Monday, 31 October 2011

What to Look for in a Property Management Company

By Ray Pope


The building owner who has decided to hire a property management company wants to benefit from a predicted freedom. That would be a freedom from pressing fears about maintenance issues. The manager of a property is meant to keep that facility well maintained. She or he should understand how to find those professionals who can carry out any required repairs. He or she should stand ready to timetable conclusion of any obligatory procedures, such as the cutting of the grass in house.

That same company ought to have a staff that's prepared to handle any calls from a tenant. Each caller ought to receive a courteous response, after she or he contacts one of the manager's representatives. She or he should feel assured that whatever problem he has mentioned will be sorted as speedily as possible. If the caller lacks that feeling of confidence, as he or she hangs up the phone, or searches for a reply to an e-mail, then the building owner might get an unexpected call. Such unwanted contacts serve as a clear sign that a property management firm has not been able to perform in a satisfactory demeanour.

The observant worker of a managing corporation watches for and notes any effort by a renter to violate the particulars of a lease. Usually, that first violation should trigger the show of a polite oral caution. That alert should inspire creation of the change that would constitute observance of the lease. Naturally, if a caution has been ignored, then those managing a building must contact the building's owner. That should make allowance for delivery of a more robust, usually a written warning. After contacting that more powerful man or woman, the handling authorities can know that their job is finished, at least regarding that one problem.

While the tenants must go along with the terms of their lease, the owner of a building must comply with all of the rules set down by the municipality in which that structure is found. People who are responsible for handling and maintaining that structure must make a point of overseeing those efforts directed at compliance with a municipality's rules. Their failure to take on that responsibility can cause a building's owner to be hit with a massive fine. Such an occurrence would represent yet one more sign that a managing firm has not managed to perform as predicted.

A managing corporation should not be predicted to micro manage the business of caring for a structure and the lot that surrounds it. Put simply, while that firm must pay close attention to details, it shouldn't exhibit what Colin Powell has called analysis paralysis. That condition demonstrates an attempt to cover up certain nonessential mistakes, rather than an effort to complete tasks in a rapid, thorough manner. Recognition of urgency should not encourage an approval of sloppiness. Neither should it give anyone good reason to second guess others; that action too falls outside the sphere of behaviours predicted from a high quality manager.




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