Person of Interest – Sharon Flood: Flood of legal ideas for management rights

Images courtesy of Flood Legal

Flood of legal ideas for management rights management rights

By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter

Sharon Flood, the legal director of rapidly expanding Kingscliff based fi rm Flood Legal, is bringing welcome initiatives to the management rights industry.

This month she talks to Grantlee Kieza about them.

You are extremely busy at Flood Legal and not just because you have fi ve pre-teen children?

We sure are. I started with a fi rm of me and one other person, and now there are 10 of us at Flood Legal and I’m still looking for further growth in the business. I have an awesome team and it’s been a great journey.

Management rights is the biggest part of our business, but we also do conveyancing, the NSW strata component, as well as wills and estates.

We off er a true fi xed fee and we’re gett ing a huge name in the industry for that fully fi xed fee service. None of our clients ever get a surprise at the end of the transaction, and unfortunately that’s not the case with some other lawyers. I want to have a long-term relationship with our clients and want them to come back to me for their future services.

We fi nd that many of our management rights clients will go on to purchase additional properties or want to get their wills and estates in order, and we are well placed to help them with that.

You do management rights a little bit diff erent to other legal fi rms?

We want to make the transaction as easy as possible for the client and to give them as

much support as we can, during the actual transaction but we are also there to help them once they are in the management rights complex. I have a lot of clients who call me long aft er they have established their business, asking questions about what they should do with a range of problems, it can be issues around owners or bodies corporate. Because we have an ongoing relationship, it means I can easily look up their details and give them on-the-spot answers rather than saying “would you like to make an appointment”, open a fi le and charge them for it. This is just one example of how we are doing things diff erently. We are embracing technology, for example we have a Flood Legal app where clients can download and track their matt er in real time. It also gives our clients access to their documents and there is even a message function they can use to chat with us. We are also continually looking at ways to improve automation as much as we can.

It’s crucial to have legal people who are specialists in management rights?

Yes. We look aft er the whole transaction from start to fi nish and we are involved before our client fi nds the complex. I get a lot of calls from prospective managers before they’ve even found what they’re looking for. We have a chat with them, help them and guide them on what sort of things might, or might not suit them and what things to keep an eye out for from the outset.

What are the main things they should be keeping an eye out for?

It really comes down to what sort of business they’re looking for. We can help them with that, on important decisions like whether to buy a permanent lett ing property or a holiday complex. We help them to decide what they are actually looking for in terms of units and if they want to live on site or not? The purchase process can be very daunting, so we want to give potential buyers as much support as we can, from the very beginning.

Left to right: Fox, Tillee, Mac, Halle and Rex

I have a lot of clients who call me long aft er they have established their business

People are putting their life savings into management rights, aren’t they?

Yes, and many are stepping into something in which they will live and breathe, so it’s really important for them to know that the complex is the right fi t. That’s the very early stage, but down the track when we are doing our due diligence, we look for anything going on in the complex and in the business, that might deter them from buying. We are looking to see if there are any disputes between the manager and the committ ee, or any building defects in the complex which may create additional work or possible future costs.

You graduated from Bond University with fi rst class honours in law?

Yes, I was a mature age student, and it was my second degree. Even though I didn’t pursue a real estate career I love property and development, and it made sense for me to go into property law. I’ve been working as a lawyer for 17 years and I’ve had my own practice for eight. I started out at Hynes Lawyers where I learnt so much from Frank Higginson.

My husband Daniel and I fi rst lived in Brisbane before we moved down to the southern end of the Gold Coast where I set up Flood Legal at Kingscliff just over the border in NSW. I absolutely love it here.

In fact, I am taking a beach walk while talking to you, if only you could see this view - it is absolute bliss!

Has your varied career helped you as a lawyer specialising in management rights?

Yes. I think it’s another one of the things that makes my legal practice diff erent from some of the other lawyers. I understand how to explain things well in a common-sense manner. Many lawyers have a diff erent perspective on how they should treat clients, but I want my clients to be 100 percent comfortable with what I’m doing, and I try to do that in a very relaxed and practical way. What’s more, I now consider many of my clients to be good friends.

It’s a wonder you have any time to be a lawyer, with fi ve children.

They are beautiful children, too. Rex is 11, Mac 9, Halle 8, Tillee 7, and Fox 4.

I’m fortunate to also have a remarkable husband, Daniel. He is amazing, I work a huge number of hours and he is a great support. I didn’t really have any time off work while I was having babies, so it was essential to have great teamwork at home.

What do you do when you’re not helping people with management rights? Do you get to travel?

We live in a beautiful part of the world, and we go to the beach a lot. We also have a holiday house on Fraser Island, where we spend a lot of time. The kids keep me busy, but I love it.

What do you see as the future for management rights? Is it a growth industry?

I think it must keep growing. It’s something that everyone needs, especially in Queensland. I focus on Queensland and NSW but in Queensland it’s such a large industry and bodies corporate can’t do without it. It’s ever changing. Since I started 17 years ago, I’ve seen massive diff erences in transactions, and in the way that we deal with clients and bodies corporate. Now it’s a totally diff erent kett le of fi sh to the way it was 17 years ago, and I think it’s going to continue evolving and growing. It’s all testament to why people in management rights need specialist lawyers. We can give clients the constant update and support that they need. Finally, I’m happy at how well I’ve seen the management rights industry perform during COVID. Especially as so many other businesses didn’t fare anywhere near as well. Obviously, we saw holiday rental properties suff er during lockdowns before bouncing back but permanent lett ing complexes were prett y much unscathed.