How to keep your property manager on his toes

PROPERTY owners have to play their part in ensuring that their property manager does a good job and that the property is well-managed.

It certainly helps when owners take a proactive stance in the operations and maintenance of the property, said Malaysian Institute of Professional Property Managers (MIPPM) president Sarkunan Subramaniam in his talk titled “The good, the bad and the ugly” at TheEdgeProperty.com Symposium on Property Management 2017 on April 8.

“How do you keep your property manager on his or her toes? The first tip is to be proactive. The owners should have regular meetings with them at least once in two months to get updates on what’s going on,” he said.

Property owners should also set realistic budgets for the property manager to operate in. They should not try to cut the budget unnecessarily, he said.

It is also important to conduct regular tenant or customer satisfaction surveys to get feedback on the services provided by the property manager in order to track their performance.

Setting up key performance indicators (KPIs) for the property manager while establishing a proper reporting channel with them are among the key things property owners could do.

“Property owners should conduct joint walkabouts with their property manager, identify issues in the property and find solutions together,” he said.

According to the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents, there are several property management standards that govern property managers in the country.

Hence, Sarkunan advised property owners to familiarise themselves with the standards to get a better understanding of the duties and qualifications of property managers and other relevant matters.

He noted that a good property manager is able to work with integrity and trustworthiness and ensure that a property is well-managed and kept at its most optimum level, so that the property’s investment value is maintained.

“The property manager is definitely a friend, and also a business partner. In order to get the optimum value from the property manager, you have to first set clear expectations.”

It is very important for property owners to have clear expectations of their property as this will help the property manager understand his or her task and role.

The public should also understand that property managers have their own limitations as they are not specialists in all fields, he added.

“A property manager is not an expert let’s say in law, or insurance and taxation, so you cannot expect them to know everything. However, a good property manager can be a good contact for various matters and in getting help from the real experts,” he said.

Hence, it is imperative that owners provide support for the property manager, employ quality management staff, and have a good point of contact between the owners and the manager, he said.

Well-managed property entails costs

Sarkunan stressed that property owners have to understand that a well-managed property does not come cheap.

“A lot of joint management bodies (JMBs) or management corporations are concerned over the cost or the fees charged if they hire a property manager. But if you give peanuts, you get monkeys. So if you want a good property manager, you have to be willing to pay good salaries or fees,” he said, adding that people need to understand that the fees also cover the back-end support from the property manager’s headquarters.

For instance, the engineers, security officers and staff from the headquarters may be able to provide expert advice and check various aspects of the building, he explained.

No doubt, having a bad property manager can cause nightmares for the property owners. And problems involving property managers are many and varied.

“You may then face difficulties in collecting service charges and fees as the property owners would refuse to pay due to the disappointing performance of the property manager,” said Sarkunan.

Moreover, there may also be a lack of transparency in the maintenance and sinking fund account and lack of professionalism in [the propery manager’s] general conduct, he added.

These “bad” and “ugly” property managers can cause serious problems for the property in the market in the long run, he shared, citing a grocery store in Bandar Utama which was ordered to close down due to rat infestation caused by mismanagement or bad property management.

There are also cases where the developer has refused to hand over the property to the JMB as they want to have control over the building. There are complaints for example of developers not conducting annual general meetings, developers not handing over monies properly, and others, he added.

In conclusion, Sarkunan has this advice to all stakeholders: “Kill the ugly, educate the bad and emulate the good.”

Themed “Is your investment a time bomb?” the symposium, which saw more than 550 participants, was organised by TheEdgeProperty.com with partners Nippon Paint Malaysia and Panasonic Malaysia. It was supported by The Edge Malaysia while Gamuda Land was the supporting sponsor.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on April 14, 2017. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.