www.wealthandfinance-news.com 14 Wealth & Finance International - November 2017 methods, instead they simply provide support and advice through his free information portal, before distributing it online through social media. Moving towards the future, Russell is planning to expand this portal into other European countries, widening his global presence, and be able to educate and give advice on particular challenges people may face, and changing regulations. Russell Flick is a professional communal property manager. Effectively, this is not the management of individual houses or apartments, but entire buildings and luxury resorts. As part of his professional efforts, Russell donates his time and knowledge to increase the public awareness of many problems of apartment and communal ownership, and educate property owners and investors. “There is a system in place in many European countries, where the individual unit owners elect a committee to supervise and manage the maintenance of their building or resort. My job is to assist this management committee in all aspects and help them ensure their buildings are well maintained and follow the regulatory requirements.” “Apartments are attractive investments, especially for buy-to-let investors, due to the relatively low purchase price, luxury facilities with reduced maintenance concerns. In Cyprus, a significant percentage of these properties are purchased by overseas investors, which are a mix of first time private investors (second home purchasers), professional companies, and experienced investors.” Russell is keen to highlight what benefits there are to owning a property in a communal building, development or resort, and emphasises the importance of taking steps to ensure the building is well administered and maintained. “While it is true there are many benefits to owning a property in a communal building, development or resort, there are also additional concerns. The investors’ fellow owners and neighbours become part of their investment, almost as if they were partners in a business. The actions and decisions of these fellow owners can negatively affect their investment as much as a bad business partner can affect a business.” Describing the recent projects that he has undertaken, Russell is keen to talk about his latest book which he has invested a lot of time in writing to help property owners and investors maximise their properties potential and minimise the hassle of property ownership. “I have been involved in professional property management pretty much my entire professional career, and am proud that I have been able to establish myself as an expert in this industry. “Over the last 24 months, I have been putting all this experience and knowledge into this book ‘The Ultimate Committee Handbook.’ This book is a complete resource for any apartment owner or building management committee member, and covers step by step every aspect of their role, how to increase the quality of their building, reducing the hassle and unlock its true potential.” Working within such a competitive industry, Russell must be able to differentiate himself from his competitors, and subsequently he tells us what highlights him as the best possible option for clients. “Essentially, I stopped trying to sell our services a long time ago. I used to always focus on getting new clients, but I have found that if you focus not on getting new clients, but on improving the service to your existing ones, it will improve client satisfaction. Your reputation and service levels make sure you do not need to find new clients, they find you.” “This attitude has proven itself over and over again, and to the point that we get so many requests to take on new projects, we have had to set a limit on how many we take on each year to ensure that we are not expanding too quickly, and to make sure that the service levels to our current clients are unaffected as we continue to grow.” Ultimately, social media is key to the success of experts within the real estate industry. Russell and his team rarely use traditional advertising Russell Flick is an award-winning Communal Property Expert, Public speaker and author of the Ultimate Committee Handbook. Russell tells us about his success of being featured in Real Estate Top 100, and what he feels has contributed to his success. Flicks all the Right Boxes 1711WF18 Company: Russell Flick Contact: Russell Flick Contact Email:
[email protected] Address: CPM Cyprus, Poetis Tower, 41 Artemidos Avenue, Larnaca, Cyprus Website: www.RussellFlick.com “I used to always focus on getting new clients, but I have found that if you focus not on getting new clients, but on improving the service to your existing ones, it will improve client satisfaction.”