Talking to business owners everyday as I do, the one topic that invariably comes up is reducing overheads. I’ve built some industry benchmarks on this subject from our Free Rent Roll Health Checks we offer the industry at the end of each financial year. The reports focus around: Income $$$ - Wages – Operating Expenses = Profit

Wages are a BIG issue for many owners. These days you pay an attractive salary package from a top performing Property Manager – and rightly so, it can be a challenging and demanding job. During the week I spoke to a NSW principal who is saving a small fortune on wages, rent, and operating overheads by managing the business remotely. They manage around 200 properties without a shopfront and seven staff.

The key challenge of a remote operating model is finding the RIGHT people. Working remotely is not for everyone, and the real challenge is finding people who can sustain it.  Regular ‘team/training days’ are arranged so everyone interacts.

The technology is certainly available to do it – the business maintains a good server and everything is merged via Dropbox.

Does it work? Well this business now employs three full-time staff, and four support staff who work varying hours. It’s been in operation for 9 years and enjoys 20% profit growth annually. Remote property management is not for everyone depending on your operating model and scale – but that doesn’t mean it can’t work for some businesses.