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Important Attributes to Look for When Hiring

Mike Levy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:49:17 +0000

Over the last several months I have interviewed 50 of the most successful property managers across the United States. Most, if not all, of the interviewees talked about soft skills being much more important than having actual property management experience when hiring new employees to build a strong team.

The most common soft skills mentioned included:

Good listener
Strong communication skills
High energy
Enthusiasm
Eager
Motivated
Sense of humor
People oriented

It was quite apparent to me that the successful property managers understood the value of behavioral interviewing techniques and they were very aware of the type of employees they were looking for.

Here’s what a few of them said:

“Property managers need to have the patience to really listen to their customers.”
Mark Mascia – Mascia Management, LLC

“We look for employees that exude energy, enthusiasm, and a good personality.”
Mia Melle – West Coast Property Specialists, Inc.

“We want someone who likes to be around people, has a positive attitude, and wants to learn.”
Tracey Logan – Holland Residential

“Communication and organization skills are the key to our business, so effective communication is a must — this is where we beat our competition.”
Michael Daniels – Cagan Management Group

If you missed my Feb. 24 Webinar be sure to watch it here: 50 Interviews with Property Managers: 7 Lessons For Your Business

The interviews are documented in my upcoming book: “50 Interviews: Successful Property Managers”. Volume 1, the first 25 interviews, which was just published this month, February 2010; followed by Volume II, the remaining 25 interviews, to be published in April 2010.

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The Best Property Management Companies Are the Ones That Have Built Strong Teams

Mike Levy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:11 +0000

Over the last several months I have interviewed 50 of the most successful property managers across the United States. Excellent people skills and an enthusiastic and positive attitude were qualities of successful property managers. But the one thing that became very clear, early on in my interviews, was that building strong teams was critical to the success of a property management company.

When interviewing the most successful property management companies, there were three key elements to building a strong team that were consistently mentioned:

Set high expectations and hold your team accountable
You get the most out of your employees when you ask them to give 110%, you let them know what you expect of them in terms of results, and then you measure those results to ensure that the expectations were met. If you leave out any of these three components, you typically will not end up with a strong performing team. Chances are pretty good that if someone does not know what is expected of them or how they are going to be evaluated, they will fail at achieving what you want from them.

Hire the best possible employees for your team
If you are going to have a strong team, you are going to need top notch employees and that is very dependent on the quality of your hiring process. To ensure an effective hiring process, a number of the property managers indicated they use behavioral interviewing to ensure that the employees being hired had the key skills they were looking for. Many also indicated that they typically looked for specific soft skills versus property management skills and experience. As Bev Perina (Armadillo Property Management) said in our interview, “I cannot stress enough how important it is to hire people much smarter than yourself”.

Make sure you have the right people in the right positions
Another common theme was making sure you have people with the right skills and personalities in each of your job positions. Some property management positions require strong communication and people interaction skills. However, other positions might require more analytical and accounting skills. As Glenn Gonzales (PPA Real Estate Management) so aptly explained, “Put the right people in the right place doing the right things”.

Be sure to register for the webinar on February 24th at 10 AM PST.

The interviews are documented in Mike Levy’s upcoming book: “50 Interviews: Successful Property Managers.” Volume 1 (the first 25 interviews) will be published in February 2010; followed by Volume II (the remaining 25 interviews) in April 2010.

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Secrets of Successful Property Managers: Attitude Makes All the Difference

Mike Levy — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:00:55 +0000

Over the last several months I have interviewed 50 of the most successful property managers across the United States. What I started to realize was that there was a common attribute that many of the successful property managers shared – and it was having a positive and enthusiastic attitude.

Three critical aspects of having a positive and enthusiastic attitude that were identified in the interviews were:

Keep at it! Don’t give up!
Property management can be very difficult at times and very frustrating when things don’t always go as planned. When faced with tough challenges, the successful property managers don’t give up, they keep trying until they succeed. Sometimes it requires a different and more novel approach. Sometimes it requires a focused and more dedicated effort. And sometimes it requires drawing upon other resources like others on their team or various colleagues in their network.

Look at problems as opportunities.
Many of the property managers used the word “opportunities” instead of talking about problems. These were the property managers that had very positive attitudes and always tried to look for the positives rather than the negatives in a particular situation. Many examples were given as to how these successful property managers have been dealing with the tough economic environment – always looking for what new opportunities are presented by the situation they are faced with.

Increasing your knowledge will make you a better property manager.
The successful property managers never stop learning, never stop taking courses, and never stop networking. As Raymond Scarabosio of Jackson Group Property Management so aptly put it, “When you think you know it all, you don’t.” Many of the property managers also talked about how they learn so much from others on their team. Various courses and other educational venues from the industry’s professional organizations were also mentioned quite a bit, including educational opportunities from NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers), the IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management), and the NAA (National Apartment Association).

The interviews are documented in Mike Levy’s upcoming book “50 Interviews: Successful Property Managers.” Volume 1 (the first 25 interviews) will be published in February 2010; followed by Volume II (the remaining 25 interviews) in April 2010.

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Secrets of Successful Property Managers: Excellent People Skills are Critical

Mike Levy — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:15:28 +0000

Over the last several months I have interviewed 50 of the most successful property managers across the United States. One thing I consistently heard over and over from the property managers, is the importance of having good people skills. One property manager said, “the most rewarding aspect of property management is working with people,” yet others agreed that sometimes it is not that easy to do.

Five critical people skills that were identified in the interviews were:

The ability to relate to people at all different levels.
This was definitely a common theme in the interviews. Many of the property managers talked about the need to have the ability to relate to all types of people in all types of businesses. In the property management industry you literally come in contact with just about everyone from just about every socio-economic class you can imagine.

The ability to exercise patience.
Every day seems to bring on new challenges and problems to solve. Sometimes these problems can be very challenging, hard to deal with, and frustrating. Many of the property managers talked about the need to exercise patience in these situations. Many said this is especially important when dealing with clients and tenants, especially when they end up taking on the mediator role.

The ability to be willing to change.
The property managers were almost unanimous in their belief that you needed to be willing to change when the environment and/or industry changes. Almost all of them talked about how the economy has affected their business and what they needed to do to adjust to these changing times. Some also suggested that some of these changes in the industry are also creating opportunities for new property managers to offer new, creative, and innovative service offerings.

The ability to listen.
Many of the property managers emphasized the importance of listening to their clients, tenants, residents, vendors, suppliers, employees, and others. Listening without cutting off the other person is absolutely critical. Mark Mascia (Mascia Management, LLC), put it very succinctly when he said – sometimes people simply need to be heard, even if it’s a complaint, and a lot of problems can be resolved just by listening.

The ability to say “NO” when necessary.
Many property managers have a tendency to say “yes” to their clients and tenants just to make them happy and sometimes to cool down a heated situation. However, a number of property managers explained why sometimes it is most prudent to say “NO”. In fact, some indicated this was actually a critical success factor for them.

The interviews are documented in my upcoming book: “50 Interviews: Successful Property Managers.” Volume 1, the first 25 interviews, will be published in February 2010; followed by Volume II, the remaining 25 interviews, in April 2010.

Michael Levy is a very passionate entrepreneur who has written the book “50 Interviews: Successful Property Managers” and has started four companies providing services to property managers in the last six years (Levy Consulting, LLC, NorthernColoradoRentals.com, LLC, NoCoAds, and USAPropertyRentals.com, LLC). Michael lives in Fort Collins, Colorado and likes to spend his free time during the winter months downhill skiing at the Winter Park and Mary Jane ski resorts in the mountains of Colorado. Connect with Michael on his blog at Successful Property Managers, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

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