How does your usual day look?
Each day I have a list/plan of what I am doing for both roles; business development manager and commercial property manager. With any plan, it has to be flexible to allow for events that arise that may need immediate attention. Every day is busy one way or the other, and that is what makes every day exciting.
How did you start your career in commercial real estate?
I started my real estate career in residential sales. A few years later, I was offered and accepted the position of property manager in another residential property office. During that time I was promoted to senior property manager and held that position for a few years. In September 2015, I was offered and accepted the role as commercial property manager at Ray White Commercial Toowoomba. Recently, I have taken on the role of business development manager in the same office to further my experience and assist the sales staff in selling and/or leasing commercial properties.
What do you enjoy most about being a business development manager/commercial property manager at Ray White Commercial? What makes Ray White Commercial different?
I enjoy my roles within the company mainly due to every day being different. Dealing with different types of owners, buyers, tenants and properties. Each day brings its challenges but most of all I am satisfied that I bring experience and knowledge to the table when dealing with commercial property.
Ray White Commercial Toowoomba is a great office to work in. The entire team including admin, contracts, marketing, sales & leasing, property management and management work very well together on separate and joint dealings. I certainly do not drag my feet on the way to the office each morning - I look forward to being part of a very successful office and team.
What are your go-to property management tips you present to your clients?
When I speak to clients I try to put my feet in their shoes. Some owners/buyers/tenants have a lot more experience and knowledge about commercial property than I will ever have - some have very little. I listen to what they say, feed it back to them so they know I have been listening, put a plan in place that I feel is realistic and gain acknowledgement that it is the way we are moving. Most people want to know they have been heard, that their opinions, thoughts, suggestions matter and that they know what is happening.
Tell me about a unique success story?
I listed a 4-unit property in Toowoomba - all tenanted. During that time, I made it a point to speak to all tenants to not only let them know about the sale but to see if any of the tenants were a potential buyer.
During the discussions, I learnt that one of the tenants was trying to sell a house in Melbourne with another agency. If he could sell the house - he would be very interested in purchasing the property in Toowoomba. In the discussion, I suggested that I contact one of our agents in the same local area as the tenant’s house to see what their thoughts were. The tenant agreed and I organised an inspection of the Melbourne house. The feedback was that the agency it was listed with had changed hands a few months back and had been practically forgotten by the new business owners. Needless to say, I organised a listing on the property working with the agency in Melbourne.
During the sale of the unit complex in Toowoomba, a buyer told me that they were also looking to buy a property in Melbourne as an investment. Long story made short, we sold the Melbourne property to the buyer and in the end, the tenant bought the unit complex - for cash. So during that process, we managed to help five entities achieve their goals.
What’s the one thing you know now, that you wish you knew when you first started out?
I wish I had known that the real estate world is not black and white. I thought that it was a very simple process of someone making a decision. There are many shades of grey when it comes to providing assistance to people when they are looking at buying/selling/renting a property. People need to understand their finances, time frames, family situation, property size, business planning, just to name a few. Very grey, very challenging, very rewarding.
What is your outlook for the Toowoomba commercial market over the next 12 months?
I believe Toowoomba’s market is solid with a lot of enquiry about commercial properties. Toowoomba is seen as a very important hub to be located in for agriculture, mining, transportation, etc. The market is also very tough and this has to deal with a few things like the long-lasting drought and mining issues, which affects all industries in the Toowoomba area. This has a flow-on effect and leads to the tightening of the financial belt when it comes to buying/selling/leasing commercial properties. Overall, a bit of rain and some success in the mining industry will help kick Toowoomba’s market along.
Contact
Email: paul.schmidt-lee@raywhite.com
Phone: 0499 781 455
