Streamlining Property Management: Mallison Real Estate’s Success with OurProperty

Redefining Efficiency

For over 12 years, Kristie Wishart, Chief Operations Officer at Mallison Real Estate, has been at the forefront of ensuring smooth operations across their property management team. With nearly three decades of industry experience, Kristie has seen firsthand how technology reshapes workflows and enhances productivity. However, the adoption of OurProperty marked a pivotal moment for the agency. “It was probably the best decision we ever made,” she reflected.

Prior to integrating OurProperty, the team’s property managers handled approximately 120 properties each. Manual processes, especially for maintenance and tenant applications, consumed valuable time and added unnecessary stress. After implementing OurProperty, each property manager—including part-time staff—could handle over 200 properties. This remarkable increase in capacity was complemented by a restructure that allowed team members to specialise, focusing on client relationships while leaving repetitive tasks to the platform’s automation.

Transforming Maintenance Management

Maintenance, a historically challenging area, became fully automated with OurProperty. Tenants now submit requests online, instantly notifying tradespeople. The system tracks every task, sending reminders for quotes and approvals, ensuring nothing is overlooked.

“From the moment the tenant lodges a maintenance request, as long as you input a tradie and send it to the owner for approval, the automation handles the rest. It communicates with the tradie and notifies the tenant when the job is scheduled. That blew us away!”

Before automation, maintenance requests required manual forms and phone calls, with tenants sometimes driving to the office to submit a request. Staff had to visit properties to take photos and document issues, consuming significant time. “The time we save not having to drive out to a property to take photos and run maintenance is amazing.” Kristie remarked.

Automation reduced the need for staff intervention and kept tenants well-informed. “Our receptionist is now part-time instead of full-time because the system made it easier to manage phones, which has reduced stress significantly” she added.

Scaling Operations and Reducing Costs 

Beyond maintenance, OurProperty’s comprehensive features transformed other critical areas of the business. The automated applications platform eliminated manual data entry for new tenants, saving countless hours. “Whereas before, we’d manually process applications, type out lease agreements, and enter tenant details into the system. Now, the platform now handles it all,” Kristie explained. Competitors’ platforms often acted as schedulers, simply listing tasks to complete, whereas OurProperty went further by performing the tasks.

“OurProperty doesn’t just tell you what to do—it actually does it.”

Arrears management also saw dramatic improvement. One rent roll they acquired had arrears in the double digits; with OurProperty, that figure dropped to below 1%. “The moment we turned the button on, it was crazy because we had tenants that owed seven cents from water bills five years ago, and OurProperty started following those people up,” Kristie noted.

These efficiencies highlighted a surprising realisation: “We’ve probably found we had too many staff for the amount of properties,” Kristie admitted. This underscored the significant time savings achieved with the platform. The financial impact was equally transformative, with the agency achieving an estimated annual savings of $80,000 from software and other operating costs.

The Human Impact of Automation

For Kristie, the most rewarding outcome of adopting OurProperty was the human impact. Automation freed the team to focus on building stronger client relationships and fostering a positive workplace culture. “OurProperty has reduced the amount of stress on our staff and made managing maintenance so much easier,” she shared.

Mallison Real Estate’s decision to embrace technology wasn’t without challenges. “There’s a lot of managers out there that are more worried about their team struggling to adapt to a new system, and they’re potentially going to lose them. But we were willing to accept that if it meant improving our systems,” Kristie reflected.

By embracing innovative technology, Mallison Real Estate not only scaled their operations but also set a new standard for efficiency and client satisfaction in the property management industry. “This platform changed everything for us,” Kristie concluded, “and it’s hard to imagine running our business without it.”

If you’d like to learn more about how OurProperty can deliver similar results for your business, contact us today or book a demo online.