Property Management 101

What does a property manager actually do?

The list of responsibilities may vary from property to property; however, many essential functions are pretty standard in office buildings. For the purposes of this article, I will assume you don't know what to expect, and even if you are experienced, this list of essential tasks will be a useful review. 

Here are some common property management areas.

Point of Contact

As a property manager, you are the landlord's representative and advocate at the property, and you certainly have your work cut out for you. Simply put, tenants need someone to talk to.

Your communication with your tenant will start early on, as a lease is signed, and there will be many questions that you need to answer before they become your tenant. Once a lease is signed, you will need to guide your tenants through any construction or fit-out, move-in, and commencement of occupancy.

Once the tenant is in the building, there will be work orders, complaints, life & safety events such as fire drills or power outages, building activities, promotions, and many more interactions. You need to make sure you are easy to reach and are ready to field your tenants' requests.

Team Management

If you manage a smaller property, you might be the admin, custodian, engineer, and doorman all in one. At larger properties, you will typically be working with a team of porters, engineers, building technicians, and property admins and brokers. Delegating responsibilities and ensuring work is completed should be a high priority.

Documentation

Paperwork plays a considerable role in many businesses, and real estate is no exception. You will need to make sure that you have a process that accounts for having to produce paperwork.

Incident reports 

If something bad happens at the property, it is in your best interest to document the incident and it will often be an insurance requirement. You will need to fill out a report with the details of what happened, take photos and videos, and any other insurance requirement. 

Tenant Notices

Tenant notices will range from an official notice that is required by the lease. For example, if a tenant is in default of a lease, you will be required to send them official notice by precise channels indicated in the lease. 

An example of less formal notice is if you are planning on doing work in a common area like an elevator or lobby, you would probably want to send out a memo to tenants who may be affected. 

Inspections

You need to make sure your asset can pass government and insurance inspections so you can continue to do business with tenants.

You will need to get construction permits and pass inspections to make changes to office spaces. Developing a good working relationship with local officials is an excellent idea.

You will need to pass inspections for fire safety, sprinklers, and other fire related requirements. Your elevators will need to pass local inspections on a regular basis. In addition to the physical inspection you will often need to provide logs of self inspection or repairs and maintenance. Keeping these supporting documents organized will go a long way in passing your inspections.

There are many more areas like vendor management, budgeting, contracts, that we will cover in future articles. 

If you have any questions about this article or other property management issues reach out.

Joe@wearep3.com