For years, property management has relied on rent collection and management fees.
But with fees under pressure, landlords demanding more, and tenants expecting better service, many agencies are rethinking how they operate and earn.
Two technology leaders, Scott Bateman, chief executive of proptech platform Kolmeo, and Dean Mendelowitz, chief executive of fintech lender LendUs, say the answer is to combine stronger customer experience with new revenue streams.
“When we think about property management today, one of the most significant changes we’re seeing is a stronger focus on customer experience,” Scott said.
“Agencies are providing more value to landlords and paying greater attention to the experience tenants have.”
He added that the traditional model is under strain.
“Historically, agencies have relied almost entirely on management fees. Those fees are under more and more pressure, and now businesses are asking how they can generate revenue elsewhere.”
Many investors, Dean says, now look for a property management partner that can help them run their investments efficiently while leveraging technology.
“There’s a big shift towards digitally enabled property management. Agencies want to offer a full suite of products under one roof rather than in a fragmented way.”
Kolmeo Plus: built for tenants and agencies
Kolmeo’s answer is Kolmeo Plus, a platform designed to make renting better and help agencies diversify income.
“Kolmeo Plus was launched to achieve two things,” Scott said. “The first is to meet the needs of tenants now and in the future. If people are going to rent for longer or only ever rent, which is the reality for many, how do we make that experience rich and rewarding so it doesn’t feel like a compromise?”
“For agencies, there are plenty of opportunities to differentiate and create new income,” he said. “But managing multiple partnerships is complex and most small businesses don’t have the money to build the technology themselves.”
Mortgages as a game changer
Mortgages are becoming a powerful tool for property managers looking to add value and strengthen their customer relationships.
“The mortgage is the most consequential decision a landlord makes. Making a poor choice on your mortgage provider can create such a disproportionate gap over time that the yield you’ve been chasing for years can disappear,” said Scott.
Dean agreed that the savings from a better loan can help investors expand, explaining that “those savings can be put towards buying another property and growing the portfolio.”
LendUs offers borrowers both an upfront and a trailing cashback, drawn from the commission it earns from lenders, helping them pay down their loans faster or free up cash for other needs.
Scott added that cashback can also ease pressure on fees, explaining that management fees are highly competitive and that the cashback a borrower receives through the LendUs proposition can help offset any gap to a higher fee, turning it into a strong value proposition.
Reinventing the home loan process
Dean built LendUs to modernise what he calls an “archaic, clunky, very human-driven” process.
“Gone are the days of going to one bank and only seeing that bank’s products,” he said.
“We scan the market to ensure customers get the best and most suitable product.”
The platform gives real-time borrowing answers and lets customers choose how much support they want.
“Some customers go through the entire flow without needing an adviser. Others need a tailored, supported experience where the adviser does the heavy lifting.”
It also runs ongoing loan “health checks” so customers stay on competitive deals.
“We’re committed to proactively servicing those customers so they’re always on a suitable loan,” he said.
A clear point of difference
Scott believes this approach helps agencies compete in a crowded market.
“One of the biggest challenges for agencies is that real estate has become intensely price competitive because it’s hard to stand out,” he said.
“This is a clear and immediate point of difference. Unless an agency is on Kolmeo Plus, that landlord or tenant won’t have access to these services.”
Dean added that cashback resonates strongly in today’s climate.
“With the cost of living so high, we’re seeing customers use cashback to pay down debt, invest further or cover other expenses like a holiday,” he said.
Driving the next evolution
Scott said Kolmeo Plus will continue to evolve, with the goal of building a system that “constantly pays attention to how people behave and what they do” to make life “easy, frictionless and predictive” for agencies and their customers.
Dean added that LendUs and Kolmeo are “customer-first and technology-driven,” creating an efficient, seamless experience and “massive alignment” between the two businesses.
