Checking that management fees are being charged as agreed is a practical place to start improving a rent roll’s cash flow and value, Pendium Advisory’s Stuart Hobden told PM/ONE 2026.
Speaking with REAL+ founder Fiona Blayney in the Buy/Sell, Manage, Grow session, Stuart recommended comparing the fees in management agreements with those entered into the agency’s software.
He said mismatches could leave agreed revenue uncollected. Fiona encouraged owners to extract their data and conduct their own mini audits, rather than assume the system was charging correctly.
The discussion put everyday property management work in a broader business context and Fiona described frontline property managers as “custodians of value”, responsible for the asset as well as the service clients receive.
Stuart explained that management fee income formed the basis of a rent roll valuation; ancillary fees were outside that calculation, he said, but could influence the multiple a buyer was prepared to pay.
So could the quality of the portfolio’s records: “Compliance plays an enormous part,” Stuart said.
The pair highlighted agency agreements, leases, inspections, smoke alarm records and bond lodgements – and Fiona recommended checking bond records with the relevant state or territory authority, and keeping files in order whether or not a sale was planned.
Stuart also pointed to rent reviews and renewals as evidence of how well a portfolio was managed.
For owners pursuing growth, his message was to look beyond the number of properties. He had seen businesses with thousands of managements produce less profit than smaller operators because of how their expenses were managed.
Fiona recommended a separate property management profit and loss statement as the starting point for budgeting, while Stuart urged owners to understand both the average income each management generated and what it cost to deliver the service.
Fiona also drew a distinction between growth mode, return mode and a combination of the two: investing in growth could be a deliberate choice, she said, provided it was backed by a strategy, budget and sufficient cash flow.
“You have to know the mode that you’re in, in order to make the spending decisions to feel confident with the profit line,” she said.
Actionable
- Reconcile management agreement fees against the settings in your software.
- Check agreements, inspections, smoke alarm records and bond lodgements.
- Match your growth budget to a separate property management P&L.
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