The rural community of Dungog, NSW, has a lot going for it. Rolling green hills, beautiful historical buildings, and a friendly, tight-knit community.

But one thing it doesn’t have is banks…which makes life tricky if you’re a property manager who needs to deposit cash.

Luckily, Ray White Dungog uses Ailo, which means no 45 minute drives (one way!) to deposit payments anymore.

Tara Abbot-Anderson is the Business Development Manager and Senior Property Manager at Ray White Dungog, and said Ailo gives the agency much-needed flexibility.

“We occasionally had tenants pay in cash, which we would then have to deposit.

“If someone paid us with a $50 bill, legislation mandates it must be banked within 24 hours. For us, that would mean driving for 45 minutes, finding a park, and waiting in line at the bank, just to deposit $50.

“The ease of paying rent with Ailo has allowed our tenants to pay 24/7, which is more convenient for them, and makes it much easier for them to pay on time.”

While the agency has always watched their arrears closely, since they began using Ailo, arrears have plummeted.

“We can start the day having a couple of properties with rent arrears, and then it disappears by lunchtime because renters get automatically notified and then go on Ailo and pay! The old system meant we had to wait until the next day for it to be accounted for, but Ailo shows us when the payment has actually been initiated - which takes a lot of the guesswork away,” Tara said.

“There’s so much less chasing required now, and we can use that time saved for more strategic jobs now, like growing our rent roll, building our relationships with our clients, and giving our property investors specialised advice.”

While some tenants were unsure at first, once they got into the swing of using Ailo, it worked like a charm.

“It’s ticking along really well.They download the app and off they go. I think tenants have relaxed a lot now they’ve gotten used to the app. They understand that it’s available to make their lives easier,” Tara said.

Before getting Ailo, Tara and Louise Schofield (Operations Manager – Property Management Division) investigated lots of other tech solutions.

“The concept of no longer depending on trust accounting and doing something different was a big leap – in real estate, people tend to do things because ‘that’s the way it’s always been done’. To actually take a leap into the unknown was enormous but it has had great success,” Tara said.

The agency is now at the forefront of technological innovation in their area. Ailo isn’t just helping the staff and tenants, it’s giving the agency a strong new selling point.

“When we are bringing new business in, it’s a point of difference for us to say we’ve got Ailo. There are no other agencies near us that have it.

Tara can now tell investors who ask her if they can access their rent early, that they can go into their Ailo app and simply help themselves to their money, whenever they like.

“We can tell our investors, ‘You can just help yourself to your money – whatever’s in your Ailo Property Wallet you can have! People say, ‘Wow that’s fantastic, I’ve never heard of that being possible before’. So it’s a big drawcard,” she said.

The agency team can lean on our support staff any time they need a hand. Tara said the Customer Support staff are “excellent”.

“The customer service has been fantastic. I’ve had good feedback from tenants as well,” she said.

“They’re really friendly, and they get it done. I had a query recently and 10 minutes later it was completed – they’re quick!”

At the heart of Ray White Dungog’s hard work, research, and embracing of technology is their strong desire to provide an exceptional property management experience for their community.

“We are a close, rural community. We’ve gone through the floods, and we all banded together during that hard time. It’s a town with a great feel to it.