Kirk Stafford

AI can absolutely make Property Management more efficient. But the best use of technology is to free people up for the part machines still can’t replace — empathy, judgement, negotiation and the human relationships at the centre of the job.

Victoria’s rental reforms promised plenty, but the bigger question was whether the system could actually deliver them. With VCAT already under pressure, adding another dispute-resolution layer risked shifting the problem rather than fixing it.

Housing policy can sound good in an announcement and still create unintended consequences. These reforms raised a bigger question: if we keep making rental investment less attractive, how do we expect to solve a problem fundamentally driven by supply?

Real estate businesses hold enormous amounts of personal and financial information, making them attractive targets for cybercrime. The question isn’t only whether your systems are secure — it’s whether your everyday processes are exposing you without you realising it.

The property industry has never had more conferences, events and training opportunities. But more choice doesn’t automatically mean more value. At some point, the question becomes whether we’re learning more — or simply spending more time attending things.

Rent freezes and caps may make attractive headlines, but they don’t create one additional home. The harder, less politically tidy work is increasing supply, improving planning and creating conditions that encourage housing investment rather than driving it away.

And if you’re an agency owner in other states, you should be very, very watchful – because your state government is watching the Vics on this. There is little doubt that we’re in a crisis of affordability within the rental market, the causes of the problem are widespread and entrenched so bold moves are required

The collapse of a disruptor There were only a few raised eyebrows when the news broke at the end of last week that the online property management platform “:Different” had been placed in voluntary administration because of their inability to raise further funds to keep the business going. This follows on the heels of Yabonza,

Or – An object lesson in how to stuff the rental housing market One thing I encourage my consulting clients to do when we hit an obstacle is to not repeat the same thinking on the problem, but to find a different way of looking at the issue to resolve it – advice I think

From my reading of the Federal Budget from earlier this week, I’m a bit disappointed; the can of the housing crisis has – yet again – been kicked down the road. While the increases in rent assistance for low income earners and Centrelink recipients is welcome, as are the other measures to try to ease