Does your property manager carry tools on them?

In the day-to-day of property management, there are an endless list of small things that need to get done, and we have found that getting our hands dirty and getting the job done ourselves (with no extra costs to our clients) often better serves all parties.   

Small jobs are excruciatingly frustrating to orchestrate and complete. Here’s the process:

• Call someone to do the work
  • Most good trades do not like small jobs so will charge you an exorbitant amount and may or may not get to it for a considerable time
• Try to find a smaller “handyman” type service provider that is available and willing
• Chase the trades to do the job
• Arrange for access with keys/fobs security codes or through tenant’s space or common area
• Small jobs are not generally quoted so you hope you are not going to get ripped off
• Review the work to make sure it was done properly
• Receive and process the invoice
• Review and approve the charges (fall of your chair when you see the price)
• Potentially have to redo the work right away or in the future when not completed correctly
• Post invoice and mail cheque

Pro-active property managers realize that 5-10minutes of work upfront, will save them and their team the above steps and therefore precious time and money.  We enjoy this upfront work, because:

• Rather than the stress and aggravation of the above it is satisfying and saves time to simply do it
• Saving the client money feels good
• Tenants notice and appreciate their property manager actively trying to keep their costs down
• Landlords appreciate our attention by being at the property and taking care of things in a timely and cost-effective manner
• It is inherently fun to fix things

Even as some management companies employ in house maintenance, their people will likely charge a minimum call out and/or take more time to get the work completed; there simply is no replacement for solving problems immediately while on site.

While we cannot do all jobs, there is a lot that we can do that is both quick and easy.  This philosophy saves the tenant’s money, the management company time, and serves the landlord best.