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Legacy or next-gen – the future of property management is divided
Call them next-gen operators, commercial realists – call them whatever you like. But they are outpacing legacy agencies in rent roll acquisition, in organic growth and in long-term asset creation through rapid rent roll growth. They are doing it by rethinking one of the most neglected parts of the real estate business: property management.
Because the uncomfortable truth is this: most agencies still treat property management as an afterthought.
The legacy mindset: ‘Good enough will do’
In too many agencies, sales is the hero. It attracts the talent, gets the love, and wins the plaudits. Property management? It keeps the lights on. The rent roll is built haphazardly, without strategy, roadmap, or love. Whichever investors or owners come their way, they fall into the set-and-forget framework.
That is the legacy mindset – fundamentally misaligned with the customer and low value to the agency.
When property management is an afterthought, the owner experience is reactive, transactional and fragile. Communication is sporadic, rent reviews are neglected, cash flow strategy is never discussed. Yield optimisation is not even a consideration.
The next-gen shift: Investor at the centre
Next-gen agencies take a holistic view of their business. They understand something many legacy operators still resist: The true value of the agency is in the rent roll, not the next sales commission cheque.
With that understanding comes a structural shift. Talent is not concentrated solely in sales. In many growth agency businesses, rent roll building is prioritised ahead of the sales function. Why? Because principals understand asset value, recurring revenue and long-term enterprise multiples.
And critically, they place the investor at the centre of the proposition.
A next-gen property manager does not simply collect rent and coordinate maintenance; they understand the client’s investment objectives – because they have asked about them. They talk about yield, discuss cash flow and local market dynamics. They educate owners on rental positioning, vacancy minimisation strategy and long-term performance – and the importance of maintaining the asset with appropriate repairs and improvements.
They recognise that maximising market rent benefits both the owner and the agency. They understand that yield is not a secondary metric to capital growth – it is the engine of sustainability and extending the opportunity to leverage.
The rise of the commercially minded operator
Here is another uncomfortable truth: some of the fastest-growing rent rolls in Australia are not being built by traditional sales-led agencies.
They are being driven by accountants, mortgage brokers, buyers’ agents and commercially savvy operators who see what many legacy agencies have missed – the extraordinary value of a large, efficiently run rent roll. They are winning individual investors from the incumbents’ rent rolls or are acquiring their assets at discount rates because legacy agencies don’t recognise where true value lies. Their rent rolls are at below market value, overstaffed and delivering little or no income.
The new operators are not emotionally attached to old models – they are not rusted onto outdated processes and systems. They are focused on asset creation, data clarity and scalable systems.
The trust account question
And that brings us to the elephant in the room, the traditional and increasingly outdated trust account model. For decades, agencies have built their entire property management infrastructure and functionality around the trust account. It is ingrained, familiar and was historically the only option to handle ‘trust money.’
Times have changed, but legacy agencies haven’t.
The problem is that legacy agencies cling to the past. They fear and avoid change, hamstrung by teams that flat refuse to consider it. So, they make do with a workaround from their trust accounting software and hope it will be enough. But fast payments in and out of a trust account do not eliminate risk. They do not prevent misappropriation or remove the reconciliation burden. They do not replace the administrative drag that erodes margin and distracts from client strategy.
It is understandable; change is uncomfortable. But historically, an inability to evolve has proven to be the pathway to extinction. Faster, more dynamic operators are quick to take market share and once lost, it can never be regained. The hard question is: if you were building your agency from scratch today, would you choose to manage your payments via a trust account?
The trustless proposition
Next-gen agencies won’t touch a trust account – why would they? Would you tell any new entrant into the property management profession that their agency manually manages a trust account when there are automated payment alternatives?
A pure trustless, automated payments environment eliminates reconciliations. It removes a key layer of operational risk. It creates crystal-clear payment data for every owner and tenant, as well as the agency. Everyone is seamlessly on the same page. But the impact goes beyond compliance and efficiency. When payments are structured around digital wallet infrastructure rather than legacy trust accounts, the quality of data changes and the clarity of reporting improves. The owner portal becomes more powerful, while the tenant experience is enhanced.
All this adds up to a more valuable asset. When the time to sell comes around, a rent roll built on a true trustless proposition is more valuable, attracting a higher multiple – because the buyer can see what they are getting. Transparency is the foundation of trust and value.
That combination – secure, automated payments and a data-rich owner experience – also becomes a genuine competitive advantage in organic growth. Because when an investor compares agencies, what do they see? One offers opaque trust accounting, delayed clarity and administrative friction. The other offers instant visibility, secure payment architecture and alignment with their financial goals. Which proposition do you think wins?
Less about technology, more around philosophy
The true trustless proposition is not just a payments decision, it is a mindset decision – a statement that your agency is built around the owner and a next-gen proposition. It says you value transparency over the fear of change, efficiency over habit and value over convenience. Agencies that embrace this shift are repositioning themselves as commercially aligned partners in their clients’ investment journey – and that is a proposition that drives growth.
So, which agency are you?
Are you a legacy operator, defending processes because they are familiar and your team refuses to change? Or are you a next-gen operator, with a hunger and the capability to grow – prepared to challenge long-standing structures in the recognition that the world, your customers and their expectations have changed.
Change is not for everyone. Neither is growth.
Alex Whitlock is co-founder of next-generation property management platform Managed and an active property investor.