There’s a common misconception that a broker is only useful to customers looking to buy a house. However, with the market tightening and conditions changing, now is the time to ensure you’re fully aware of all the resources available to your property management team and customers - to help you earn more business and build long term relationships with your tenants and landlords.
We spoke to Loan Market broker James Ruddick, who sits in the Ray White Wantirna office, about his offering to property management customers and the benefits it could bring to your business.
“Here in Wantirna there are at least seven real estate agencies in a 1km radius, so the environment is super competitive for both the sales and property management teams.
“I work very closely with the BDO in the office on generating future business or identifying any potential new properties that can be added to the rent roll. Being available for them is a strong selling point when it comes to securing new business,” James said.
But it’s not only new business that brokers can help with. Introducing a broker to your existing landlords and tenants is not only providing further value to your customer but is also a step in securing long term business.
“By reviewing a landlord’s finances we can identify their overall financial position and ultimately improve their return on investment. By doing this we can also identify any other properties that could be brought over to the rent roll or even potentially selling.”
“Assisting tenants is all about helping them get their foot in the door and establishing a guidance plan. This is also a great way to generate long term business especially if they end up buying. I actually just finalised a loan from a tenant that was sent to me in June 2017 from one of the property managers,” James said.
“I also call every new tenant and landlord to introduce myself and add them to the database so that I can provide further value in the future.”
As the only in-house broker for the Wantirna team, James is the go-to for all things finance.
“I hold weekly meetings with the property management team to keep them up to date with the lending market.
“A lot of agents will also come to me with questions regarding deals, borrowing, funds, stamp duty etc so it’s great that I’m seen as more than just a loan writer because we can provide so much more to their business.”
