PM Collective - The ART of property management
Know your worth with Giselda Accinelli
Giselda Accinelli is the visionary Director of Property Management at M Motion Real Estate. Her journey from construction to property management is no doubt a passion-driven success. Her unique approach to educating landlords and tenants, coupled with her emphasis on clear communication, has allowed her to navigate the challenges of the industry and maintain long-term, rewarding relationships with property owners.
In our conversation, Giselda emphasizes that it’s far more than just financial transactions. She shares her belief in a personalized service where property owners are treated like friends, and their assets are managed with the utmost care. We explore the flexibility in work hours and the importance of trust and open communication in creating a fulfilling career. Giselda also tackles the often-overlooked aspects of property management, such as dealing with high turnover rates and the need for continuous professional development.
Giselda provides practical advice on preventing maintenance issues and offering financial solutions for landlords, underscoring the importance of education and proactive management. She highlights how staying informed about legislation and ongoing education is crucial for success in the real estate industry.
I absolutely loved this chat! One of my favourite guests to date that I have interviewed
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Business owners are building their rental portfolios faster than ever and Property Managers can’t possibly do it all!
Keep your property managers doing what they love and outsource the things they don’t to a company that thrives on positive feedback and guarantees a premium personalised service
www.propertyassistwa.com.au
Giselda Accinelli is the visionary Director of Property Management at M Motion Real Estate. Her journey from construction to property management is no doubt a passion-driven success. Her unique approach to educating landlords and tenants, coupled with her emphasis on clear communication, has allowed her to navigate the challenges of the industry and maintain long-term, rewarding relationships with property owners.
In our conversation, Giselda emphasizes that it’s far more than just financial transactions. She shares her belief in a personalized service where property owners are treated like friends, and their assets are managed with the utmost care. We explore the flexibility in work hours and the importance of trust and open communication in creating a fulfilling career. Giselda also tackles the often-overlooked aspects of property management, such as dealing with high turnover rates and the need for continuous professional development.
Giselda provides practical advice on preventing maintenance issues and offering financial solutions for landlords, underscoring the importance of education and proactive management. She highlights how staying informed about legislation and ongoing education is crucial for success in the real estate industry.
I absolutely loved this chat! One of my favourite guests to date that I have interviewed
The team at The Grout Guy are the leading experts in regrouting, waterproofing, and tiling services nationwide. Property managers find comfort in their 10-year waterproof warranty on all full shower regrouts.
Visit thegroutguy.com.au to rejuvenate your properties tiles and grout now!
www.thegroutguy.com.au
Inspection Express and Paperless Office is the leader in innovative, time saving property Inspection Software.
Property Management Software | Inspection Express & Paperless Office (ipropertyexpress.com)
Business owners are building their rental portfolios faster than ever and Property Managers can’t possibly do it all!
Keep your property managers doing what they love and outsource the things they don’t to a company that thrives on positive feedback and guarantees a premium personalised service
www.propertyassistwa.com.au
welcome to today's episode and I am really excited for our guests because I haven't met her before and um, you're going to hear from her. Um, as fresh as I am. Um, because I know nothing about gisela at chaneli, who is a director of property manager at m motion real estate in Gold Coast. Gisela, thank you for jumping on.
Speaker 2:My pleasure, my pleasure. Thank you for welcoming me.
Speaker 1:I reached out to you because of a post on LinkedIn that I saw you do and I haven't seen your name before. I saw a post about educating landlords and you seemed really, really passionate and I love this space as well. So I reached out to you and I thought what a great discussion we're going to have on the education space with landlords and owners and just sharing sort of things that you're doing as well as what I'm doing. But before we get into that, I'd love to find out a little bit more about yourself, who you are, your business, where you've been, where you are now, and just give us a little bit more of an idea of what that looks like.
Speaker 2:Sounds like a plan, I am don't be afraid to disclose, 57 years old, crazy Italian. I'm absolutely passionate about property management. In my previous life I was in construction. My ex-husband had the renovations. I always I don't know if it's in my blood I love homes. I love.
Speaker 2:I've been in customer service born and bred since I was 18. I get a kick out of resolving issues and helping others and being passionate about homes and people and trying to help everybody. You know the property management became a very good fit for me, owning my own home and always own my own businesses before this. I have a mentality to not going, as we say, paycheck to paycheck, but trying to achieve goals and help people to achieve what they want to achieve. And so, in a nutshell, I started in property manager per se 2018 and, possibly because of my knowledge in properties and service and everything else, I escalated pretty quick and I joined Emotion last year in May as Director of Property Management, because they were focused only on sales. At that time they didn't have a property management division, so I just jumped in and we started together. So there is a lot in the pipeline for us, but the tag of emotion is real estate new generation, in the sense of not just collecting money, not just selling, but educating, as you say, as we were discussing tenants owners.
Speaker 2:I'm a big believer that in property management is a partnership between us, the owners and the tenants.
Speaker 2:So if you are able to actually obtain a great partnership between the whole party, that's a dream goal, and to be able to do that you need to always make sure everybody understands their role, their duties and their rights, and often it's something that, on my point of view, is very much downplayed. You know, a lot of us in property management are used as just rent collectors and just simply going and taking picture of the house to make sure that there is no holes in the wall, and there is so much more to it. You know, with all the new legislation coming to the party, with everybody having rights from the owner point of view, the rent being so high and tenants obviously expecting certain treatments because of what's happening and the best way for me to even prevent conflict and disputes I haven't been to court in the last two years. Good job, it's a great thing, because that means that we can resolve everything one way or another without too much drama, even if there was a lot of drama regardless. So, yeah, that's basically what I do and who I am.
Speaker 1:So you've come into property management I guess later in life, and so I think that that really shows through the maturity of how you're sort of dealing with it with clients. I think it makes a big difference. I see so many property managers that have started when they're 18. And, yes, they can have 20 years or 30 years experience. But when people have that, they also have a lot of negativity sometimes towards industry because they've sort of you know, they've gone through property management cycles, but also during their own life cycles, if that makes sense. And so there's something refreshing about your content that I'm quite drawn to, and I think it's because you can't, your day one comes in at a different level to someone else's day one I guess that's the best way for me to explain it and you just come in with a different freshness for it all.
Speaker 2:Well, to tell you the truth, I'm quite a feisty one, you know, typical of Italian stuff, and I need to get things done and I'm very, you know, focused in everything I do, things done and I'm very, you know, focused in everything I do and in any business. I always have been self-employed basically all my life. I never approached the business as even if I always work for third parties, you know, like even drawing their wage regularly, but that doesn't matter to me. You know, when you are in in an industry and your boss name is on the board, but whatever you do, is your responsibility to get him in jail, potentially speaking, or fined. That's for me, it's a huge responsibility that I take extremely serious.
Speaker 2:The biggest issue for me that I noticed from the external point of view is the way, unfortunately, to be pretty honest, licensees and business treat property managers so property managers often they become babysitters. Property managers often they become babysitters, so they become the babysitter. Because, as we all know, the portfolio that we have is a huge asset for any real estate, either because it supplies property to sell and it's because it provides a steady stream of income, but nevertheless, the people that are maintaining your stream of income and your flock. They are really treated like very expendable and that's to me it's a big issue because the job in itself that we do is extremely stressful and that's because you're dealing with owners, with tenants with problems. If there is no problems, you're dealing with owners, with tenants with problems. If there is no problems, you're not involved and it's when there is a problem that you need to jump in and being able to negotiate either firmly or nourishing one way or another. I've been involved in companies where there was such a toxic and such a bad environment that that doesn't surprise me that property managers they say I'm out because it's not worth it for your mental sanity With that motion. It's been absolutely amazing because, I mean, the principal here is a completely different ballpark and is very supportive, is very understanding, and I've got free reigns on the type of service I want to give.
Speaker 2:Another thing that I notice in a lot of businesses is that businesses tend to split the portfolio Like one person does the trust account, one person does this, one person does that, and that one person does this, one person does that, and that is all done, on my point of view, to make sure that if one leaves, it's not going to take everything to with them.
Speaker 2:So this is something else that, to me, should be changing, because if I'm an owner, I want Maria to deal with my property from A to Z, from my disbursement to my maintenance, to every nook and cranny of my property. And yes, if Maria leaves, I'm going to get Maria to follow my property. But it's the job of the business making sure that Maria is not going anywhere, because it's a good asset to my business. So I'm going to look after Maria and make sure she stays with me, she thrives and she looks after everything with me and for me. So that's a part of the education that I would love property managers to understand and start to put their foot down, to understand their value and where they should grow and dedicate themselves to companies that value them for what they're worth. It.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's your day-to-day role at Emotion? Is it property management, bdm? What is the actual Everything, everything.
Speaker 2:So you have a portfolio, everything. I'm fully, yeah, yeah, I'm fully licensed, yeah and uh, but my, my heart lays in property management. So, uh, you know as much as people say, oh, you should go to sales, there is more money. Money is not necessarily. Everything to me is, uh, I love my long-term relationship. My owners are my friends. I'm going on a cruise with two of them, you know, in November. They become like family. I'm looking after their property as if I own them, so they are my property.
Speaker 2:When I go in with a tenant, a new tenant, I always tell them consider me the owner of this property. So when I come in, when there is is a problem, my phone is always on. People say that I'm crazy. I went on a cruise in November last year and I had internet just to be able to do my bits and pieces and my Michael was saying, oh, no, you should go on holiday. And I said, no, no, no, somebody need to know I'm alive and that I have an ear. I tell them and come back in three days. They don't mind, but they hear you and it's a matter of being heard. The famous. I've been trying to contact my property manager for three days and nobody is answering. You know, owners, they are upset because you are really managing the biggest asset for them. You know and these are mum and dads, these are people that they need your guidance. You know, if it's only about picking up a check, they can do it themselves, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's really refreshing to hear you know how you treat property management, because we are getting drummed into ourselves you into ourselves every day about things like reducing to a four-day work week, that healthy work-life balance, and what that looks like, or what people think that looks like, and that's all fine for some people. But I have a similar opinion as you, that I really enjoy work. It's not stressful for me, and I wonder why we need to, or feel the need to, reduce our work days to four days a week, why we're encouraging that and why we're not actually encouraging people to enjoy their job more, so that that's actually not something that we're not actually encouraging people to enjoy their job more, so that that's actually not something that we're focusing on. And I know that for me and my team that we and I haven't done this strategically or on purpose. It's just the way that it's happened, probably based on you know my on how I have employed. But we pay a salary to do a job and I actually don't mind how you do that job. So if that means that you work seven days a week but have very flexible days and do personal appointments during the weekday, that's okay. Or if you prefer to work Monday to Friday, that's okay, but there's not any pressure there for what your ideal week or ideal life looks, where you can create that.
Speaker 1:And we are also getting drummed into the task space where you know, like you said, you've got your trust accountant, you've got your maintenance, you've got your inspectors and all of that.
Speaker 1:And there will be people out there that are sick of hearing that because they have, you know, the same passion as what you do and they're like I just want to manage it and have that very relationship-based experience. And I would imagine I'm going to assume that your life is somewhat, probably, easy because you've got so much trust with your clients that it's very easy. If something needs to be done, it needs to be done. If you can't get hold of of a client, you know what they would be expecting you to do. It would be a very um, I would imagine. I'm not going to say your job's easy all the time, but I imagine it'd be a lot more of an easier uh, property management life than what some people are experiencing well, the thing is that if you don't stick to your mind to nine to five, a lot of the owners that have the properties, they are business people.
Speaker 2:You can't reach them nine to five. So if I have, I have owners overseas in Europe, I have them in the States. So if you are my friend and there is an emergency in your place, I text you, I send you WhatsApp and I say listen, this is what's happening, I'm doing this for you. Let me know if there is any issue. Legally, we have to act in the best interest of our owners and that's the end of the story. But for the same token, I'm getting my owner's money. That's the end of the story. But for the same token, I'm getting my owner's money. So if somebody was using my money regardless, I would want to have a say If the house is on fire, for crying out loud, yes, that's a different thing. If there is a main burst, if there is any issue, but there is always a space for an owner to give you their input. There are some that they say listen, I don't want to hear it. Just do whatever you want to do, as my, my rule is always yes, but if I do something you don't like, don't blame me later. You know, for me is always like yeah, I'm about to do this. If there is anything, if I don't hear you within the next three hours, I'm going to go ahead. So I give you always a window, the flexibility of work For me.
Speaker 2:I'm not a nine-to-five, I'm a task base. So my portfolios are my babies, my owners are my friends. If the properties are looked after, I'm okay. I can start at nine and finish at two. But if it's needed for me to go on, do a completely different thing, even for the.
Speaker 2:I don't do open homes because doing open homes, how many times you've been to an open home and nobody shows up, or the right property, or the sorry, the right applicant doesn't show up because they have work. So I'll do it completely different. I ask people to apply first. When they apply, then I verify if they're good, then I call you and I say Mary, look at this, your application looks great. When do you want to see it? Oh God, I work. I can only see it at Friday six o'clock. Let's make it happen. Then I open for everybody else, but at least I know that she's going to be there because her application and then obviously mine. They don't like it. They like it, but it's no point of having tenants fighting with each other and having 20 people attending one when the right people don't show up and they feel already frustrated.
Speaker 2:There is so much more to property management than just I'll do an inspection every three months, I collect the checks, I pay the money out. It's so much in relationship. It's so much in understanding legislation, what the duties are, and unfortunately, many owners they do not understand as well. And they look at the brands, one of the things that I would love to teach owners forget about what's the name on the board, because the owner of that business, how big it is, they will not look after your property. It will be the Mary of the situation looking after the property. Meet Mary, make sure that you like her, that you gel with her, that you have a good communication with Mary, that she's your person, she's going to be your person looking after your home. And if she doesn't fit, don't settle because of one point of percentage. When you do the math of one point of percentage, it's just a bloody joke. Then you have $15,000 damages in the bathroom. Your one point of percent is going to go out of your ear, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you get a lot of referrals for new business more than coming through the office, then Is that what you're experiencing?
Speaker 2:Yes, I have owners that have been bouncing with me for good and every time that they can. I have other agents the working agencies that do have roles, but I manage their properties because they know how I operate and they refer properties to me because they want to preserve their owner and they know how I look after their properties. Sometimes, unfortunately, there is a kind of pass me the term a laziness in owners that unless they hit the wall and they have a major problem, they won't change, they won't swap. But by the time they hit the wall, it's a difficult thing to do to fix everything out. So it's. It's like nowadays people revise their power bill, they revise their internet bill, they revise everything regularly every year.
Speaker 2:Why are you not revising your property management? Why are you not revising that? You're getting the service that you deserve? Why you don't deserve? Don't revise your communication. You don't take a pulse on the thing when you go to market and you know that you're losing a hundred thousand dollars because your property is being let go for too long, well, how are you going to fix that then? Yeah, you're going to be complaining with the property management. It's way too late, isn't it?
Speaker 1:yeah, so I don't know. So you've got a lot of clients in that bounce along with you. That would make you a very valuable, valuable asset to the business that you're working for, and the business would have to make sure they're very accountable with looking after you, I would imagine. So it's just the value that property managers can actually bring to a business and holding that value.
Speaker 2:That is exactly my point, because if I brought to the business multiple homes that had been sold and that's you know and the owners that I manage the property for, they want our business to sell the property because they ask me, how is the sales side? And I said, for me it's awesome because you know, when you hear your principal talking in his office all the time and you can feel the genuine interest, the genuine care that is not just a show. You know that real estate is one of the worst reputable businesses because we are all liars, we can't be trusted. I'm so proud when I deal with you know, this company, when I have people that are here behind the scenes and what they say to my clients is the same that they say to me or between us, when I've been into companies where agents are trained to lie, like it's shocking. It's like they are saying, oh, you say this, this and that and then you blame it in a different way and you do and do that. So it's really you know, and the property manager, yes, becomes a threat because technically, if I walked out tomorrow, there will be a lot of people walking out.
Speaker 2:But why would I walk out? People are afraid of. They say why don't you start your own business? Starting your own business it's a lot of stress, it's a lot of money, it's a lot of things on my shoulder. In here I am with a team of people, agents, a caring principal. Why would I want to go anywhere? Make no sense. The only time I would consider going anywhere is, obviously, if you are mistreated, if you are abused, if you are used. You know and that's something that is up on the principles to understand and don't be afraid of, it's like in a relationship for crying out loud. You know, if you're so afraid of losing your partner but you treat them like dirt, they're going to walk out. That's it. It. That's the end of the conversation. Treat them right, respect them, empower them. Why would they want to go somewhere? I?
Speaker 1:love. I love how much that business is going to have to be accountable for good behavior. That's incredible. How do you find a company for those that are listening, that are feeling a little bit worthless in their office, like, how do you find a company that does match, um, what you're looking for when you haven't worked there before? Like, obviously, is it just by looking at their reviews online, or how did you find that that match?
Speaker 2:I tell you there is a lot of frogs to be kissed before you find your prince, and that's the rite of passage. But I see every experience as much as negative as a learning curve. So there is no. It's like again when you start a relationship you don't know what you're looking for. It's keep bumping against the hard wall that it teaches you later in life.
Speaker 2:This is what I want, this is what I'm not going to settle for, and my suggestion to anybody is learn. Learn as much as you can Be as good as you can, give your heart and soul to your clients, because at the end of the story, those are the people that are going to follow you, these are the people that are going to talk about you and these are the people that are going to support you. So that are your clients. Then, if you know, if you are a number, you're going to be a number no matter what you do. But then you have to be smart and don't sit back and wait for too long.
Speaker 2:I mean, in our industry, for crying out loud, I receive, you know, like the Sikh on the Gold Coast, there is position that they are everywhere, everywhere because of the high turnover, and it's one of the biggest frustrations of owners as well. Today I deal with Mary, tomorrow I deal with Peter. I change the property managers every other day. Well, they should tell you a lot. Change company altogether. If you keep having different property managers, it's because whatever is behind is not right, so just leave them. Find somebody where Mary is going to look for you from enrolling you, your documents, your you, your documents, your tenants, your inspections, your trust accounting, everything you know. Then you know that you can say to Mary well, you stuff up, girl, what you are doing, blah, blah, blah and everybody's accountable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. What do you do personally for like personal development, self-development?
Speaker 2:Is that a strong part of your day-to-day? Well, legislation-wise, I read a lot. Every single newsletter is everything. I live in Strata and Strata is another major issue in Gold Coast for a lot of the ridiculous abuse of Strata committees and body corporate managers. Just at the moment we have a body corporate manager that is refusing to release an owner role. An owner wants to have the owner role and they say no, you're not going to get. It is the law. You can't go above the law, but that's what they do and owners. Sometimes they get overwhelmed and put in a corner and it's very, very important to assist owners that buy into strata to navigate everything that the legislation requires the pets, the noise, the nuisance, everything in between. So I read a lot regarding strata legislation coming up, everything that comes out on new laws.
Speaker 2:You try to listen, to talk to people, new laws. You try to listen to talk to people. I'm very much a kind of a law-abiding citizen, like, if that's what the law says and that's what is advised, I can give you the best advice I can give based on this is what it is, not me. I can't make the law, I can't change it. This is what is passed. Let's make it work to the best for us. You know Life give you lemons, let's make an amazing lemonade and that's all we can do. So that's what I do. I chose recently when I did my full license, instead of doing an RPL. I redone the course from scratch because you know you get a refresh of everything and it's just interesting to say, yeah, I know it, I know it, I know it and I help you know as much as I can. I talk to colleagues and the frustration in a lot of companies is just ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So a lot of conversations, a lot of reading, and then you know you've recently done your license, so then you've got that extra and I like that. I like that you didn't go down the road of the RPL and just doing it again just to check that. That's one of the big things that can be. A problem in real estate is like for me, for example. I did my course 24 years ago and I've got a new junior who's just done her course and I have always said, you know what? She's probably better than me because she's up to date with everything and hasn't formed those habits. So there's something to be said in redoing the prior learning.
Speaker 2:But you know that now there is the new law that all the agents, every person in real estate, will have to keep doing legally. If you want to maintain the licence, we will have to do X amount. Every course will have points and you have to do to have a certain amount of points to be able to retain your license. And that's actually great because it will push everybody to keep learning, understanding, comparing, um, you know, and talking to people.
Speaker 1:So we've got that in wa, where we've got the 10 cIC compulsory development points that we do, but it's about in the next couple of years. It's going to be reduced to five. So they're actually reducing the amount that we have to do, which is, I don't think, a great move, but it's one they've got to put in place. We'll see how that works.
Speaker 2:I think that in Queensland they're just putting it through. I heard REIiq coming the other day saying that every agent in the industry will have to get points and and finally they managed. That, I think, is it should be. You know, anybody with a good mind will keep developing because our industry, it changes with the new laws coming out. It should be common sense for every agent, for every person in the industry sign. Okay, where are we at? Let's double check. Tick, tick, tick.
Speaker 2:Many people will not give a toss, honestly, they will not care. They will just say, oh yeah, I know it all, I know it all, until they hit a wall. And then there is a legal case or a legal suit. Owners are not supposed to know what we do. Owners are not supposed we are supposed to educate them, to let them know. I had to let go owners because I realized that they think they knew more than I did and what they wanted me to do was actually borderline, illegal and to the tenants and potentially, yeah, I could have done it. Possibly nobody would have ever complained. Can I sleep tight? No, I can't, because then when there is a problem, it will be coming back to me. You are the one that I'm employing, you know, to look after my thing. You should have, because when there is a problem the fingers are always pointed, because sometimes you have to to go down that path as well yeah, I like how you said that that owners shouldn't know what we do Like.
Speaker 1:We should be the smartest people in the room when it comes to the Residential Tenancies Act and our roles, and that's a very, very good and clear reminder to property managers that are listening to make sure that you are smarter than your clients when it comes to managing properties. It's a huge factor. So how do you educate owners at the moment? Is there anything that you're doing currently or anything that you're wanting to implement to work towards educating them, or would it be something that you don't necessarily want to educate them too much? And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean in a way that you sort of want to hold the expertise as a property manager and then bring it up as you need. I hope that sort of came across the right way.
Speaker 2:I understand, I understand exactly what you mean, because otherwise, why they need you? It's like a little bit of a chef situation you know, know, you pass the recipe but you don't give all the ingredients. Uh, once an owner understand, at this stage I do feel that many owners they are under the impression that our role is rent collectors and because they pay for everything, they don't understand. We are managing prevention, selecting the right people, maintaining the relationship. If you don't have a tenant that points out things to you, because some tenants are so afraid of speaking out because they think, oh, if I complain for something, they're going to raise my rent, they're going to kick me out and with me. They understand. I said listen, we'll do what we can do and we can do, but thank you for letting me know, because it's actually part of the lease for them to let us know if there is an issue, because if the issue is there and they don't let you know, they become responsible for the damage. There is both the Form 6, that is the authority for us to manage the property, and Form 18, that is the tenancy agreement. They got tons of information in there. Then there is the booklet that you attach with every form six about the minimum standard of the property, and then you have the tenancy booklet that you so.
Speaker 2:I tried when and I'm going to see later on an owner that is an older guy, and they are terrified because I don't know, I don't understand I said, listen, I'm here with you, let's do it step by step. It's no point of me giving you a million information, because everybody retains very little amount you know. So let's go into the very important stuff and we will work it out together. Once they understand your knowledge, your passion, your care factor, they will be like that's okay. They understand the amount of work you do and that's why, to me, it's important for them to know it and they say, oh, my God, no, I don't want to do that, that you can do it. But they understand even the value of the money that they pay you, because they know that if they had to do what you do the amount of time, work, knowledge you know, it's not really easy to do. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I'm just reflecting on what I'm doing in the office. I have changed a recent process where I'm doing education for landlords and teaching them how to be a landlord, because one thing that I've experienced is that there are a lot of people that are buying interstate and they don't actually know the WA laws, and so, for me, I send them out a monthly SMS video which will go through a certain, a certain topic, and now that I think it, it's not necessarily going through any legislation as such, but it's just tackling more ongoing issues. So, for example, one of the first video that I sent out was what to do if you can't afford maintenance. So teaching the landlord that if you can't afford maintenance, you know there are a few things that we can do to help you in our office. So, first of all, you can't avoid doing maintenance just because you can't afford it. So that's number one don't avoid it.
Speaker 1:Number two you know, speak to the property manager and I have a lot of property owners that would call me up and just say, ash, it's really prickly at the moment, my finances, I'm holding onto the property as long as I can, and they share that with me because it definitely changes the way we manage properties, when we understand the owner's financial position.
Speaker 1:And the third thing is that for our office we are in a position to be able to financially support some landlords and also using programs like TAPI where there is a financial support there for payment plans. So there are options for those larger ticketed items where we can help support the owner and have it pay back over, spread the payments out over three or four months. So for me, the education is coming from that side of things. To keep it open, let them know how we can support them and making sure that they're not avoiding those situations. Um, so, like I'm, that's sort of the way that I'm educating at the moment and, um, it's been really, really great, not something that I've seen many offices implement formally like we have.
Speaker 2:We are doing something, we are planning something similar. You know, like I'm starting to create a campaign of Tips by G, because I want little things going out for people to discuss, to be aware of, to be prevention is way better than cure. You know, like, to change a tat is $300. To change a washer is way less. But if you keep tightening it up, if you and I understand, you know like that, you know, sometimes tenants are, oh, you know, if an owner can't afford it, they shouldn't have the property. And I'm like, well, I'm a single mom and I own my house and sometimes I'm there, oh God, let's hope that. You know that the dishwasher doesn't pack up, because today is the dishwasher, tomorrow is something else. So that goes as well when you have a great relationship with your tenants. I have many tenants that says, oh, there is a little bit of silicone going here. Is that okay if I do it? I said, do it, put it in writing, let's make sure that it's documented. I want the owner to give you the value that you have the tenant, because you are going above and beyond, above and beyond. Um, there is that's when you know, like, if you, if you need electricians, a plumber, that's obviously it's a completely different kettle of fish. But sometimes you know like, as you said, there are different systems. You know like, uh, free, um, six months interest free payments for certain finance, depending if they go to sale, if they go to do.
Speaker 2:But if you do step-by-step, when I do my routines inspections, they're like mini-entry. All the time I don't take one picture. I take about 10, 15 pictures of each room just to understand if I can see any leak, if I can see any cornices starting to change, because if I pick up there could be a water infiltration somewhere and I pick it up three months earlier before everything is going to collapse down. Guess what? The cost to fix it is going to be way less.
Speaker 2:And that's why we need to educate as well property managers to become a little bit more aware of little things. Because if the property managers goes in at 18 and take a little picture, yeah, what did you see? Did you notice anything? So with my girls in general, all the people, I take them around and I explain this is what I want you to look. I want you to look at the corners, I want you to look at the cornices if you think that they're straight if they're starting to sag Between the first and the second inspection. If there is anything noticeable different, that's when you're going to bring it up straight away. You know, if there is a water infiltrations are the worst in general because they can start to actually damage the structure of the house. You know the joists and everything else in between. So that's why I'm saying there is so much more than collecting rent that we do. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so someone to sort of finish off, someone who sounds very relationship and personable with your clients. Is there any technology that you use that helps you do that? Or are you nearly technology free? You know, because we've got so many apps and programs out there, but you don't strike me as someone that maybe uses a lot of the fancy tech, or do you?
Speaker 2:no, no, I do yeah.
Speaker 1:I do all the videos, all the videos all the videos that you say.
Speaker 2:I do the videos for my owners, for my, you know, for my rentals, even if you put, uh, you know, like when I try to find something I just posted recently on the gallery, I do the videos. I go on CapCut. I do all the mix and match. I do music. We use PropertyMe all the time. I teach my owners to use the software to keep in touch.
Speaker 2:I say I want you to keep a pulse on everything. You have a question? Ask me one question. Don't wait until you get to panic. You know communication, communication. I always rather resolve a little issue than waiting until they become big and I always tell them listen, call me after hours, don't worry. If I'm cooking, you're cooking with me and we talk, that's not a problem. If I'm watching maths, wait until the advertising is going so you don't distract my program. But you know, in general it's so much easier when you tackle little things all the time and owners are so much more relaxed when they know that they can talk to you regardless when they text you after five minutes oh, you're the only one that you know.
Speaker 2:Do you have your phone attached to you? Basically, yes, I do, but listen, nowadays, objectively speaking, everybody's with their phone. You know, doing games or doing apps or doing anything, but they have it. So why can't you use it just to give a quick reply to somebody and say yes, I'm here, I'm just in a meeting. I'll come back to you as soon as I finish. I heard you. That's the message. I'm here, I'm just in a meeting, I'll come back to you as soon as I finish. I heard you. That's the message. I'm here, I heard you, I'll be there. Yeah, it's all about communication. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Do you know what? Gisela? I reckon that you have been probably one of my favourite favourite people to talk to on all my podcasts that I've done and I've done them like weekly for like three years. I would actually say you're one of my favourites, loved it, fantastic.
Speaker 2:So let's do it, let's do it again and let's start interstate education for owners. Absolutely so we can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just refreshing just to hear you know. It's just there. Like I said at the start, we're just so used to hearing about you know the way we do things and, like I said, the whole you know, home, balance and all of that. And it's just refreshing just to hear from someone who clearly loves their job a lot, really values the relationship and responsibility that you've got with your clients and you just do what needs to be done and you're very happy and it's um, yeah, it, it's right, that's my style.
Speaker 2:So I really really I personally feel privileged if you choose me to look after your asset. I don't see that. I feel it like a privilege. It's like if you give me your son for crying out loud, I'm not just gonna chuck it somewhere. It's like if you give me your son for crying out loud, I'm not just going to chuck it somewhere. That's your biggest asset.
Speaker 2:For me, it's honestly an honor to be picked among all the big names that are around. Emotion is pretty much back to be. Michael had such a big company before COVID and then he's come back now and he's rebuilding at this stage. So we are coming against on the Gold Coast of big names and you have no idea of how many properties they jump from big names, because in big names often they are a number. With me, you're not a damn number, you're mine. I know exactly who you are, where you live, what you you know and I wanted that way because I would never appreciate myself to be a number for somebody, because you know I'm giving you my home. There are another million people that want to do the same. Why should I pick you and you should pick me? Just because I damn care about your home. That's it. People like that.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Well, I'm going to have the spelling of Giselle's surname on this podcast, so I strongly recommend that you jump over to LinkedIn and connect with her there and send her a little message to say that, yeah, we're listening to the podcast and you loved it as much as I did. And have a look at those tips by G that you've started doing. They're very, very refreshing. Love watching it and seeing it and, like I said, that's why I wanted to sort of chat to you more, and you have not disappointed me, gisela.
Speaker 2:Sounds fantastic. I like not disappointing people. That's my whole goal.
Speaker 1:You've done well. Thank you so much for your time. I hope, if you're listening, you really saw this as an inspiring chat and head over and connect with Gisela on LinkedIn. Thank you so much.