For an industry with $3 trillion in revenue a year, and growth of 5.4 per cent over the last 5 years, commercial property management remains something that many in the industry don’t quite get.
Some recent research from Macquarie Bank shows almost 30 per cent of businesses in the industry have been in operation over 20 years, with a great deal in the middling zone of 6-15 years of operation.
What this goes to show is that many have been doing things since before the arrival of email and the tectonic upheaval of the 2008 financial crash.
Plenty of agencies see their work done once the lease is signed and the tenants moved in. But the trick to longevity is to do more; minimise vacancies and maximise returns.
How property managers expand their portfolio sizes is a determining factor...
Agencies that provide services beyond the signature on the lease agreement are agencies that will prosper.
That could be having smarter management of their systems, to minimising work for the customer, to providing services differently than the competition.
Ray White Bayside has seen their portfolio size grow rapidly after adopting a commercial property management software platform.
Adopting the software had made landlord recording “more efficient” and that “the feedback we have received has been great.”
“As I said to my director: as we get more information into the system, we will have a hub of literally every document required in the one spot, and I find that far more efficient,” she said.
What extra services can agencies do to profit?
You might already be doing them, but standout agencies in the CRE office space go above and beyond the call of duty for their tenants.
The extras they could offer include:
But why would an agency do this if business seems to be running smoothly? Simply that they’re more likely to keep customers, which minimises vacancies and churn rates.
So what is commercial real estate’s future?
Some basic facts here: more than 4 million businesses work in the CRE space, employing 12.5 million people a year between them.
The US remains the world’s supreme CRE space, but demand for business and retail space across the world, particularly in Asia, will shape the next decades.
If you’re in real estate and run a sales-led agency then you should look to expand your services the best way to reach an as-yet untapped market – and that is by hiring a commercial property manager.
But if you’re in commercial property and you want to expand your profitability, you need to get smarter.
Access our FREE guide on how property managers can use a strong market to their advantage
