Since joining ResortBrokers’ Gold Coast management rights team in 2023, Syd Douglas has hit the ground running.
Syd has landed a pipeline of deals and launched an ongoing video series where he interviews industry experts in the management rights sector.
In November 2023, Syd and fellow Gold Coast agent Todd Warner, settled the off-the-plan sale of the management rights to Vantage Benowa, a 328-apartment staged development west of Surfers Paradise. In June 2024, Syd and ResortBrokers Director Tim Crooks, settled the management rights sale of the prestigious 94-apartment Allure on Chevron Island.
Syd joined ResortBrokers off the back of seven successful years as a property manager, most recently of Boardwalk Burleigh Beach for four years and an earlier three years with Azure Living in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
With Azure Living, Syd oversaw property management and caretaking from inception, working with council, developers and off-the-plan investors alike, and was able to secure 150 of the site’s 165 properties under management.
For Boardwalk Burleigh Beach, Syd managed all operations of the resort, including budgeting and improving overall profitability. Working with owners’ groups and body corporate, Syd also had extensive experience in defect and trade management. Pairing his knowledge and know-how of a hands-on building manager with his passion and drive for property sales, Syd produced record after record in property sales.
The Gold Coast local has been a licensed letting agent since 2016 and a licensed real estate agent since 2018. He holds a Diploma of Financial Planning from Deakin University and before entering the real estate industry was a senior finance manager for Westpac.
“Knowing how to talk to owners and potential buyers about how a property is tracking and what its potential is by understanding its financial statements is really important,” he says. “That’s something I’ve done day in day out for the last seven years.”
Syd says he likes to work from an understanding of what’s important to both sides of a management rights transaction.
“I like to know what makes both buyer and seller tick to understand their expectations,” he says. “My approach has always been you’ve got to be upfront, you’ve got to be standing by the information you provide and being transparent. I like to talk sense. I like to talk facts. Your reputation is everything. Your name travels very quickly in this industry, so being a person of integrity and honesty, and delivering — doing everything you say you’re going to do — is really important. Earning trust is half the battle. After all, the ultimate compliment is having a seller return as a buyer.”
A father of two young boys, Syd spends most weekends on the sporting fields with his sons or on the beach as a volunteer lifeguard.
Follow me ...
