How Property Managers Protect Their Owner Relationships
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Marc Courtenay in Business
This is an opportunistic time for property managers throughout the U.S.A. Not only are there growing numbers of potential residents looking for homes and apartments to rent or lease, but there are record numbers of owners who are not quite satisfied with their current property manager.
I hope that your clients are not one of those dissatisfied owners. The best way to find out is to keep in touch on a regular basis.
When I asked and interviewed investors who own rental properties what they appreciate most about their property manager, one of the most common answers is, “He (or she) communicates with me regularly”.
Put in different terms, the owners trust their property managers to return their inquiries promptly and to let the owners know what is going on with their properties.
The exceptional manager takes this to a higher level. They don’t wait until there are problems or complaints. They develop a system to call the owners and check in with them. This includes asking questions like “Are you happy with how we are taking care of you and taking care of your property?” Whether by phone or letter, if you value your relationship and your client’s loyalty let them know how much you care.
There is an old but true saying among service professionals, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Your competition is out there searching for owners who want a better, more reliable property management company to represent them. They will use enticements like lower management fees or teaser rates to make it hard to say no. My 37 years of working with clients has taught me that as long as your fees aren’t exorbitant, if your clients know you and trust you they will stay with you.
So ask yourself, “Do I know all my clients well? Have I taken the time to ask them about their goals, concerns and their apprehensions?” I’m not encouraging paranoia here, but you might even ask yourself if your client knows for sure that you appreciate them.
At my firm, we would take a few hours every week to ask the questions above about every one of our owners.
We would also conduct seminars for our clients and the clients of other property managers as a service. We usually picked up new clients who were looking for better service.
Related Posts
Protect and Grow Your Owner-Client Relationships
Property Manager’s Guide to Preserving Owner Relationships
2 Ideas on How Property Managers Can Prosper in Today’s Economy: Part 1
Challenges and Solutions for Residential Property Managers – Part 2
The Dawn of Outrageous Opportunities for Property Managers
3 Responses to “How Property Managers Protect Their Owner Relationships”
Leave a Reply
ADVERTISEMENT
-
Love Your Residents More Than They Love You
-
Apartment Leadership: Courageous Conversations
-
Manage Your Property Like a Dog
-
Optimizing Your Property Management Facebook Page for Search
-
Who Doesn’t Want Residential Income Property Right Now?
-
Marc Courtenay: Thank you Aimee. That is an excellent article....
-
Aimee Miller: Here's an interesting article with even more stats...
-
-
-
john: The problem is not a lack of inspections, but a la...
Michael Levy
15. May, 2010
Marc, excellent article – I couldn’t agree more! Thanks.
Also, I think property managers need to continually think about what owners typically look for when evaluating a new property manager. The evaluation typically considers these key factors:
1. REFERENCE CHECKS – If you find other owners/landlords that are very happy with a particular property management company, that is a very good sign. It is an even better sign if the reference is from a friend or acquaintance of yours. NOTE: If property managers follow your excellent advice, then they will score very high on this factor.
2. LEASE AGREEMENTS – making sure they know all the local & state laws that affect property management. Are they members of the local chapter of the National Apartment Association (NAA) and/or the local chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM)? Make sure you review a sample copy of the lease agreements they will be using.
3. MONEY MATTERS: costs & dealing with money matters – what fees will they charge you? What services do they provide? How and when do they pay you your income? Do they give you periodic financial reports/statements? Do they use their own maintenance people? If so, how much do they charge you for using their maintenance people? Will they contact you for approval if a repair will cost more than a certain amount of money? What do they charge you for dealing with filling your vacancies? Do they require you to maintain a reserve account? NOTE TO PROPERTY MANAGERS: Do you know what your competition does in all of these areas?
4. TERMINATING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY – if you are not satisfied with the property management company, can you terminate your agreement with them at any time?
5. ADVERTISING & COMMUNICATION – how and where do they advertise your property? How will they communicate with you (e.g. phone, email, website, etc.).
In summary, having a high quality set of services, providing value with a decent ROI for the owner, and providing top notch customer service are the keys. Knowing how you stack up against your competition can also help you significantly.
Thanks again for a great article!
- Michael Levy
Rental Express
28. Apr, 2011
Quality communication is the Key. Landlords will pay high fees if they believe that they are getting vaule for money. If they are not being kept informed with dealings of their properties, they will start to question the fees that they are paying. A lot of investors feel that they are managing their property managers with constant calls and emails trying to find out what is happening with their investment.
The other thing that you have to do is make what we call “Good News Calls” ie calls without reason. A lot of investors only hear from their property management companies when there is a problem or they have to spend money. If you are proactive and let your owners know what is happening with their properties before they have to ask. For example. Mr Jones i have just driven past your property and the tenants have the property looking great.
Marc Courtenay
29. Apr, 2011
Michael and “Rental Express”,
Your outstanding suggestions and comments are the components for a follow-up article, which will be coming out in a month or so. It is such a vital topic and your points are greatly appreciated. Comments like yours are what I was hoping for.