Starlie Stockill is the first port of call for anyone who passes the gates of a retirement rental village in Chambers Flat.
She is the one who organises everything from the leasing arrangements to street barbecues and Christmas parties for the residents, which is all part of her role as the on-site community manager.
It’s an increasingly popular job description as gated communities flourish, particularly in the retirement sector.
Before taking on the role 12 months ago at Ingenia Rental, she was a property manager, but swapped that role to feel more involved with people.
“I like the interaction with people, I like talking to residents, I like feeling involved with them because we’re all in the same place at the same time, working to make a better place,”
“Beforehand, you were very removed from it. Unless you were doing an inspection, you didn’t get to involve yourself with the residents.”
As medium and high-density living arrangements become more widely applied in town planning, the need for onsite managers and caretakers is constant.
Between Brisbane, Logan, and the Gold Coast, CRE Brokers’ Peter Sagner, said there would be thousands of these kinds of developments requiring full time caretakers or onsite managers.
He is currently brokering the rights to two gated communities in Shailer Park and Beenleigh.
The Shailer Park role is a full-time caretaker management business is sweetened by the addition of a three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence with access to a pool.
Buy the job and unit for an asking price of just over $600,000, which includes costs associated with the real estate business.
“Business” is the key word that Mr Sagner stressed.
While caretaker and management rights roles can seem appealing for the home and work package, they should be treated as a business not simply someone looking for a career change.
“It’s a good role if you attack it as a serious-minded businessperson,” Mr Sagner said.
“I was in one and we did very well out of it, but nothing in business is easy. If you’re looking for an easy thing, then business isn’t where you want to be.
“You have to have the disciplines that go with it, simple as that, but you can make good money out of them if you work them correctly.”
Mr Sagner knows better than anyone the duties ranging from ground maintenance to body corporate duties.
“For a townhouse, it’s the mowing, it’s the hedging, it’s the keeping of the rubbish, for a tower, it’s the foyers, the walkways, maintaining a pool or spa,” he said.
Most management rights businesses require someone to live and work onsite, but he said there are newer models, like in Ms Stockill’s case, where the caretaker does not need to do that.
“Newer models don’t require you to buy real estate on site, but probably 90% of MRs require the person who owns them to live on site, so it would be a person prepared to live and work where they are,” Mr Sagner said.
