Think of your million-dollar investment as a suitcase full of money. Now imagine that you are incapable of looking after it due to your busy schedule. Therefore, you need to find someone to look after your suitcase. Consider how you would scrutinize the person or company you chose to guard your million-dollar suitcase. You would investigate that person or entity’s background, capability, credit, and integrity. I’m sure you would grill them with difficult questions. Essentially what I’m saying is, you should treat hiring a commercial property management company with great care. After all, for those investing in commercial real estate, your property is worth a lot of money!
Five Traits of a Successful Property Manager
Not all commercial property spaces require the same skillset, and the same is true of commercial property managers. Still, there are five traits that best identify a superior property management professional.
Knowledgeable
A good property manager should know the market, but a great property manager understands how to best meet their client’s needs. A property manager should know all the ins and outs of the building’s market risk, any building code issues, and local zoning requirements. A property management company should be invested in the local community and understand how to solve any issues that may arise. Furthermore, to best meet a client’s needs, a property management team should understand how to best allocate a client’s resources. That could mean, in some markets, investing in amenities to boost revenue or cutting building costs, and reducing expenses in others.
Local
An ideal commercial property management company is local. Working with a major international property management company is great, but worthless if they aren’t locally available. When getting to know a property manager, ask them if they live and office in the community. Question them about their depth of knowledge of local issues. In my experience, nothing is better than the property manager that drives by your property on the way to work. Property management teams that office nearby the properties they manage almost always outperform the market and they always have the properties in good condition as services like pipework UK really help in this area.
Proactive
Successful property managers are proactive in their duties. Without prodding, a proactive property manager addresses a building’s preventive maintenance needs and investigates cost-cutting measures. A proactive manager explores the benefits of system upgrades to heating, cooling and higher quality building materials. Moreover, when necessary, a proactive manager uses their experience to trim costs when the building is unoccupied.
Responsive
A property management professional must answer your calls and emails in a timely fashion. In addition, good property management professionals understand that property supervision is a 24 hour business with no holidays! A top property management team quickly responds to emergency situations to keep your property safe and operational, no matter the hour or day of the week!
Friendly
A good property management company must be approachable. They should make you feel comfortable to reach out to! You want to work with people who appreciate interacting with you, but even more their tenants. One great way to understand this is by asking other business owners in buildings they manage about their relationships.
Conclusion
Ultimately, no matter the property type, the right property management company should always be knowledgeable, local, proactive, responsive, and friendly. As a result, finding a management company that fits these five characteristics can be the difference between a successful property and one you wish you never considered.
