When the time comes for you to hire a building manager, you’ll be looking for someone who fulfils multiple roles at once. They’ll need to make sure your building is well maintained and looked after, that your tenants are happy and well taken care of and that your stewardship of the building is as stress-free as possible. So how does one find such a person?
Because of the level of responsibility involved in the role, we don’t recommend rushing the process. Instead, concentrate on finding someone with the following qualities to ensure your success.
- Relevant Building Management Experience
Having experience managing a building is necessary when seeking out a building manager, but it’s equally important that they’ve managed the right type of building. If you’re dealing with residential apartments, you need someone who has managed a building in this capacity and not in a commercial or mixed-use situation. Technology and task based experience may also be crucial; ensure that your Manager is effectively trained to use your exact systems and processes.
- .Proactiveness
If you’re unable to manage your building personally, you want to know that the person doing it is not waiting for problems to happen before dealing with them. Proactiveness plays a huge role here, as diligently dealing with potential maintenance or tenant issues will keep a minor problem from becoming a much bigger one. Where your building manager is managing too many properties or has been in the role for a long time, it’s worth reviewing their effectiveness to ensure a low rate of issues and repairs and a high level of client satisfaction and reporting are in place.
- Communication Skills
Your building is an investment, so you’ll want to know how it’s performing every month. This requires regular, comprehensive reporting on your current vacancies and listing status, your inspections and repairs outstanding as well as the financial condition of the building as a whole. A building manager should understand the importance of regular, relevant communication. More than this, they should be communicating with the tenants as well as the ownership of the building to ensure that all stakeholders are happy on a regular basis. We recommend bi-weekly tenant surveys to ensure that standards never slip and there is a culture of continuous improvement.
- Going The Extra Mile
The ideal building manager will offer you holistic services that takes into consideration other needs you might have regarding your building. Having a single point of contact will dramatically streamline the process and make things easier for you, and if they take care of additional services such as cleaning or security, this will also lower your costs and shorten your response times.
The four qualities listed above are just a beginning for you to find the right person for the job. If you’re struggling to find someone who is happy, well trained and consistent, then contact us. Our mission is to go above and beyond for all your building management, security, cleaning and concierge needs and our first consultation is free.
