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Profi le: The Terrace on Gregory
The Terrace on Gregory
Doctor’s report says management rights in good health
Mandy Gao and husband Dr Tom Wang
By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter
Dr Tom Wang and his wife Mandy Gao have come a long way in a short time as they show how management rights should be operated.
Tom was a medical research scientist before deciding to swap the test tubes for the reception desk at the Richlands Outlook II townhouse complex, in Brisbane’s west.
Tom and Mandy’s mentor Paul Shih, one of the best-known property investment advisors in the Brisbane Chinese community, was delighted that they were named as 5-star onsite managers at the PRET Awards last year. Since 2006, PRET has been providing nationally accredited courses for the real estate industry, as well as high-level mentorship. “Tom and Mandy are well loved by the residents at Richlands Outlook II,’ Mr Shih said, “and made it a great community.” Tom and Mandy have since taken over the management rights at the Terrace on Gregory hotel apartment complex in inner-city Bowen Hills and are nominated again as 5-star onsite managers for the new complex. This year’s PRET awards night will take place at the Brisbane City Hall on November 26. The night will support the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust, the Mater Foundation and the RBWH Foundation.
Tom is originally from a small town in Shandong Province in China.
At 16 he left home to att end university in the sprawling metropolis of Shanghai before working in a centre for medical research and disease control at Shandong’s capital, Jinan. He told Resort News that he came to Brisbane in 1998 and received his PhD in public health from the Queensland University of Technology before working at the University of Queensland for 15 years. Tom’s wife Mandy Gao emigrated from China in 2014 and was working in Brisbane as an accountant when she came across the vast potential that management rights promised for shrewd and diligent managers. “I was looking aft er a lot of clients who were running diff erent businesses and I could see that the management rights and real estate businesses were making bett er profi ts than other industries,” she said.
“I thought management rights was very att ractive and I decided to get a real estate licence. I went to Paul Shih to learn at his classes and while I was there I learnt a lot more about management rights and their potential.” Mandy started in the industry
as an assistant manager for a company that had two management rights and she quickly learnt the complexities of complexes. “I talked to Tom and told him I thought it was a really good industry, very stable and with good profits. I thought it gave managers more opportunity to look after a family and to have a better, more flexible lifestyle,” she said. The couple decided to buy a management rights business and sought Paul Shih’s advice. Together they settled on Richlands Outlook II, a complex on Old Progress Road with 71 townhouses and 54 in the letting pool. “We took over in November 2019, three years ago,” Tom said. “Mandy was running it while I still worked in medical research, but she became too busy and so I decided to quit my job and help her. “I have really enjoyed the change, and I got my real estate letting course through studying at Paul’s classes with a really good instructor.” Mandy said they felt “very confident” making their first management rights purchase. “We inspected a lot of properties and at Richlands Outlook II the previous manager had done a very good job. We looked at the profits and the predictions for the future and we felt very confident that it would be a good property for us to start with,” she said.
The couple had only been running the Richlands complex for a few months when COVID-19 hit.
“Like everyone,” Mandy said, “we had to go through lockdowns and we were worried about losing rentals. We wanted to protect our investors as much as we could, and always tried to maintain the rents at the same level so that there was no rental decrease for the owners.”
After a year at the complex, Tom and Mandy found themselves in the middle of a real estate boom.
“The market was getting very warm and some of the owners wanted to cash in,” Tom said. Mandy does and we thought she could try to sell the townhouses to investors to keep them in the letting pool.” Mandy went back to class to sharpen her skills in sales. “The owners trusted us to sell for them and I sold 12-15 townhouses in the last year, with most of them staying in the letting pool,” Mandy said. After two years running the Richlands complex, Tom and Mandy felt much more confident in their abilities as managers and had developed a great fondness for the industry. “We both like talking to people, making friends with the owners and tenants,” Tom said, “management rights is all about forming good relationships. “Richlands was running very well and we wanted to extend our business, so we started looking for a second property. “Jeff Keast from ResortBrokers came to be our friend, and he sold us the Terrace on Gregory in Bowen Hills. “It’s a very different complex to Richlands as it’s all apartments not townhouses. “Jeff’s an excellent agent and he answered any questions we had. “We got Paul’s opinion as well and we went ahead and bought it.” Tom and Mandy have 78, 4-star hotel apartments at the Terrace on Gregory which is situated just across the road from the Brisbane Showgrounds. There are 51 apartments in the letting pool. “There was a requirement to live onsite here so we moved into the city,” Tom said. “We are fortunate to have great managers looking after Richlands and now we have a city life. “We have a very good committee here and we wanted to do our best to prove we have the ability to run the complex and to win their trust by doing a great job.” The resort-style Terrace offers one-, two- and threebedroom apartments with generous floor plans and is especially suited to corporate travellers due to its proximity to Brisbane’s corporate precinct, showgrounds, and Royal Exhibition Centre, which hosts many trade exhibits, festivals and expos throughout the year.
The complex is centrally located in the bustling Fortitude Valley district of Brisbane next-door to The Tivoli Theatre and within an easy walk to the Royal Brisbane Hospital and the Old Queensland Museum.
The Paddock Bar, just 150 metres from the accommodation off ers classic Australian meals and the hotel off ers a fi tness club as well as a spa salon. Fortitude Valley is one of Brisbane’s premier dining and entertainment hubs.
The city is just two kilometres away and Suncorp Stadium and the South Bank Parklands are a quick drive. All apartments are air conditioned and feature fl at screen televisions and wifi . The bathrooms feature a shower and toilet in the one-bedroom apartments and a shower plus a bath in the two bedroom apartments.
The secure grounds are beautifully landscaped and include a heated swimming pool with children’s wading area, sun deck, heated spa and gymnasium.
Carparking is available in the basement and the complex is handy to public transport with a bus stop at the door and Fortitude Valley Train Station and
the RBW Hospital bus station only 5-minute walks away. Tom and Mandy see a strong future for the management rights industry despite fears over changes to government regulations over the length of contract terms.
“I think it is still a very good industry,” Tom said. “it’s a wonderful business for couples or families to run. “The profi t is stable compared with most other industries and banks are very supportive. “I always like meeting people, the tenants and the body corporate. It’s a very good business if you get on well with people.” And they have a simple but proven recipe for success in management rights. Tom and Mandy have taken on board the advice of ARAMA CEO Trevor Rawnsley who says it is essential for anyone working in hospitality to realise that they are in a service industry and that good service is the key to repeat business and longevity in management rights. “The best thing to do,” Tom said, “is to treat the property like it’s your own home and treat the owners and tenants like they are your family. “You want to look aft er your home and do your best to help all the people in it.”
