What is a best-managed property?

The subject of property management may not be a hot topic for coffee table conversations, but it is without doubt a sphere that affects a great part of the population because they are either living or working in a building.

To find out what people on the street think a best-managed property should constitute of, 35 people were each invited to fill out a questionnaire. They come from diverse walks of life and reside or work in different areas of the Klang Valley.

Out of the 35 respondents, 12 of them live in multi-storey strata residences while 11 live in landed-strata and non-strata homes. (One respondent did not indicate his or her residence type.)

Important attributes

There is a diverse range of views on what a best-managed property should constitute of, but one main attribute agreed by all is safety and security, where 27 rated them as “extremely important” and eight as “important”.

The next highest rating is for a trustworthy management team with no corruption, which 25 respondents rated as “extremely important”, nine as “important” and one as “moderately important”. Management’s response time to problems is viewed as vital too, as 20 rated it “extremely important”, 14 as “important” and one as “moderately important”.

Overall cleanliness is next in priority with 19 rating them “extremely important”, 15 as “important” and one as “moderately important”. This is followed by efficient and professional management team, which received 18, 15 and one votes, respectively, for “extremely important”, “important” and “moderately important”.

Many view minimal defects in buildings as a critical aspect too, with 17, five and two respondents rating them as “extremely important”, “important” and “moderately important”.

Three features received over 20 respondents’ “important” rating, namely quiet and peaceful ambience (23), maintenance of façade (not worn out) (21) and comfortable living quarters (21).

One feature that a significant number of respondents (57%) rated as only “moderately important” is attractive building design.

Two features received noteworthy votes as “unimportant”, namely status and brand image (11) and a lot of facilities (10), although 13 and 14 participants rated them as “moderately important”, respectively.

Interestingly, sustainability features like greeneries, energy-saving features, eco-friendly features, eco-friendly practices and wellness received rather diverse ratings.

The most varied response was for wide use of digital technology, with five, four, 14, eight and two respondents rating them from “totally unimportant” to “extremely important”.

For the full result of the ratings, refer to Table 1.

Must-haves

Respondents were also asked to pick three features that a best-managed property must have. The top feature is safety and security, with 83% selection. The next notable attribute is overall cleanliness, at 40%, while capital appreciation and efficient management team had 23% each. Other features received diverse views.

The following lists the top-ranked attributes:

Repainting

Q. Should a law be implemented to get buildings to be repainted regularly (like in Singapore, where there is a requirement for repainting every seven years)?

Out of 35 respondents, 32 said “yes”, citing the following reasons:

1. Better condition

It is for the upkeep of the condition of property.It maintains a good presentation of building façade. A well-maintained property is much more welcoming than property with chipping and peeling paint, and will create a cleaner atmosphere.

2. Positive image

Our cities will look as pristine [as Singapore].

It will create a good impression towards the country.

3. Enhance property value

Extremely important to ensure appreciation of property value. It doesn’t matter how good the interior of a property is — if the building exterior is an eyesore, potential buyers would be put off by its looks, and current owners would feel dissatisfied by the lack of maintenance.

Suggestions for improvement

Some participants offer these comments in response to what can be done to improve property management.

1. Increase level of professionalism in property management

• Be responsible and get jobs done on time, establish regular schedules for maintenance and make sure they are carried out promptly.

• Able to listen and communicate as well as be proactive and involved; should also be updated, knowledgeable, level-headed, resourceful, amiable and articulate.

• Brush up on their skills to ensure they are able to grow with the speed of technology.

• More training and professional courses on property management should be emphasised.

2. Governing authorities

• Law enforcement by relevant authorities.

• Local councils to impose more stringent regulations.

3. Education and public awareness

• Raise public awareness and educate them to understand the importance of property management so they will know how to keep their property managers on their toes. This will improve the level of the playing field.

• The media should help to educate public on property management.

4. Responsibility of all stakeholders

• All stakeholders need to equip themselves with relevant knowledge (eg: stratified property stakeholders should know Act 757) and understand their role. If you are living in a stratified property, please understand the role of the JMB/MC/property manager and most importantly your role in maintaining your own internal parcel. If you are JMC/MC, please understand the role of property manager is to manage and maintain the common property only. If you are a developer, do provide good property management services to the newcomers of the industry (new owner of a strata property) to ensure that they could get the most out of their first investment on a strata property.

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This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on July 28, 2017. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.