Why LJ Hooker Narang Sees Ailo as a Long-Term Partner

When I caught up with Tina and Cathy from LJ Hooker Nerang, what struck me wasn’t excitement about a new platform. It was the confidence it had enabled in the business and in the team, the kind that only comes from watching something evolve over time and seeing feedback taken seriously.

I was first introduced to Tina back in 2019 by Shane Colquhoun, with a view to exploring what the future of property management systems might look like.

From that first meeting, one thing was immediately clear. Tina holds an exceptionally high standard and isn’t shy about making demands of technology partners.

For that reason, when they looked at Ailo early, they held off deliberately. They only moved when it met the standard they were prepared to put in front of their owners and their team.

That context matters. This isn’t a story about jumping early, it’s about waiting until something is genuinely ready.

And that hesitation wasn’t resistance to change. It was a responsibility to their team, and to the tenants and landlords they serve.

One of the first things I wanted to understand was whether their confidence today was about what Ailo does now, or about what they believe it will continue to do. For Cathy, that answer was clear.

What mattered wasn’t just delivery, but the relationship behind it. Being able to give candid feedback, raise issues that affected real clients, and trust that those issues would be taken seriously.

Those owners had come from legacy systems they were comfortable with. The fact that their concerns had been addressed over time changed the conversation entirely.

“They were looking for certain things when we took Ailo on a couple of years ago,” Cathy said. “Those things are there now. They’re over the moon.”

I asked them how they’d speak to leaders who think they already know what Ailo is because they saw it a year or two ago.

Tina didn’t hesitate.

“The most important thing is that you work with us to get the program to suit property management and our owners’ needs,” she said. “Watching the development from five years ago to today has been remarkable.”

What she was really pointing to was confidence in trajectory. Not just where the platform is, but how it listens and responds.

“You held off responsibly,” I said to Tina. “You said it wasn’t ready yet, and then you said, now it is.”

She agreed.

“Today, I’m an advocate for it,” she said. “Absolutely."

Genuine advocacy like that doesn't arrive out of thin air, its comes through lived experience.

When we shifted from philosophy to practice, the conversation became more concrete.

Transparency came up repeatedly, from both of them.

“Notes,” Cathy added. “Transparency. Notes.”

For Tina, this had a direct impact on how she works as a BDM and team leader.

By keeping everything in one place, handovers stopped being risky.

“If I’m off, the property manager or leaser can see exactly what was said,” she said. “They know the context.”

That continuity mattered not just internally, but to investors as well.

“Things don’t get missed,” Tina said. “That’s the most important thing for me.”

What sat underneath all of this was culture.

For LJ Hooker Narang, confidence in Ailo isn’t about features or even efficiency. It’s about knowing their team is supported, their owners feel heard, and the business can keep growing without losing its standards.

There was no sense of “sign up and see you later” in how they described the relationship with Ailo, its on ongoing, iterative and shared - even years after they made the commitment to change.

Really, that’s what stood out most to me. This isn’t a platform they adopted and adapted themselves around. It’s one they feel has grown alongside them, responded to their reality, and continues to earn their trust