7 Property Management Challenges & Solutions

  Even with all the advanced technology and trends driving the real estate industry, property managers face multiple challenges every other day. While the economy is among the biggest factors, there are small ones as well making a huge impact such as landlords, tenants, buildings and facilities management teams. Sometimes it takes more than the usual work hours to settle the issues but careful planning and making the right moves at the right time guarantee smooth sail all through! Here are some challenges faced by realtors along with their solutions.

1. Responsibility
The element of trust is crucial for a strong foundation so it has to be there among landlord and property managers. Since realtors are responsible for representing the landlord, they’ve to ensure all tenants are properly screened, the risk of damaged property by irresponsible tenants is reduced as well as proper maintenance of buildings and facilities. All of this requires regular and diligent property evaluation.

2. Risks
All real estate management companies are faced with multiple inherent risks and liabilities. Managers and key players of the industry simply can’t ignore different modes of safety and health inspections associated with the properties such as;

- Electrical safety
- Energy performance
- Fire and gas safety

Failure to execute these critical inspections and audit trail of activities poses a huge risk for all connected parties including potential danger to tenants, landlords as well as realty firms. In the end, it may result in heavy penalties and damaged reputation that can prove direr in the long-run.

3. Chasing time
Each of us recognises the value of time and what a precious commodity it is, but nobody realises this more than a busy property manager. They always need to coordinate with landlords, building facilities suppliers and tenants that are linked to their portfolio all the time. In today’s world, however, this is nearly impossible without exploiting latest technology or else managing projects and day-to-day tasks can be a real burden whereas avoiding certain risks won’t be possible.

4. Supporting technology
Tillr; a cloud-based solution allows property managers to centralise and streamline all their audits and inspections thus reducing task duplications and vagueness in daily operations. Once adopting the cloud-based technology, you can exploit full advantages of sharing information, collaborating with others, automated alerts, reminders and task management. You can also develop real-time reports for multiple factors such as inspections and audits, contractors and teams, trends and performance measurement easily.

5. Operating costs
Almost every other property manager is hurt by skyrocketing energy costs as they affect the utility bills directly. Increased indirect costs impact just about everything your purchase from a simple soap bar to light bulbs and construction materials. Energy saving initiatives, therefore, must be a priority with strong maintenance program ensuring all heating and cooling systems remain in working conditions. Purchasing supplies and equipment in bulk is the best way to offset rising costs.

6. Staffing/services
To find, train, motivate and retain a customer-oriented staff is a constant and ongoing challenge. Competitive wages and excellent training initiatives can go a long way towards retaining the staff longer. In addition, appreciate them as goodwill ambassadors as they form a crucial part of the operations line. For every industry irrespective of its size and nature of work, manpower is the driving factor for either success or failure.

Meanwhile, staffing problems can also spill when outsourcing services such as a janitorial line. Unions over the years became far aggressive, demanding higher benefits and wages all-together. When negotiating new agreements, make sure you sift through historical data and determine if there’s a potential to save profit over time to uncover any damage or as a support in rainy days while presenting more favourable outcomes.

7. Tenants
It costs more or less ten times to bring in new tenants then renewing the contract with existing ones, therefore; establishing good relations with them over time is important. Tenant’s demand for comfort hasn't changed over the years as they want proper heating in winter, a working air conditioner in summer along with absolute security. With time, tenants have special focus on using their space more efficiently through creative floor plans

Conclusion:
Because property management is entirely a customer-focused business, the more time you invest, better will be the outcome.