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Real Talk For Property Investors
Real Talk for Property Investors by EXCLUSIVELY MANAGED; the podcast that pulls back the curtain on the real world of managing investment properties in Brisbane.
I’m Samantha Eason; Principal and Licensee of Exclusively Managed, Property Management agency located in Brisbane. Each episode, I share the untold stories, hard lessons, and everyday realities that come with property management, from difficult tenants and dodgy maintenance to untrained managers and costly mistakes that could’ve been avoided.
This isn’t a sugar coated industry podcast. It’s honest, practical, and straight to the point, with a few laughs along the way. Whether you’re a property investor, landlord, or simply curious about what really goes on behind the scenes, Talking Property Management gives you the insight you didn’t know you needed.
I’ll be sharing real life experiences, expert advice, and proven strategies to help you avoid pitfalls, protect your assets, and get the most out of your investment.
And who knows… I might just be talking about your property manager in the next episode.
Real Talk For Property Investors
Inside Franchise Property Management: Explaining The Structure
Think the big real estate brand keeps your property safe? We unpack why that comforting promise often cracks the moment you look behind the logo. Sam sits down with Brittany who spent most of her real estate career inside franchise offices, to map how the franchise structure really works, why oversight is thinner than you think, and how that gap translates into missed inspections, delayed rent reviews, and reactive maintenance that chips away at returns.
We start with the illusion of safety: the polished ads, the templated sites, the promise of a corporate safety net. Then we show the engine underneath independently owned offices with full control over staffing, training, workload, and priorities.
If you want a property manager who protects asset value rather than just ticking boxes, this conversation gives you the script. Ask who owns the office, who oversees your file, and how handovers, trust accounting, and maintenance workflows are reviewed. Don’t buy the logo hire the team, the process, and the proof.
If this helped you see the structure more clearly, follow the show, share it with a fellow investor, and leave a quick review to tell us what you want unpacked next.
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/
Donate to the sleepbus foundation here.
https://www.sleepbus.org/services/sleepbusfund
I'm Sam from Exclusively Managed, and today I'm doing something a little different. I know. So it's a little bit cheeky, but ugh, you gotta be. We're going to start a deep dive into how the franchise property management structure really works behind the scenes. And with that, I actually have someone who has actually had majority, if not all, of her real estate career within a franchise or different ones.
SPEAKER_00:So let's introduce you to. I'm Brittany. I actually started my career in a franchise. So I've seen firsthand what goes on in those offices. At the time, I thought that structure meant security, but now I'm looking back, I can see exactly how it fails landlords.
SPEAKER_01:And you guessed it. This episode is called the structure problem. Because when landlords choose a franchise, they often think the structure protects them. And there's this big corporate safety net. But in reality, the structure is what creates most of the issues we end up fixing later. So I'm going to start right there. What landlords think they're signing up for when a property owner sees a big brand name and they think, great, I'm covered. And today's episode you're going to hear from both Brittany and myself around this structure and this problem within franchises and big offices.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah, they think there's a head office full of people who step in if things go wrong, or a standard that every office has to follow.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's the assumption, right? That bigger means better. And I guess sometimes it does.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, maybe it's, or at least it's safer. Exactly. You see the same branding across Australia, the glossy TV ads, the Australian's most trusted real estate group. It gives you confidence. You think there's a checklist or an internal auditing process keeping every office accountable.
SPEAKER_01:But in property management, it just doesn't work like that. Those brand names don't mean a shared database or a unified service. I'm sorry to break it to you, but it just doesn't. It's a network of completely separate businesses that pay to use the logo.
SPEAKER_00:And the average landlord has no idea. They think they're getting the backing of a big corporation. But really, they're just signing with a small business that happens to wear the same shirt as everyone else in the group.
SPEAKER_01:Which means if that local office isn't run well, or if the owner's focus is on sales and not property management, you're not protected. There's no higher authority that steps in.
SPEAKER_00:No. The head office isn't checking routine reports, maintenance workflows, or trust compliances. They're not calling to say, hey, you've missed a lease renewal. It's not that kind of setup.
SPEAKER_01:And that's the catch. Right? Like landlords assume the franchise's reputation guarantees professionalism and expert results. But in truth, the only guarantee you have is the integrity of that one local franchise owner. And that's the key word, right? Integrity. So Brittany and I will break that down a little further. Each franchise office is independently owned, right, Britt?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, every single one. The franchise sells you the rights to use the brand name, their email domain, and some systems. But beyond that, you run your own business how you want.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I've seen that before. There could be that one office that's fantastic, experienced, well trained, and another office with the same name down the road that's completely falling apart. And we see it with McDonald's as well. Like there's one McDonald's you know not to go to, but then there's another one that you need to have the food from.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Consistency ends at the logo. I've seen one office buried in paper and sticky notes and another running smoothly with automation and audits. Same brand, totally different worlds.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's the problem. Landlords and investors would never know the difference because it all looks uniformed online and from the outside.
SPEAKER_00:Right. You look at their Google listing, their websites, their social media, all templated, all polished, but you're not actually seeing what's happening behind the desks.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that just sounds like there's no people, it's just robots. And that's the biggest risk because that office structure, being independent, means the franchise owner controls absolutely everything. And I mean staffing, training, workload, the communication style, and priorities.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. So if that owner is sales driven, property management becomes a side department, something they have to have, not something that they're going to invest in.
SPEAKER_01:And because there's no oversight from head office, there's no consistency in performance or policy.
SPEAKER_00:That's what landlords misunderstand most. It's not one big business with shared accountability. It's hundreds of small operations under the shared banner.
SPEAKER_01:Did you find when you worked in these offices that new clients, when they were choosing that franchise, that company, that they were really choosing the business owner and their staff, the skills, etc.? Or did you find that they were sold a brand, a promise of a brand, and that maybe wasn't delivered?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, most clients I came across thought that they were going to get more. That's why two landlords can be with the same franchise name, one raving about it and one swearing they'd never use them again. Because they're dealing with completely different companies.
SPEAKER_01:So what does that structure actually mean for service? Like what are landlords experiencing because of this, in your experience?
SPEAKER_00:The first thing is inconsistency. Every office runs differently. Some do routine inspections every three months, some every six months, some whenever they can find the time. I've also seen some property managers ask tenants to complete them.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's true. We've taken over properties where the owner thought inspections were happening regularly, but nothing had been done for over a year. So that doesn't shock me at all.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. There's no brand wide process that says you must do XYZ. It's completely up to the local team.
SPEAKER_01:And when an office is stretched thin, the property management team becomes reactive. It's firefighting, it's not management.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. I remember in my early franchise days, we had portfolios of 200 plus properties per manager. You don't have time to think strategically or even follow up properly. You just do what's urgent, not what's important.
SPEAKER_01:I have seen firsthand that's where landlords start losing money. Whether it's missed rent increases or missed maintenance, poor communication, it's all because the structure doesn't allow enough time or systems for quality.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Because the franchise model is designed to scale. It's about how many offices they can sell, how many managements they can stack, not about how those managements are actually serviced.
SPEAKER_01:Ah, the good old quantity over quality approach. And that approach filters down. You end up with the property managers who are trained to meet minimum standards, send the notice, lodge the bond, do the inspection, but not to think beyond, I guess, the checklist.
SPEAKER_00:Right. There's no time or incentive to think about the owner's long-term goals or to give advice that actually improves their investment performance.
SPEAKER_01:So the structure itself sets property managers up to fail. And landlords are the ones left wondering why their experience feels less impersonal and inconsistent.
SPEAKER_00:And the sad thing is most landlords blame the individual property managers when really it's the system. The way franchises are structured just doesn't support real property management. It supports volume.
SPEAKER_01:And that's the heart of it. The structure is built for sales, not for service. And that's why so many clients, landlords, investors eventually walk away from franchises. They're looking for something more personal, more consistent, and actually accountable. And that's the foundation of the franchise issue. The structure itself.
SPEAKER_00:Next episode, we'll talk about how the structure affects training and what actually happens when a brand new property manager is handed a portfolio of 150 properties with no real guidance.
SPEAKER_01:If you're a landlord listening and you're not sure how your current agency is structured, it is worth asking the question: who actually owns the office? Who oversees your file? And who is protecting your investment?
SPEAKER_00:Because the name on the building doesn't manage your property, the people inside do.
SPEAKER_01:And thank you for listening to our episode today. It is actually Britney's first time on the podcast. And while I will preface by saying that we have never run a very structured podcast, it's not meant to be professional in any way. I think she did a fantastic job, but I am excited to see how the next one goes. Thank you. If you have any questions with regards to investment, management and whatnot, you know where to find me. But at the end of the day, we're here to look after our clients and service them. We aren't professional podcasters. I'm definitely not. And we look forward to answering your questions with regards to how the franchise actually operates. And through this series, hopefully, you find out some useful information that you need to know. Until next time.
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