Hi Everyone,

If you are feeling the winter cold (and I am, I’m sorry to say), I have a solution!

Every July, savvy Property Managers and Principals head north to the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort on the Gold Coast for the PPM Groups TCE National Property Management Conference.

This is one of my favourite events of the year. The Marriott at Surfers Paradise is one of the best hotels I have stayed in (their staff can never do enough for you), its a beautiful resort hotel (which is child friendly) and just that bit warmer there than it is here in Sydney.

The other reason I really love this event is the atmosphere. Firstly, its a great learning environment, with some really high calibre speakers (this year Pat Mesiti, Fiona Blayney, Malcolm Riley, Kirsty Dunphey, Jo-Anne Oliveri and many more). The organised social events get everyone talking and networking really quickly; in the past couple of years I have made some great friends and contacts. In most cases you can approach the speakers who usually stay for the whole event so you can really take advantage of their expertise on chosen topics.

Three information packed, idea filled days is what you can look forward to. I’ve had a look through the program and there are some fantastic sessions. One that really interests me this year is on day three where Debbie Palmer will be presenting the results of their annual Property Management Survey. So if you want to get an idea on how your PM department compares to others across Australia, then this is not to be missed. I don’t know of anyone else who collects this type of detailed benchmarking information on the property management industry and it will definitely give you an insight as to how you operate vs. your competitors.

As always there will be some fantastic prizes on offer one being an overseas holiday. (We are giving away a WII and WII-fit!)

As long time friends of the PPM Group, Corum Real Estate Services are platinum sponsors of the event, and this year we have been offered a special promo code for our friends/customers who would like to attend. We have been given the opportunity to provide a discount $200 on the whole 3 days.

Click here for a full conference brochure. You can also register online on the PPM website by clicking here. The important thing to get your $200 discount on all three days is to quote the promo code CORUM9 when registering.

Now is not the time to hibernate. Re-energise your department, and come to Queensland. Remember, when the going gets tough... the tough keep marketing!!

Until next week!

Tags: Training, PPM

Hi Everyone,

I thought things were supposed to slow down over Easter, but there is lots happening here at the moment!

Success at the Tribunal?
Have you ever wanted to get the “edge” at the Tribunal? Had a heap of questions but been afraid to ask?

Our own RTO Corum Training has joined forces with Think Real Estate to present an opportunity to spend time with Kathy Thane - a former full-time member of the NSW Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT). For more than 14 years Kathy has heard & determined cases across all 9 divisions of the CTTT. In these sessions, Kathy will give you some insight on how it is from the "other" side.

Don't miss this fantastic opportunity! Places have been limited to 1 person per office, and there are only three seminars across Sydney on the 5 May (Carlton), 14 May (Parramatta) and 20 May (Killara). 12 CPD points are available from these 4 hour sessions.

Click here to download a registration form and improve your chances of success when you next face the tribunal!

Product Update: Accepting Payments other than Rent
There will be some changes this week that will allow tenants to make payments other than rent through our web payment pages and via our customer care centre. This means that Tenants can pay other bills via their rent card - like rates, water or other charges. Your daily .PDF reports will change to include this information, but there will be no changes to .PAY file auto-receipting. Only rent payments will be automatically receipted as per usual, other payments will need to be receipted manually.

These changes will be implemented late on Sunday this week (ready to go live on Monday morning 27th April). There will be some detailed information distributed regarding these changes closer to the end of this week.

Win a Ticket to AREC 09!
In case you missed it, both Corum Training and Corum Real Estate Services are offering a chance to WIN A Free Ticket to AREC 09 worth $1190!

To enter the competiton for Corum Real Estate Services you need to be an existing client and tell us in 50 words or less what you like most about using our rent card services. Click here to enter.

To enter the competition for Corum Training Services you just need to refer a friend to Corum Training for Licence, Registration or CPD to go into the draw. Click here to enter.

Winners for both competitions will be announced on the 8 May.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Sam

Tags: Training, kathy thane

Hi Everyone,

If you are looking for ways to improve your skills and brush up on all the latest and greatest in the industry in February and March, look no further!

South Australia’s First Ever Real Estate Expo!!!
We are really delighted to have been chosen to be part of the Inaugural Real Estate Best Supplier Expo in South Australia on Thursday the 19th of Feb. To be held at the Festival Function Centre in Findon, over 20 suppliers have been chosen to participate in this event. There will be some nationally renown speakers, an REISA legislation and industry update session, and conclude with an industry Networking Event. This event is FREE to all industry practitioners. For more information, click here.

LPMA - Shine in ‘09
The annual Leading Property Managers of Australia “Shine in 09” Agency Principals Forum and Property Managers Forum is being held on 20 -21 March 2009 at The Novotel Twin Waters on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The Leading Property Managers of Australia (LPMA) is an association that was formed to promote, recognise and support likeminded property managers and principals striving to achieve excellence within this important part of the real estate sector. This will be our first year sponsoring this event and we are very excited (look for the RE Connect oneCard logo!)

The LPMA Agency Principals Forum is targeted directly to Principals and Department Managers. Running concurrently will be the LPMA Property Managers Forum focused towards “coal face” property management staff. These events occur on 20 March.

Both groups then come together for the LPMA Combined Agency Principals and Property Managers Forum on 21 March.

In LPMA’s tradition of integrity and best practice in property management, business processes, technology, leadership and business development across Australia, we believe this event will be unequalled in 2009. To find out more on this event go to www.lpma.com.au

PPM Group - Annual Property Management Survey

The PPM Group are once again in the process of undertaking a National Property Management Survey to benchmark key areas of the department. You need to participate in the survey to get a copy of the results! To my knowledge this is the most comprehensive survey in Australia of it’s kind, and can perhaps answer a lot of the questions about how your business is doing versus everyone else.

The survey will cover a wide range of areas, including: how many properties can a property manager manage, hours worked, average age, salary averages, commission paid, over-time worked, are lunch breaks taken, vacancy and arrears rates, properties gained and lost, structure of PM Depts and much more

The PPM Group are conducting two individual Property Management surveys:
(Click on the below links to participate in the survey)
Each survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete on-line

1) National Property Management Department Survey
To be completed by the Principal, Dept. Manager or appointed person.

2) National Property Management Staff Survey.
To be completed by all Property Management staff.

Please forward the Staff Survey to all staff within your office to complete.

All survey results are automatically managed by an on-line survey system that compiles the results into easy to read graphs , which will be forwarded to all participants.

One of my favourite events of the year is always the National TCE Conference by the PPM Group which will be held in June 12, 13 and 14 at the Gold Coast Marriott. This year its caled “Accelerate your performance into Top Gear”.

More about this event next post!