San Marino by the Sea: Running couple make hard yards pay off

Running couple make hard yards pay off

By Grantlee Kieza,

Industry Reporter

Richard and Leith Taylor met at a running club in Singapore, and they’ve now been running fabulous San Marino by the Sea apartments at Marcoola on the Sunshine Coast for fi ve years. They’re fi nally on a smooth track but had to negotiate plenty of hurdles in the early days of their fi rst foray into management rights.

Richard and Leith have built a strong relationship with their body corporate committ ee and strata, but it took a lot of hard work, and initially, they felt like they were running in quicksand. Richard, who comes from Bedford, about 100km north-east of London, has a background as an engineer specialising in farm machinery. Leith, from Brisbane, has a degree in hospitality and has worked in management at fi ve-star resorts. She was one of the people working around the clock for the opening of the Hyatt Coolum in 1988. Neither had been involved in management rights before taking over San Marino, and their new venture had plenty of shocks. “The previous managers had multiple issues with the body corporate and vice versa,” Richard told Resort News. “It was a bunfi ght, but Leith and I worked hard at fi xing the problems and aft er a while, it sett led down. It’s so important for anyone coming into management rights to make the relationship with the body corporate and the strata managers as strong as possible. was a lot of trouble between the previous managers and the body corporate. “We were supposed to have a week’s handover time but instead we got just 15 minutes and then we were on our own.

“The previous strata manager had resigned about six months earlier but we were lucky that

Cooper Boes (grounds and maintenance assistant), Richard and Leith Taylor (onsite managers), with Rohan Burke (committee chairperson) and Maree Burke

Les Cole from Sunstate Strata came on board and he has been great to work with. He’s very good at mediating. “It took about 18 months to straighten everything out with the body corporate but we now have a very good relationship with the chairperson, and we meet once a fortnight for a cup of coff ee and go through the budget and what needs to be done.

“We have diversity within the committ ee, and everything is talked about and discussed fairly.” San Marino by the Sea provides fully self-contained, spacious and comfortable apartments with stunning ocean or garden views, in a family-friendly location overlooking the azure waters of Marcoola Beach, and just a fi ve-minute drive from the Sunshine Coast airport. Guests can drift off to sleep to the sound of waves as cool ocean breezes waft over them.

But Richard and Leith, who had a boy and a girl at high school when they took over San Marino, had plenty of sleepless nights in the early stages of their new business. “It was very stressful for a long time,” Leith said, “and it was a matt er of making everyone realise that to manage the property well, we had to work together. On the committ ee we were lucky enough to have a mixture of investors and owneroccupiers so there was a balance between making the property look pristine and making a profi t. “It’s important for anyone coming into management rights to have a full real estate licence. The full licence is an important tool to have, in order to sell any apartments on behalf of the owners and to hopefully help to keep your lett ing pool safe. “We’ve had a couple of owners who have asked us to sell their units and we’ve found investors for them.

“Being a member of ARAMA has also been great as they provide advice and direction in regard to suppliers and support businesses that are specifi c to management rights.” Richard’s engineering work for the company Massey Ferguson took him to Singapore where he met Leith at the Hash House Harriers running club. “We got together and lived in the UK for 11 years then came over to Queensland about 16 years ago,” Richard said. “One of the last jobs I had with Massey Ferguson was to fi x problems in diff erent countries when the local teams couldn’t solve them. By the time I reached that customer, they weren’t the happiest person in the world! “So, customer service was a big part of my job and I learned to deal with all sorts of people in diff erent situations.”

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The couple moved to the Sunshine Coast because Leith had family nearby and thought it a great place to raise their two children.

“We came over to Australia during the GFC,” Richard explained, “it was a tough time and as you get older jobs are harder to get. But I managed to find work in Coolum at two or three management rights places. I cut my teeth with maintenance, gardening, night management, odd jobs, all sorts of things… “Leith had all her knowledge and skills in accommodation and when this property became available, we thought we’d go for it. We knew there were problems, but we didn’t know the extent of them.

“We had a great housekeeper, but her hours had been cut and she was limited in what she could do. So, one of our first things was to make cleaning in the building a top priority. “We divided all the running of the building into modules and worked to get the body corporate onside. Eventually, over time, it dropped into place.

“We spent a lot of money on getting the building right and now we’re getting the market right.”

Leith said they were attracted to the property because of its great access to the beach and proximity to the Sunshine Coast airport. San Marino had the size and opportunity to encourage their investment and was within their budget.

There are 35 units of two- and three-bedroom configuration, with 20 in the letting pool.

There is a tennis court and saltwater swimming pool, and the fifth floor has a private sun deck. Public transport is at the door.

“We knew this place only had one way to go and that there was a lot of improvement we could make,” Leith said.

“Being so close to the airport is a great asset, particularly during COVID when people weren’t going overseas. We provide a free shuttle, and the airport is literally only five minutes around the corner. Even with the airport so close, San Marino is still a lovely, quiet place and people who come here love the fact that we’re right on the beach they only have to cross the road at a properly lighted crossing to go to the shops. “Many people stock up on groceries and don’t leave the apartments for two or three days so that they can really relax and wind down.”

Richard said he and Leith had received great support from ARAMA Life Member

Eric Van Meurs, who runs the neighbouring property, Atlantis.

Eric organised weekly meetings with local resident managers where they could swap ideas and news on their properties or tradespeople they could recommend. Richard and Leith continue that trend.

“Our start in management rights was quite daunting but we got a lot of help from other ARAMA members who had so much experience,” Richard said.

“Now we are repeating the cycle fi ve years later with new people coming into the industry and it’s nice to be able to pass on our advice at what we call our “Book Club” every Thursday.

“When we started here, Eric told us that the fi rst three months of management rights are the hardest, aft er six months you get the hang of it, and aft er a year you start to feel a lot more comfortable.

“We love living here. Our daughter is studying at university for the Air Force now, but she’s coming home soon. Beach cricket is certainly on the menu and it’s a beautiful place to play it.” 10% DISCOUNT FOR RESORT NEWS READERS WHEN BOOKED DIRECT

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