ARAMA Report

Success stories are written by long-term agreements

The greatest validation for long term agreements in the business of Management and Letting Rights (MLR) is that the vast majority of resident managers are granted top-ups, that is extensions on the term of their MLR agreements.

Why? Because those resident managers make continual improvements to a scheme in a way that off-site managers could never achieve.

Owners are happy to give resident managers these top-ups as a reward for their performance. There are great economic benefits to a scheme that has an onsite manager with a long-term agreement, and there are also benefits you cannot put a price on, the services that resident managers provide for occupants through the improved lived experience. They are priceless. Resident managers provide the sort of service and care that is simply not possible from outside service contractors.

I know managers, for instance, whose older or infirm residents put them on their medical call list, and these managers are ready to respond to a medical emergency at all hours, day or night. That service is not included in their agreement; however they are only too happy to assist at any time because it is part of their promise to provide the best possible benefits to occupiers that they can. You simply cannot get that kind of service if you have an off-site property manager who looks after 500 to 600 properties around a suburb. Resident managers can respond within minutes if there is an emergency. Community Title Schemes are better maintained and have better occupants because resident managers scrutinise prospective tenants more carefully. The property is simply managed better by a resident manager with a longterm agreement. That manager is on the spot to have a quiet word in case a tenant is disturbing other residents, whether it be smoking, parking in the wrong spot, making noise, or any of the myriad problems that can arise in a community title scheme. The resident manager can nip problems in the bud immediately rather than letting them drag out as someone off-site is likely to do. Friendly and respectful conversations with people in a strata title community and reminders from a manager who is more often than not a neighbour, go a long way to improving social amenity and creating communities within a scheme that are far more neighbourly than if they were being managed remotely. The presence of a resident manager ensures there are much fewer neighbourhood disputes in a scheme and far less trips to court for tenancy disputes because those disputes are often solved early and the properties are well maintained. Resident managers have skin in the game, having purchased the management rights and a lot in the scheme, and are therefore much more motivated than an outside contractor who does not have any investment in the property. Time and motion studies performed by independent experts, show that on 87 percent of occasions the resident manager is being underpaid for the numerous and constant tasks they perform as caretakers, managers and problem solvers. However, aside from the obvious economic benefits to a scheme, let us consider how some resident managers have improved their properties and enhanced the life of residents and guests in a way only long-term managers could. Geoff Hussin and his wife Tamara took over the Ivory Palms at Noosa eight years ago, lifted the star rating and boosted occupancy by 95 percent. That is a great win for everyone. Geoff and Tam knew it was a family resort, so after six months they asked the owners to scrap a tennis court and put in a giant jumping pillow because they knew from all their travels that kids just loved them. It was an immediate hit with guests. Then Geoff and Tam spent every spare cent developing a café at Ivory Palms. They craned in a large wood-fired pizza oven, put in a roof and lighting, and the place became a magnet for families. The lived experience for tenants, guests and unit owners was instantly enhanced. You do not get that sort of commitment from off-site contractors and property management with no skin in the game. No wonder they won the ARAMA Resident Manager of the Year award that year. At the Peninsula on Airlie Beach, Paul and Francine Tuddenham, while newcomers to management rights, knew right from the start that they had to focus on great customer service and the cleanliness of the property. They employed terrific cleaners who took pride in whatever they did. Fran says the secret to success in management and letting rights is treating everyone as welcome guests. They greet everyone with genuine

Trevor Rawnsley,

CEO, ARAMA Karen Nelson (3rd from the left) accepting her ARAMA Resident Manager of the Year Award in 2021

smiles and if they know it is a guest’s birthday or some other celebration, they make up a hamper and include a bottle of champagne and a little card. They buy chocolates too, and their cleaners Kenny and Annie put them on the pillows when they clean the rooms. So many guests reckon the Peninsula is the best place they have stayed at, because of that commitment to service you only get with onsite management who are committed to the scheme for the long-term benefit of all unit owners.

Karen Nelson, at the Lanai Riverside Apartments in Mackay, knew the property would be in for a fair bit of turbulence when COVID arrived two years ago. She sat down with her body corporate and unit owners and worked on solving a looming problem collaboratively. They needed to keep the doors open so she suggested transitioning a lot of the units from short-term letting into long-term letting with shorter leases. Karen made sure the owners tapped into any government assistance that they could. She contacted all the mainstream corporate clientele, particularly those who had contracts in place and found out what they needed to book safely. Karen kept all the staff employed in other areas within the complex, knowing that when things returned to normality and borders reopened, she would need a team at the ready and that the property could not afford to lose their experience. No wonder she won Resident Manager of the Year that year. You do not get that sort of care and service from outside contractors or outside property managers. Kylie and Gavin Bartholomew, who run Coco Mooloolaba, are very customer service-oriented, and guest focused. They rarely ever say no to guest requests. They maintain resident managers should work hard and put their guests and unit owners first – they go that extra mile. It is rewarding for them personally, and rewarding for guests, unit owners and the complex. They have really lifted their service levels by going above and beyond. If it is raining and people had a reservation for a restaurant down the street, they drive them down. Off-site contractors and off-site property managers simply do not do that. Michael Cross, who with his wife Karen, has run the Gold Coast complex Dorchester on The Beach for eight years, used the COVID downturn to oversee important improvements around the property, and they have been involved with repainting and repairing concrete cancer, upgrading the property’s windows and its fire safety and electrical systems, as well as re-landscaping the gardens. They take a close interest in everything happening at the Dorchester because, unlike outside contractors and off-site property managers, they have skin in the game as long-term resident managers with a longterm agreement. They know that if they want that agreement extended, they have to work for it and act in the best interests of the scheme at all times.

No wonder they were named “Building Manager of the Year’ at this year’s TOP Awards. During the recent Queensland floods, Rod Argyle, who has been the General Manager of the Riverside Hotel in Brisbane for five years, had all his team on the spot helping people affected by the rising flood water in a way that an outside contractor or outside property manager simply could not. When it comes to the way resident managers can improve the community feeling with a strata scheme, just look at the neighbourly vibe promoted by Ian and Maree Smith, from Hidden Grove and Brays on Vista, north of Brisbane who were named as Resident Manager of the year, this year. They oversee 150 units and have generated a real sense of community in their schemes since taking over in March 2020. COVID hit them just two or three weeks after they moved in and everyone in the scheme went into hibernation. Even Ian and Maree did not exactly know who was living there. They could not meet any of the tenants and no one came to the office.

So, after the lockdowns in Brisbane ended, they decided to promote a real sense of togetherness. They started a “hidden duck” competition, hiding 250 yellow plastic ducks throughout the gardens and common areas and encouraging kids and adults, renters, and unit owners to run around trying to find them in return for a prize.

That allowed Ian and Maree to meet many of the tenants in a relaxed atmosphere and listen to any concerns that they had. And the hidden duck competition continues to promote a great sense of camaraderie at those properties.

Ian and Maree are so diligent when it comes to promoting harmony and fun at the units they manage, that at Easter time Ian goes out at night dressed as the Easter Bunny and puts great big rabbit footprints around the place using a template and baby powder. It is a nice touch from a resident manager who really cares. You only get that sort of service and commitment from resident managers with a long-term interest in the scheme via long-term agreements. Time and time again those long-term MLR agreements prove to be in the very best interest of a scheme.

And that is why long-term management rights agreements work so effectively and have proven to be such as succuss through good times and bad for over 50 years.

Karen & Michael Cross Paul & Francine Tuddenham

Australian Resident Accommodation Managers Association is the peak industry body representing the interests of people who are involved in management rights.