Passionate about property

Sally: Hi everyone, welcome back to the Realtime Five. As you all know, my name is Sally Hamilton, GM of Customer and Growth here at Realtime, and today I'm with Director of Beltana Conveyancing and Registered Conveyancer, Betty Bouras. Welcome.

Betty: Welcome, thank you very much.

Sally: Now, Betty has just clicked over one year with Realtime, just received her anniversary gift, so great timing to be here in Adelaide with Betty and ask some questions. Five questions, five minutes — really to get to know Betty, her business and her transition to Realtime. So, Betty, first off, what inspired you to get into conveyancing and what keeps you passionate with all the changes that occur in this industry?

Betty: Right, it's all about property and everything — property is my passion. But growing up, I had an interest in property because family and, you know, the extended family always were investors or some sort of small property developers. So, it was always a talk, the main topic of conversation. So, quickly learned that, you know, you got to do this and you got to do that and this is how you can develop this property. And so, it was something that was inbuilt in me and which made me, as I got older and as an adult, that I need to join a property group and learn more and gain some more knowledge. And that's what I did — joined a property group, been a member for over 25 years, showing my age. But I learnt heaps, you know, anything from, you know, knowledge about general property, you know, what you can do with property and, you know, asset protection, etc. All those things about property, which made me even more passionate. Even though I didn't start in the industry, my mind was always on that. So, that's what made me change into the industry eventually. And, you know, it's been go, go since — it's been amazing.

Sally: It's amazing. Now, a business owner right in the smack bang middle of it — conveyancing. And so, what's one focus area or goal that Beltana Conveyancing is really driving forward right now?

Betty: At the moment, I got a new office, which is amazing. That was one of my main goals — to eventually go into an office and feel confident in getting people to come and see me at my office or, you know, feeling confident to have a coffee and, you know, enjoy talking to people. Also, the fact that I can have my staff working with me and leaving them to work on their own, not worrying about, you know, them not knowing what to do. You know, getting on the program was amazing as well. So, yeah, and the staff have been really happy.

Sally: Nice, relaxed environment. It's a beautiful little office. Great coffee shop downstairs.

Betty: Yeah. So, yeah, the staff focus has been a main thing for me at the moment and teaching them some automated and really streamlined processes. And your time has been really good.

Sally: And I suppose that then feeds into Realtime conveyances. So, what role has Realtime conveyance really played in that day-to-day? You touched on a few things there. And how has it changed the way that your team's working? Question: How has Realtime changed how your team works?

Betty: Well, it's the automation, the streamlined program, the stress. Like, it's just alleviated that stress of, you know, using another program where it's not as — it's not integrated and it's not as user-friendly. Teaching a staff member to do the program has been so great because the steps are easy to follow. There's your task work, task flows on the program. We actually have gone paperless, which is one of the amazing things that's happened. I thought, I'd never do that. No, no way. I can't work without paper. I've got to carry those files with me. But, no, it's been really good because I had to, you know, let go. And it's been great. I've saved the environment. But, no, it's amazing. And now I can't do without — you know, I don't want to go back to paper. It's been so good. I mean, it's, you know, can't avoid it with some things. But, you know, with 99% of the tasks, I just love it because I can work anywhere.

Sally: And I suppose that feeds into...

Sally: Question: What is your favourite feature in Realtime?

Betty: Oh, there's a lot. But the main one, I'd say, is the troubleshooting — the online, well, the 24 hour help. You know, during the day, obviously, we've got, you know, the help that we can call someone, you know, with a contact, a person. But we've got that help all the time, you know, with the SMSing and all that, where we can ask our questions and the troubleshooting, you know, happens straight away pretty well.

Sally: Yeah, we're pretty dedicated to service. That's great. And I suppose for those out there that are watching this, potentially considering the move to Realtime, maybe has watched a couple of these Realtime Fires and they're dipping their toe in... Question: What’s your advice to those considering moving to Realtime?

Betty: Oh, just do it. Give it a go. I'd say there's nothing to lose. Just looking at the processes. And I mean, what won me over straight away was, you know, the great help we've got around us, the people that we can interact with that are helping us at Realtime. And, you know, the tasks, the automation, the stress relief, the time to spend with our family — because everything's so much more efficient and takes half the time to do so. Amazing. Yeah, it's amazing.

Sally: We're up on wellbeing as well. We're very, very close to our cause. So thank you so much, Betty, for joining us today. It was lovely to get to know a little bit more about you. And of course, your Realtime experience. Amazing. Till next time. Bye.