McGrath North Lakes: How Reapit PM solves the prioritisation problem

Reapit PM & McGrath North Lakes

When Laura Valenti and David Clair first stepped into the role of co-principals in 2001, they were already using what was then Console Gateway.  

Over the next two decades, amid some of the biggest changes the real estate industry has ever seen, they grew from one of the first Harcourts offices to their own independent property management agency with 70 properties under management, and eventually to a thriving McGrath franchise with over 25 staff across sales, leasing and property management, handling a portfolio of 1,500 properties.  

Over two decades, Console - now Reapit PM – has grown alongside McGrath North Lakes, remaining their software of choice. But growth has brought its own challenges. As the agency expanded, managing priorities while controlling headcount and overseeing a growing property portfolio became increasingly complex. That’s when Reapit PM became central to how the agency operated, helping Laura - PM principal and REIQ board member - manage her team’s day-to-day while keeping the focus on what mattered most - building relationships.

Turning priorities into action

When asked about the industry’s biggest challenges, Laura noted that property managers always tend to say it’s a lack of time - but she disagrees. “We don't have a time management problem. We have a prioritisation problem. What's the priority? You're always going to want more time and that doesn't change in any industry,” Laura explains.

For Laura and David, the priority of scaling their business meant finding efficiencies that helped get work done without needing to constantly grow their headcount. “With Reapit PM, I can just sit one of our team down at a desk and say, ‘Hey, you need to now do lease renewals for the whole rent roll’, and they can do it. Everything they need is there, all the conversations, all the history. It’s enabled us to keep our labour count down while maintaining our service level.”

For Laura and David, having a software provider that truly understands the priorities of agencies is essential. “I also feel that agencies - property managers specifically - are being listened to,” Laura explains. “It’s easy to develop things that look flashy or assume, ‘surely they must want this.’ But it’s the simple things that save even just a couple of clicks that really excite us. That’s when we think, ‘Ok, cool, that’s great I don’t have to do that anymore.’”

By understanding these priorities, Reapit solves the prioritisation problem for agencies. Automated workflows, easy hand-offs of information between Lettings, Sales, and PM, and a centralised view of all conversations and tasks ensure teams focus on the most important work. For Laura and David, this means their staff can confidently tackle the right tasks at the right time, without unnecessary steps or additional headcount.

Building trust with owners

Another challenge property managers face today is managing client expectations. Owners are under increasing financial pressure, from higher interest rates, rising maintenance costs and difficulty securing tradespeople, every dollar counts, especially for those who have purchased more recently.  

As Laura echoes, “maintenance spending has easily doubled in the past few years, and it’s hard to get tradies. All of these costs have blown out, and the clients are looking to us for a magic formula on how we can save them money.”  

This environment makes trust more critical than ever. Owners who have confidence in their property manager are far more willing to accept decisions without excessive justification.  

As Laura puts it, “You can have the worst tenancy, but it’s easy if you have the trust of your client. That’s the real nightmare – when the owner doesn’t trust you and you have to constantly justify your advice or spend energy and time trying to persuade them.”  

PropTech’s part to play

For Laura, technology plays a crucial part in running a successful agency- it’s all in the flexibility and adaptability. “It’s about supporting us in any way that we need, because every agency is different,” she says.

On the property management side, McGrath North Lakes relies heavily on email to maintain a written record of all interactions. “That's what technology should do - help you to do your job quickly, efficiently and cover your backside if something goes wrong,” she explains.

With features like Conversations (an inbound and outbound communications inbox) and native timelines for all contacts, the team can keep a record of every single interaction. “If an owner says to me, ‘Oh, haven't heard from you guys in months, what's happening with my property’, I can go into Conversations and say, ‘Oh, it looks like an e-mail was sent, and it looks like you were spoken to on such and such date.’ It’s a complete record of everything so that we are covered and we can provide a consistently good service,” Laura says.

And features like Console Pay set the stage for real value.  

“Our arrears are heading below 0.2%, because it’s set-and-forget for tenants. We have a 99% uptake rate for Console Pay, and due to legislation changes, we’ve also absorbed the cost of tenant payment fees,” Laura says.

“The alternative would have been to give out our trust account details, and I’d have to hire another person just to receipt the rents. It was a 10 second decision - the alternative was human error, handing out sensitive information, and extra staff costs.”

Decades in & decades to go

With more than 20 years using Reapit PM, McGrath North Lakes has built a PM operation where clarity and prioritisation come first, ensuring the team always knows what needs action and when. “It’s the foundation, isn't it? It's the foundation of our business. We couldn't survive without it,” Laura says.  

In an industry defined by chaos, they’ve built a PM operation defined by control.