Case Study: Oakwood Properties and Re-Leased
Oakwood Properties Levels Up Portfolio Management with Re-Leased
Oakwood Properties, a family-run investment and property management company based in Dunedin, manages a diverse portfolio of commercial, industrial, retail, and residential assets. With a tight-knit team and an active board, Oakwood needed a way to streamline operations, reduce risk, and unlock more time for strategic work.
By adopting Re-Leased, Oakwood modernised its processes, gained visibility, and empowered its team to focus on what matters most.
Rosaria Marsh | Commercial Property Manager
Challenge: Disconnected Systems, Hidden Risks, and Time-Consuming Admin
Oakwood Properties’ team was juggling a growing portfolio with “lots of spreadsheets, lots of layers, and lots of hidden cells.” Information was siloed. Lease events, rent reviews, and tenant details were scattered across Outlook calendars, legacy software, and accounting platforms that weren’t keeping pace. This patchwork approach led to information silos, duplicated effort, and operational risk.
“No one really knew where to find anything. If we needed a tenant contact or a lease date or rent review information, or even just how much a tenant was paying for rent, no one really knew.”
This led to:
- Manual and repetitive work: Invoicing could take up to two days each month. Recharges and compliance checks were calculated by hand.
- Lack of transparency: Team members struggled to locate key documents or contacts, especially if someone was away.
- Data risk: Accidental changes in calendars caused missed lease dates; reliance on memory increased the chance of costly errors.
- Compliance exposure: Without a central source of truth, overlooked checks or missing documentation posed regulatory and reputational risk.
- Limited scalability: The admin burden left little time for strategic work or business growth.
With critical data scattered and dependent on individuals’ institutional knowledge, Oakwood faced the very real risk of missing important deadlines or losing essential information.
“There was just a lot of risk with not having everything streamlined. If I were ever away, none of my team would know who to contact.”
Solution: Transitioning to Re-Leased for Connected, Confident Property Management
When Oakwood Properties decided it was time for change, they sought a system purpose-built for property professionals, one that would centralise their data, automate key tasks, and support their unique needs.
Re-Leased was recommended during a compliance audit, which highlighted the risks of their legacy approach. Oakwood’s directors saw that moving to a cloud-based platform was no longer a “nice to have,” but essential to reduce risk, improve processes, and empower the team.
Prompted by the audit and a clear need to reduce risk and inefficiency, Oakwood adopted Re-Leased as its new cloud-based, connected property management system. The decision was validated by Deloitte’s recommendation and the board’s recognition of the importance of operational resilience.
Oakwood was able to move all key lease data, compliance documentation, and financial integrations into Re-Leased, tailored to their workflow without overcomplicating things.
- Migrated lease, tenant, and property data from legacy spreadsheets and calendars to Re-Leased.
- Integrated Re-Leased with Xero for real-time financial reporting and seamless accounting.
- Adopted automated reminders for lease events, rent reviews, and compliance tasks.
- Provided board members with read-only access for greater visibility and oversight.
“The transition was much smoother than I anticipated. I didn’t really have to do much at all. The support from the Re-Leased team is great - anytime we have questions, support normally replies within a few hours, and their answers are really helpful.”
“Before Re-Leased, roughly 70% of our workflow was manual. Invoicing took two full days each month, outgoings checks were slow, and rent reconciliations were a slog. The arrears texting feature has been a game-changer - it saves hours and gets quicker responses.”
Centralised Information & Operational Efficiency
- Single source of truth: All property, lease, and tenant data is now accessible in one place, improving transparency and reducing reliance on individual knowledge.
- Reduced manual work: Monthly invoicing, previously a two-day task, is now largely automated.
- Improved team collaboration: The email integration feature allows all team members to see tenant communications, reducing duplication and providing continuity when staff are away.
“We’ve definitely reduced manual work. We have almost no paper in the office, which is great. There’s improved visibility across the portfolio, and the email feature is really helpful - especially when people are away and you don’t know who’s said what.”
- Resilience to data loss: When Oakwood’s Outlook calendar disappeared, Re-Leased’s centralised event tracking ensured nothing was missed.
“Connecting Xero and Re-Leased and having them talk to each other has been amazing. We wanted stronger financial reporting, and we’ve got it - plus automated reminders for lease events.”
Accurate Financials and Streamlined Workflows
- Integrated Xero sync: Reliable two-way integration with Xero ensures accurate, up-to-date financials and simplifies reporting for both the admin team and directors.
- Automated on-charging: Tasks that previously took half a day - such as splitting invoices among tenants - now take minutes, reducing errors and freeing time for higher-value work.
- Automated arrears management: The team now uses SMS notifications to communicate with tenants in arrears, saving time and improving outcomes.
“One invoice that might have to be recharged to three tenants would take all morning on our old system. Now, all the recharge percentages are there and away it goes. Re-Leased does all the calculations automatically and we don’t miss any recharges.”
Enhanced Compliance and Risk Management
- Compliance matrix: By mapping all compliance tasks in the Re-Leased compliance hub, Oakwood identified contractor gaps that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
- Audit trail: Directors and administrators now work from the same real-time data, improving trust and accountability.
“We decided to get all our compliance into Re-Leased’s compliance matrix, and discovered that one of our contractors was missing several checks they were supposed to do. We wouldn’t have known if we hadn’t fed everything into Re-Leased.”
Empowered Strategic Focus
With admin time greatly reduced, the Oakwood team can focus on tenant relationships, portfolio planning, and new development opportunities. Directors have real-time portfolio insights and can make data-driven decisions without relying on lengthy reports.
“We've updated our website, which is exciting. We didn't have time to do that before. Now we can focus on more of the fun stuff to do with property instead of manually creating invoices each month.”
Features that made the difference
The features that make work easier and results stronger. They streamline the busywork, surface what matters, and help Oakwood Properties deliver a better experience for owners, tenants, and the team.
Compliance Matrix and Templates
- Visual dashboard highlights outstanding actions and compliance status.
- Templates ensure consistency and reduce human error.
- Ability to present compliance data to providers and regulators instantly.
Xero Integration
- Automatic sync of invoices, payments, and financial records.
- Reduces reconciliation time and avoids double-handling.
Email Integration
- All team communications with tenants are visible and linked to the relevant lease or property.
- No need to chase down “who said what” - improves service and accountability.
Stacking Plan
- Visual representation of building floors, tenant occupancy, and lease details at a glance.
- Supports strategic planning and quick decision-making.
Confidence, Satisfaction, and Team Morale
Re-Leased has changed not just Oakwood’s processes, but how the team feels about their work. Team members are less stressed, more confident, and able to cover for each other seamlessly, while directors are empowered with real-time insights that strengthen governance and drive smarter strategic decisions.
The result is a team that’s energised to unlock new features and continue levelling up.
“Re-Leased just gets better and better. More and more helpful features come out, which just helps me to continue to do the stuff at work that I actually enjoy doing.”
Future Outlook: Continuous Improvement and Growth
Oakwood Properties continues to unlock new features and value from Re-Leased as their business evolves. The team is exploring mobile app capabilities and the new tenant website, and remains focused on building stronger tenant relationships and planning for future developments.
“Each day we’re just unlocking a new part of Re-Leased, and it’s quite exciting. It’s actually just quite exciting to be with software that is continuing to grow and to be part of that journey.”
“If you want to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and have confidence within your data, then Re-Leased is an excellent choice. It’s scalable and user-friendly, and has added a lot of value to Oakwood Properties.”
“Moving from spreadsheets to Re-Leased was simple. Other systems felt complicated and didn’t suit the New Zealand market or teams like ours coming off spreadsheets. Re-Leased reduced our risk, improved efficiency, and gave us real confidence in our data. It’s scalable from smaller property owners to bigger groups and it’s genuinely easy to use. It’s added a lot of value to Oakwood Properties, and I’m confident it will for other property management businesses too.”
