The idea of property management (sometimes referred to as
3rd party management) has been around since the dawn of
time. But, before property management was a job or career,
a title or a company, property management has been an
action that many people attended to around the land or
buildings that they owned themselves or leased from someone
else. Property management can mean different things to
different people. For some, property management might mean
keeping their own property safe, secure and pleasant to the
eye. For others, property management could mean paying
someone else to make sure your property is in tip top
shape. Some types of properties that may need property
management are; houses, condos, duplexes, town homes,
apartments, shopping centers, malls, offices buildings,
airports and public transportation buildings, hospitals and
many more. Property management is very similar to the role
of management in any business.
One important role that property management has is to act
as the middle person between the tenant and the property
management landlord. Property management should provide the
property management landlord with a sense of security,
knowing that everyday needs from the renter can be resolved
without involving said property management landlord
unnecessarily. Hand and hand with that security, the tenant
can be assured that the property will be maintained to some
set of standards which can be reviewed with the property
management team before an agreement is reached. Property
management is a delicate balance between pleasing the
property management landlord and keeping the renter happy
as well. The task of property management can prove to be
harder than it sounds. Maintaining an open line of
communication in property management and being able to
address the needs of both property management parties will
make a successful property management business. Other
duties for property management but are not limited to;
collecting rent, posting and showing vacancies,
maintenance issues, evictions, failure to pay rent issues,
harassment, and background checks on the application forms.
It is very important that a profitable property management
staff or team be knowledgeable in the current laws of the
city, state and county concerning tenant rights vs.
landlord rights. Be sure your property management team is
up to date on current property management codes, and other
items that will benefit your property management business.
Getting caught up in property management legal matters is
no way to run a property management business.
The following is the definition of property
managers/property management as posted by Wikipedia on
their website. Property management is a person or firm
responsible for the operation of a real estate property for
a fee, when the owner of the property cannot or is not
interested in managing the property themselves. The
property manager or the property management company has a
primary responsibility to the landlord and a secondary
responsibility to the tenant. Relationships the property
manager or property management team have with the landlord
and with the tenant are crucial in forming the expectations
of both parties to the lease since both parties will seek
and expect certain rights and benefits out of it. Owner's
expectations from the property manager/ property management
team are to carry out the owner's instructions, control
costs and maximize revenue to maintain a stabilized cash
flow as a return on capital invested, exercise control over
the building to safeguard the capital invested, provide a
duty of care through proper maintenance of the building, to
be professional and well informed, enhance the value of the
property by making improvements that will increase its
market value, retain and enhance pride of ownership. The
tenant's expectations from the property manager/ property
management team are the "quiet enjoyment" 'assurance of the
use and enjoyment of the premises for the intended purposes
without interference from the landlord, comfort—a
living environment properly heated, cooled and ventilated
with as many amenities as possible compatible with the
rental level, security and safety—to live or work in
a building in which there are no inherent defects or
conditions that might be hazardous to health or to
property, status—accommodation and facilities that
meet social-economic and cultural standards for the
tenant's and their guest.
Property management can be a very lucrative business when
handled correctly. Property management takes an organized,
well communicated, and dedicated individual or staff to be
able to pull off a successful property management company.
Typically property management companies will charge their
landlords a percentage of the gross rent collected each
month. This percentage for property management fees can
range from 3 to 10% depending on the property management
market. Sometimes a flat fee is more appropriate when the
property is a condominium or a type of cooperative complex
for property management. Some states might require that
property managers have a property management license or a
real estate license to be able to claim the title of
property manager or property management business.
A cousin to property management is facility management.
Facility management is like property management but the
focus is the management of buildings and services. One
definition from a large facility/property management
association says, "A profession that encompasses multiple
disciplines to ensure functionality of the built
environment by integrating people, place, process and
technology." Australians prefer the term: Commercial
Services to property management, this term replaces
facilities management in some organizations. Besides
keeping the property up to date, commercial services can
also include duties such as waste disposal, parking,
security, landscaping and more.
A homeowner may provide his or her own property management,
but property management is not limited to the duties of
house cleaning, lawn care and landscaping, building
maintenance, trash and waste disposal and interior upkeep.
Property management can be all of these, and can be hired
out to a professional that can provide better property
management services than the homeowner can or would provide
themselves. These property management services come with a
price and if the homeowner is willing to pay for outside
property management, the sky is the limit on what they can
have managed. Some property management companies even
manage home owners associations (HOAs). In this instance
the property management company is the middle person
between the homeowners and the land developer. Once the
developer has completed his contracted tasks, the
neighborhood is then turned over to the HOA. The property
management company may stay on board for a fee to help the
HOA. A landlord may also provide property management
services himself or have it hired out to a property
management company. A large company or corporation might
have internal structures in place to provide property
management on site or they may choose to hire an outside
property management company to provide the property
management services that they would need on a day to day
basis. Both of these operations are a reasonable and
effective way to tackle the issue of property management on
a large scale.
With the world of technology growing everyday, it makes
perfect sense to have applicable property management
software and property management computer systems that deal
with property management in place to help with property
management or facility management. You can have your home
wired and programmed to turn the lights on and off when
entering a room. Constant temperature and humidity levels
can be monitored along with major appliance functions.
Watering of lawns and security systems has become high tech
and available to the everyday homeowner who wants property
management. Some passenger vehicles now include a "remote"
that when programmed can turn the lights on, turn the TV on
your favorite station and more, all from the comforts of
your car. Heaven forbid you will have to walk into your
dark and quite home. Home builders, architects and
engineers saw the potential for using large scale property
management ideas in the home. Beyond the home, large
commercial properties, computer aided facility management
(CAFM) has been a natural progression of the marriage
between technology and facility/ property management. In
the late 1980's CAFM evolved to allow larger properties to
manage their property management sites more efficiently.
Most often, CAFM systems track and maintain; floor plans,
LAN and telecom information, business continuity and safety
information, workplace assets, employee and occupancy data,
building and property information and space characteristics
and usage. Being able to supervise the goings on of your
with a property management company in an efficient and well
structured way will help your property management bottom
line.
If you need information about property management, the
internet is a great place to start.
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Property Management 101
http://blog.royaltyuniverse.com/
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