On Tuesday 17 June Ray White property managers and business owners came together at the Waipuna Conference Centre for our inaugural two-day New Zealand Property Management Retreat, presented in conjunction with Apmasphere.
In recent years, the demands of the real estate industry have reached fever pitch – and property management is no exception. “Legislation is changing faster, tenants are keeping property managers busier and busier, and hours are escaping property managers at such a rate that lunch is a rare reward in a less-than-ideal week. Add to that the financial pressure that comes with growing a rent roll and it’s fair to say that most property management businesses are facing challenges beyond their control.” says Ben White, Managing Director of Apmasphere and Director of the Ray White Group. “These retreats are dedicated to the process of developing a strategic plan for Ray White property management businesses. The retreats cover the process of understanding the strategic choices our property managers have and the process of building a business plan that takes into account their agency and marketplace, their financial profile and their ability and capacity to execute that plan… The two-day retreat gives business owners and property managers a chance to review their business structures, systems and processes – many of which have remained largely unchanged from the days when collecting rent over the counter was our number one task.”
Over 24 Ray White New Zealand Principals, Property Managers and Business Owners attended the retreat to look at and review their business planning, financial modelling, break even calculations, market share, team structures, marketing and action strategies, points of difference, capability mapping and investigate further Apmasphere‘s Connecting the Dots business strategy – a learning and development program designed to help business owners build upon their own capabilities in property management. While every property management business is different, every leader is different and every marketplace is different, there are also fundamental economic, business and cultural factors that operate across the industry.
“It was a fantastic couple of days that really highlighted the professionalism that is coming through Property Management and the Ray White training offerings and a great opportunity for business owners to share and collaborate so that we can all gain a deeper understanding of our businesses and the challenges we face as well as the strategies we can then implement to achieve our goals” says Zac Snelling, Ray White New Zealand‘s Property Management Business Development Executive. “We had owners from as far south as Ray White Dunedin and Ray White Christchurch right up to Ray White Warkworth travelling to attend.”
Ray White Corporate Team Members Craig Heath, Tricia Crombie (Ray White’s Queensland Property Management Business Development Executive) joined Zac Snelling and Ben White to host the event. CEO of Ray White New Zealand, Carey Smith, also attended to learn and contribute – commenting that “experienced and skilled property managers are an asset to any real estate business, as is an efficiently run rent-roll. When you continue to invest in and upskill in both your people and your rent roll, your business potential is unlimited.”
John Tanner, Business Owner from Ray White City Apartment Rentals who attended the two-day course commented that “To have training and assistance of such a high calibre makes me feel proud that my business is associated with the Ray White brand… A few areas that were covered in the retreat that I thought were top notch included: the capability mapping that Ben White presented, how we can utilise Statistics New Zealand data in our business performance goals-setting and measurement, and the financial benchmarking Craig Heath presented and explained to us – the spread sheet calculators he provided us with were fantastic.”
The next Ray White New Zealand Property Management Retreat will be held in 2015.