7 of the Most Common Challenges Property Managers Face
Despite the fact the real estate industry is getting constantly outfitted with new technology and modern trends, it is property managers that seem to be facing persisting challenges. There are major factors, such as the state of the economy, but also smaller ones, like tenants, landlords and buildings.
Sometimes it takes more time to resolve this than work hours allow. However, it is through sufficient planning and executing the right moves that property managers can stay on top of the main challenges in business. Here are a few examples:
- Responsibility – for a landlord and a property manager to form a mutually beneficial relationship, they have to build trust. And when you think about it, it is property managers who are responsible for bringing in the right tenants through various screening methods. This calls for diligent evaluation, which is a responsible task to do.
- Risk – there are a few liabilities and risks that every real estate management company needs to address. The managers can never afford to ignore any modes of health and safety inspections that should take place within the properties, like gas and fire safety, energy performance and electrical safety. Failure to execute any of these and properly audit the trail of activities associated is a risk for tenants, landlords and realty firms involved.
- Time constraints – a property manager fully understands how valuable time is, especially since they need to coordinate landlords, facility suppliers and tenants. This is very difficult to do, and it takes experience and the proper utilisation of technology to get right.
- Support tech – speaking of technology, more and more property managers are starting to use cloud-based solutions. This allows them to greatly streamline and centralise their audits and streamline operations. Once the cloud-based technology is properly implemented, property managers can begin to take full advantage of it.
- Operating costs – one thing that can affect the revenue of property managers is increased indirect costs. This means they will have to spend more on materials and tools for maintenance. There are certain initiatives, which can help them out, as long as they take the time to familiarise themselves with the program and how it can work for them.
- Tenants – there is one thing every good property manager knows: it is much more demanding to bring new tenants in property than it is to renew a contract with any of the existing tenants. That is one of the greatest challenges that property managers face is setting a good relationship with these people. Tenants demand various things, from the most typical comfort requirements to more advanced demands like improved security of the property and frequent audit. Over time, tenants want to be able to utilise the space more efficiently via creative floor plans. Meeting all of these demands is not always easy and a successful property manager needs to know how to best address them.
- Staffing – property management companies always have to be on the lookout to find and train customer-oriented staff. There is training required, as well as securing competitive wages for these people. After all, a company is only as good as the people working for it and providing its service to clients. Some other staffing challenges occur when it comes to outsourcing some services, like janitorial work and handyman services.
These are most of the common challenges that property management companies nowadays face. They need to stay on top of these challenges because finding efficient ways to overcome and stay ahead is what separates the good property management companies from the bad.
