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May 18
2009
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Rule #1: Control Freaks Should Not Be Property Managers
Posted by: Gabriele Preston on May 18, 2009 01:00 |
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While visiting a community in Atlanta last week I saw a young man and women walk into the leasing office. One of our representatives recognized them from an apartment community she had worked at a short distance away. Later I walked over to that representative and she introduced me to the brother and sister looking for an apartment home. Since I knew that the community they were coming from was comparable and a bit newer than ours I asked them why they were moving. The woman stated that she disliked the Property Manager and that they have decided to move. When I asked what the Community Manager did to cause this decision she went on to tell me that they cannot stand the manager's rules about everything and in particular, the swimming pool. She went on say that they are not allowed to sit on the deck because the pool is still closed. They were also told that no floats would be allowed in the pool. The woman said that last year the manager or another representative would always come out and scold someone for doing something wrong and they just did not want to live in type of community anymore. So if you are one of those managers enforcing the RULES ask yourself if any rule is worth loosing residents over? Or in other words how important are the rules? Rules do not always serve the best interest of the business. Yes, we need rules to keep order, to keep others safe etc., but we don't have to enforce them to the silliest extreme. Bending a little when it serves the best interest of the business should be considered whenever possible.
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Comments (6)
We RUN residential properties, we don't rule them. Okay, so actually we do, but the whole aspect of power is only respected when it's valid authority. Our residents respect their community because we treat it as such and in turn, so do they.
Love the sledgehammer notion though!
Love the sledgehammer notion though!
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Another comment I have is this - We talk all the time about making it either easy or difficult for prospects to rent at our properties and that this issue can make or break a community... I look at the over-regulation of properties as an issue of making it hard for someone to live and stay.
Live free, or rent elsewhere.
Live free, or rent elsewhere.
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I used to live in a mobile home park in Florida. I hated going to the pool because of the commandoes that were stalking it. Managers seem to equate their position with a dictatorship style from time to time, and that just makes everyone miserable!
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I love this post Gabrielle! Very well timed too, as this is the time of year when we start to see more and more of our residents. You have the choice right now to connect and retain or alienate and have to fill the vacancy later. Nicely done! 
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I think it is not so much the rules it is that enforcing the rules the manager was making everyone feel like bad children. How you enforce the rules is easily as important as being open to bending the rules when applicable. It is easy to treat residents like peers and not talk down to them.
I guess really, more to point, is treating residents like they are always potential customers.
I guess really, more to point, is treating residents like they are always potential customers.
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What Do You Think?
1. We have a 30 acre, 346 unit apartment complex and for virtually all of the past ten years, have functioned perfectly fine WITHOUT any "Rules and Regulations". A simple clause in our simple, 1 page, 2 sided apartment lease defines the limits of the leased premises and our control over non-leased parts of the property. Recently, we created a single rule for our "Rules and Regulations" (parking in roads during the winter season). I am always amazed at how complicated and lengthy some apartment owners make their lease documents.
2. "No" is easy; we are in the business of trying to find ways to say "yes".
3. There are many customer relationship issues that can be handled short of using a sledgehammer (property manager), and instead be delegated to the leasing person with the best relationship with the customer in question, in a kind and considerate manner. It's very true that it is not what a person says, but how it is said that makes a difference.
4. We don't manage by memo or voice message, instead, we manage by personal relationship. Many of our customers have been with us for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or more years.
5. I really, really like the Fair Housing law, because it requires that we treat our customers in a consistent manner, which is plainly good business. So, we are always careful when it comes to "bending a little" in our business practices. No matter whether a customer has been with us for 30 days or 30 years, he/she should receive the same quality of service and attention; we don't treat newbies like second-class citizens and our long-term customers hopefully respect our commitment to consist, non-discriminatory treatment.