In this Q&A, award-winning property manager Naomi Baber from Baber & Co Rental Specialists explains why Oceania Plumbing is an invaluable asset to any Gold Coast property manager.

Our extensive expertise and exceptional communication has impressed not only Baber & Co – but also their owners and tenants. 

About the client

Naomi Baber and her husband Dan were recently crowned Property Managers of the Year for Nerang by RateMyAgent—and they were in the top 10 for the whole of Queensland!

Why is their work so highly regarded?

Naomi and Dan keep their clients happy by striving for excellence every time. This looks like:

• • Keeping repair costs to a minimum by careful management

• • Always ensuring 0% vacancy rates 

• • Being completely authentic, open and honest 

• • Being up to date with all industry and legislative changes

• • Same-day communication

• • Always going above and beyond for their clients (check out their Facebook page to see how)

• • Finding and retaining the best tenants so the rent is paid consistently and the property is looked after.

So Naomi, how does Oceania Plumbing save busy property managers time and money? 

“We have 100% trust that when we send Oceania, not only will they find the problem the first time, but there will not be any callbacks.

“We’ve had zero callbacks from their work, which is really important to us because it saves time and money, which means happy tenants and owners. 

But it’s also nice to know that once that work order is sent, there will not be a need for more discussion or visits.

“Joe usually finds the problem in one go, and everything’s taken care of. 

“So it’s saving us time, and if we’re saving time, that’s saving us money.”

Can you tell us about a time you’ve been really impressed by Oceania Plumbing?

Naomi says: “We had a complex water leak in a townhouse, and we weren’t sure where it came from. We had another plumber look for it, but they couldn’t find it. 

“We bought in Oceania Plumbing, and they found it through a series of different tests. 

“They wrote everything they’d done into the invoice, which was sent to the owner. The owner read it all and came back to me and said, “Wow, that report was amazing, very thorough: 10 out of 10.”

“He said, “We’re going to be able to sleep tonight!” For a few days, nobody knew where this leak was coming from, and they were losing sleep over it. 

“So Oceania Plumbing provided a nice night of sleep for those owners, which is great.

“We love that kind of feedback because it means that our owner is happy and also happy with the trades that we’re engaging.” 

What makes Oceania Plumbing invaluable to property managers?

Naomi says, “In real estate, you need someone who is extremely responsive and extremely patient because quite often, they will be asked all these annoying questions, or access is difficult, or they’ll be asked to go back and re-quote or remove something and quote it again. 

“So you need someone responsive, friendly, patient, and willing to put up with all your frustrating requests. 

“Joe is an absolute legend at that. 

“And he always answers the phone. If he doesn’t answer, he’ll call you straight back. So for property managers, he’s a dream come true.”

Property managers have a tough gig. How does Oceania Plumbing help alleviate some of the stress?

Naomi says: “Whenever we’ve sent a work order to Oceania, we’ve not just had the job dealt with quickly, but we’ve also had a phone call after the job. We also get videos and photographs along with the invoice quickly after the job is done. 

“So having that complete trust has just been excellent.

“Knowing that when you send a work order off, it’s in hand and will be dealt with. Obviously, this makes using Oceania completely stress-free for us. 

“And if we can reduce our stress – because there’s plenty of other stress in property management – then it’s a massive win-win for us.”

What kind of plumbing work has Oceania Plumbing helped you with?

Naomi says: “All your typical rental problems – and very quickly, too, which is brilliant. He’s done leak testing on showers and vanities. He’s also replaced toilets and flexi hoses for us and looked at some drainage solutions.”

What made you choose Oceania Plumbing over its competitors?

Naomi says: “We chose Oceania Plumbing because we could see that Joe has years and years of experience, not just in Australia, but over in the UK as well.

“Gas is a huge part of utilities over in the UK. So for us, having someone really knowledgeable not just in water plumbing but also in gas plumbing was a very attractive option.” 

Tell us about the communication from Oceania Plumbing

Naomi says: “Despite Joe’s depth of knowledge and experience, when he calls me after jobs, he talks me through the job in a way I can understand. 

“When we get an invoice or a quote, the description is very thorough and comprehensive. 

“Our owners then have trust that we’re using a really qualified person to look after their properties. 

“Plus, Joe is an extremely friendly and easy to talk to person, which means that our tenants are really happy. 

“And if we have happy clients, happy tenants, that makes our job really easy. 

“Plus, the big thing for us is it makes us look better because he’s a representation of our service. So it means we look amazing, and it’s not really us doing anything. It’s all Joe.”

Why must property managers use a knowledgeable plumber they can trust?

Naomi says: “In one of my first positions as a property manager, we had an instance with a particular plumber where we were sending this plumber out to the property to fix something. 

“But then a couple of months later, we were being asked to go and fix something very similar. And then the same thing would happen another couple of months later.

“The owner got so upset. She said, “Naomi, why are we having all these repeated visits for plumbing? It’s costing us a fortune.”

“She started to suspect that this plumber was deliberately either not repairing items or possibly even causing these issues to get a future job. 

“So it raised suspicion in their minds. 

“I’d like to hope that they were wrong. But what it meant was that we lost trust with that customer. 

“It cost them a lot of money, and it cost us the trust and the relationship, too, which was something we would never want to happen. 

“That’s not something I could ever foresee happening with Oceania because they do a very thorough job. It’s a one-visit job normally, zero callbacks, and we haven’t had any other problems after the initial callout.”

What makes Oceania Plumbing invaluable to property managers?

Naomi says: “In real estate you need someone extremely responsive and extremely patient, because quite often, they will be asked all these annoying questions, or access is difficult, or they’ll be asked to go back and re-quote or remove something and quote it again. 

“So you need someone responsive, friendly, patient, and willing to put up with all your really frustrating requests. 

“Joe is an absolute legend at that. 

“And he always answers the phone. If he doesn’t answer, he’ll call you straight back. 

“Oceana has brought a level of reliability, trust, and efficiency that, as we get busier, becomes even more important to us. 

“For property managers, Oceania Plumbing is a dream come true and we’re looking forward to many years together.”

If you want to save time, money and a whole heap of unnecessary stress – for you and you clients – call Oceania Plumbing today on 0479043366