Buildium LLC's Blog

A guest post by Gabriel Knight, Mortgage Fit, Chicago, IL

While rental property investment might look like a rewarding and positive venture, managing both tenants and properties can be overwhelming. As such, you may need to hire a professional property manager to make your life easier. This is an especially good idea for rental property owners who have no experience or don't want to spend their time managing a rental property on their own. With a property manager, you’ll be able to ask mortgage questions if you run into any trouble with your property. Here are some reasons why you should hire a residential property manager to manage your residential property properly.

By Salvatore Friscia, San Diego Premier Property Management, San Diego, CA

I recently read somewhere that property managers are slowly spiraling down the trust ladder towards the likes of lawyers and used car salesmen. I know this is a strong statement and no disrespect to lawyers and used car salesman, both honorable and needed professions, but once the public brands a group in that fashion it’s hard to shake the stereotype. So, has it really gotten that bad for us property managers?

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

Ever call or visit a business, ask a basic question, and receive an answer of “I do not know?” To make matters worse, there is not even an offer of “I will find out”, or “Let me ask a supervisor.” It is rather scary and it is also profound. In business we work so hard to build our companies, market our properties, or create features and services, all to find out nobody in our own company has a clue!

While visiting a business recently, I asked a simple question pertaining to a geographic location. Of course, the woman on duty had no clue. She did not know what highway exit she was located at, nor could she tell me east, west, north, or south! That is a huge pet peeve to me. How can you permit your employees to be that completely oblivious of their surroundings? It is unconscionable, but so very common.

By Jo-Anne Oliveri, ireviloution intelligence, Brisbane, Australia

Does this make sense to you?

Last week I was in discussions with a respected sales agency. This agency had a huge sales business with 12 or so sales consultants during the peak of the region’s boom. They now only have the directors, three of them, working as sales consultants.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

When creating an Internet presence and building a new public website, the first thing you’ll want to do is identify a domain name as close as possible to your company or property name. Don’t bother searching in multiple locations for your potential site’s name — you’re too busy for that! Go straight to a search engine like namechecklist.com.

By Jo-Anne Oliveri, ireviloution intelligence, Brisbane, Australia

There are many reasons why we need to recruit. We live in a world where there are unlimited opportunities for advancement and success. So, it stands to reason that your team members come and go based on their own personal career aspirations and opportunities that present themselves.

It’s always wise to know individual team member’s personal goals. You should ask them what these are at the initial interview and then discuss it at monthly one-to-one meetings. By knowing what your team member’s long-term career aspirations are, you are then able to manage your team, business, and service by design.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

As managers and owners of property, are we not supposed to deliver the best service, and keep our properties as safe and clean as possible? Is our staff learning and keeping on top of the current trends in technology and techniques? Do we empower our teams to deliver the best they can to maintain or lease our property? If not, why? What is your excuse?

Are there not enough hours in the day? Are funds tight? Is an emergency, like bad weather or governmental changes stopping you, giving you an excuse for not training, or teaching your team how to be the best?

By Jo-Anne Oliveri, ireviloution intelligence, Brisbane, Australia

Currently, there are many challenges facing the property management industry. I believe the property management industry is unknowingly creating many of these challenges because they are not identifying and addressing the real problem. I consider the real problem to be how principals operate their property management business.

Problem number one comes when principals need to find a new team member, the “Property Manager”.

By Linda Day Harrison, theBrokerList, Chicago, IL

Do you make decisions and move forward or do you contemplate things to the point that you become a speed bump? What is a speed bump? A speed bump is the person in an organization that stops progress and/or is afraid to make a decision out of fear of failure.

By Colin McCarthy, J.D., Robinson & Wood, San Jose, CA

As everyone knows, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the greatest movie ever made. Especially for the scene involving the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. In it, several of the Knights of the Round Table are cut down in a blood bath by a particularly vicious, cute, cuddly white bunny rabbit. Why? They were not aware of its dangerous propensities! Their Scottish guide tried to warn them before the unlucky Knights marched into certain death. He tried, but they wouldn't listen.*