Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
In the first in a series of interviews with our own team, I catch up with property manager Monique to pull back the curtain on real estate, renting, and… reptiles?
Kyle Hitchmough
How long have you been working for Professionals?
I was with Serendipity Homes prior to Professionals taking over in November of last year. I’ve been here as a real estate agent for about four or five years now.
The Professionals website lists you as “property manager”. Can you describe what that entails? What’s an average day for you?
An average day… we look after investment properties. So, we go through the process of advertising it for rent, doing the write-up, taking professional photos, putting it up online, and finding a good tenant for them. We do background checks on applicants, looking for gremlins in peoples’ pasts that they probably don’t want us to know, that we need to know. We make sure the owners are covered for all their insurances— ensure smoke alarms are compliant, the blinds are compliant, all these little things that they won’t know about, that we look after. We manage any incoming or outgoing money through our trust account and deal with any tenant or owner questions. Lots of good fun.
The website also lists something interesting about you and snakes. Care to elaborate on that?
I don’t like having any free time! So, as a hobby I do snake and reptile removal. I’ve done it for years. I’m originally from Perth and was a snake handler there, and I continued it on over here. I worked for the RSPCA for the first year I was here, and then when I started with real estate, it’s good for everyone to have an extra little qualification… and mine was to handle snakes. I can come out and do an appraisal on your house or remove a scaly friend. This time of year, they’re all coming out so I’ve had quite a few calls these past few weeks.
Are you a local to the area? What’s your opinion on Tamborine, what do you think attracts people here?
Yes, I’m a local: I love Tamborine. I used to live in residential suburbia close high-density living, and since moving out here I would never go back. It’s just so peaceful and quiet… It’s a real country town—there’s a lot of Facebook groups you can join, and everyone looks out for everyone else, so it’s really easy to get to know everyone in the area, which I really like. And obviously number one for me is being close to all the wildlife. I love having koalas and kangaroos in my backyard, and obviously reptiles. We back onto a big piece of bushland, so most of the ones I remove get let go at my house (don’t tell my neighbours).
What do you think Professionals provides to the area beyond the standard services of a realtor?
The directors of the company, Alison and Gerard really care about their clients, so they go above and beyond to make sure everyone’s happy and satisfied, which you don’t see very often. It’s a great place to work, and I have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone. If my property was here for an investment, I would be managing it through Professionals, which is the highest praise I can give them.
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, email your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au
Or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com, and follow me on Twitter @realcasualrvws.
