn't know what to do. Why did they take the advert down if the tenancy wasn't secured? Money doesn't secure it without a signed lease and it's so frustrating that we have so many property managers that are looking for advice and they're looking for the group that have experienced professionals in that group like this one that can provide that advice, but in their office. They don't have anything set up properly to you know help.
Speaker 1:The team that is managing the properties and their processes are not working for the team, and now this person is going to suffer. This property manager now has to go back to the owner and say sorry, tenancy hasn't been secured, we accepted monies before a signed lease and we're going to have to give it all back. That's essentially what's going to have to happen Now. This owner is going to have to pay twice the amount of advertising or the agency has to now keep part like pay it themselves. That's like $330 in most instances. So I find it ridiculous that this agency is lost and now the owner is lost just due to the simplest part of our job, which is best practice.
Speaker 1:And another example of another anonymous post we receive in this group. I just want to double check, as these tenants are nightmares. If a form 11 was served due to arrears and it expired yesterday, the tenant has only paid some of the rent, still nine days behind today. Can I issue the form 12? The notice from me breach clearly states what is required for the breach to be remedied. So, yes, you can issue the form 12, but again we have property managers that are not understanding the basic parts of property management, and it's because they're not being trained to in-house. They aren't being sent away for training. There are so many courses available and especially that these property managers could be coming from large teams where you should have weekly training sessions on a situation or standard processes within you know the office to follow.
Speaker 1:Who is training these property managers? So the government obviously realizes that there is a lot of training required within our industry sales agents, property managers, receptionists, whoever has their certificate of registration or an agency license and they aren't even putting their team through the regulated training, paying for the training and assisting their clients. They're literally doing whatever they can to not benefit you as an investor. I just look. It's just ridiculous and it should be paid accordingly. There are obviously some excellent agencies that are taking this seriously. They're paying for the training, giving their teams time to complete it and creating stronger businesses because of it.
Speaker 1:I will under no circumstances not allow our team to go through training and have to pay for it themselves. I want to have the best property management team. I want our clients to be serviced correctly and I want them in a position where we can honestly say we have the best trained property managers working for our agency. If you're working in the industry or you're a landlord who wants your asset managed properly, ask the question when you're looking for a new investment is your team up to date with their CPD? The standard is rising. Don't get left behind, and I think as well.
Speaker 1:A really good example of this is we had a client reach out to us a couple of weeks ago and he asked for our fees. Now we told him our fees and it was like I am looking for something a lot lower, which was like three points lower, and I said, okay, well, look, in Brisbane we unfortunately that's not where our fees sit. They sit at this range. And it was like worries, and I was not disappointed. I'm not going to drop our fees. I'm not going to drop our service levels. If I have someone who's looking for a fee that low, I'm not going to be in a position that would benefit them in looking after them. And the reason is one it costs money now for us to stay up to date with legislation and regulations. I've been doing CPD training for the last six years, so I've had to pay for it as required, but it was never government regulated. It now is. The business fees have increased as well, and, being as well that we are an agency that are referred majority of the time, we very rarely, very rarely, get calls from Google.
Speaker 1:I would rather be able to say to our clients we know legislation inside and out, this is what's going to work for you and this isn't. That's my job, that is solely my job. So I would rather put our clients in a position where they are best protected, because the expectations of people at the moment isn't what they were five, six years ago, and it's difficult to say the least. If this episode has raised some questions or gave you something to think about it, I want you to share it. Share it with your friends, your colleagues or your network. We need to keep pushing for our industry to move forward.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much for listening to this episode on Talking Property Management. I know it's been a while, but I am hoping to put some more episodes out for you guys and for our listeners. So if there is anything that you want to know more information on, you want me to discuss, or you want me to give you my view or opinion, please reach out. We would be more than happy to help. Thank you very much and have a fantastic week ahead.
