Knowledge and detail

Some property managers really do not have the attention to detail and extensive knowledge that commercial and retail property management requires. This is a common problem in the industry where property managers have been sourced from residential property management with little or no training for the new commercial and retail properties they are being asked to manage.

If they do not have the required knowledge for the tasks that they undertake, they then should be trained (and fast). There is a major difference between working on residential property and then moving the same person to take over and manage commercial or retail property.

Losing the landlords trust

When the landlord is getting to the point of not returning your calls and not taking your recommendations, you have in effect lost their trust. They may tolerate your poor management style for the immediate future but it is quite likely they will move property managers soon.

The situation can be reversed, and it will take effort and focus to do so. Understanding the landlord is part of the process to fix the problem.

So what is property management all about?

Successful property management is not just a matter of controlling tenants and cash flow; it is mainly about strategy and forward looking control processes that improve the landlord’s property for the longer term. The landlord’s targets should be respected and pursued.

To achieve this goal, know what you are doing and have reasonable knowledge about the industry, the tenants, and the property type. Local knowledge is essential here.

These are some of the critical factors that every property manager should totally understand and control as part of the services they provide to the landlord:

Lease implementation and administration for the tenancies throughout the property is foundational to services you have provided. This will include the types and levels of rental that achieve the returns that the landlord requires. Add to this the methods of leasing in the current market, the lease incentives, and the terms and conditions of a competitive market lease package.

The vacant tenancy marketing should occur to all local businesses so that any vacancy downtime is minimised. If any lease expiry is identified early, the vacancy downtime can be minimised.

The income optimisation of the property asset is achieved through your efficient management of rent reviews, lease negotiations, rental adjustments, and the timely processing of all rental matters.

Maintenance processes are to be controlled and budgeted; this is associated with good property performance including the obligations that stem from essential safety measures, risk management, environmental, and heritage. This includes the management of maintenance contracts and tendering where appropriate to achieve cost efficiencies with all your selected contractors in balance with correct levels of maintenance needed in the property.

Lifecycle management is a special skill. It includes the impact of property maintenance on the current occupants, machinery maintenance including the older plant and machinery, refurbishment and renovation strategies to maintain the physical appearance of the property, and the optimisation of rental given the quality of the property presentation.

Monitoring of the comparable properties in the local area will have to occur. This is so they have minimal impact and disruption on your tenancy mix, leasing strategies, and income stability.

Management of not just the leases, but of the tenancy mix should occur in balance with the property business plan. This is so any relationships between the tenants can be shaped to improve the performance of the property. This is highly relative to retail tenants and shopping centres. The surrounding demographics of the community and businesses will need to be considered here as part of the process.

Communication with the tenants in a comprehensive and detailed way will improve both the property performance and the property income. Good tenant communication allows you to minimise any difficulties of occupancy and potential future vacancies.

A sound and detailed knowledge of legislation, rules, and all regulations that impact the property from an occupancy perspective is required of the property manager. Compliance with all of these factors will keep the property functional as an investment.

Detailed reporting to the landlord should occur so they are kept appraised of all property strategies and events. This will include all budgets, forecasts, tenancy mix, and lease strategies.

As a property manager you should be comfortable with technology and the concepts that involve technology in building operations and performance.
These are some of the major factors involved in professional commercial and retail property management. Failure to provide these services will jeopardise the relationships that you have as a property manager with the landlord that you represent.

You could say that the person to provide these services will need to be intelligent, articulate, confident, knowledgeable, and accurate in their job role; you would be correct. Good commercial and retail property managers are special people.

The niche you have chosen should allow creation of more than one product or service. With the technological advancements in the hosting industry, from automated control panels and scripts that simplify creation of accounts, to complete turnkey solutions; there is no need to worry about spending time on the real products sold to the customer. The main ones are keyword selection, sales copy principles, graphics, affiliate programs, product creation, online payment processing, auto responders, and search engine optimization.

Once you’ve earned money from this type of information product business, you can invest in the creation of your own products if you want, or start offering more informational products that allow you to sell your knowledge. But the creation and production costs of a similar big ticket in sequence product, although higher, are still pretty low. A key by-product of this process will be the creation of 3-D, Computer Assisted Design art.

The Association for Financial Professionals permits the following activities for repatriating funds: Research and Development activities, advertising and marketing programs, hiring and training new recruits, acquiring patent and other rights to intangible property, improving transportation, funding capital investments with the purpose of job creation and job retention & funding product responsibility or environmental claims.

It prohibits certain activities like: Tax payments, Payment of executive recompense, Payment of dividends, Redemption of stocks, Debt investments and Portfolio investments. Therefore, before repatriating the money, you must consider whether it is worth or not.

Checklist on what artist and product development necessitate includes: Exceptional vocals, musicianship and/or songwriting skills, Continued education and enhancement of musical skills, Quality equipment, Performance ability, Image creation and maintenance, Plan of action, goal setting, excellent promotion materials including photographs, press releases and artwork, Business management skills, Marketing, Publicity and Promotion knowledge, Online and Offline Professional management, Basic knowledge of recording, producing, engineering, and mastering, Basic knowledge of manufacturing, distribution, and sales online, brick and mortar and air-play, Good choices in members, staff and advisors, Physical and mental preparedness, Basic knowledge of finances, accounting Law and legal issues etc.

The goals for doing so are for the product owner to: Communicate the whole, Determine and communicate when releases are needed, Determine what functionality is sufficient for each release & focus on business value derived from the releases. The delivery team on the other hand will see the whole, learn about the steps to realize the vision, learn the business priorities, provide technical input to the roadmap and provide estimates for the projected features. The salesperson must lead the prospect through the various decision criteria needed in order to secure a sale. Whether your idea is the development of a product, launch of a service business, or even the creation of an event or program for a non-profit, creativity is the root of all entrepreneurial efforts starting with the vision itself.

People quickly learn to spend their time on marketing and product creation, rather than repetitive tasks. Apart from empowering companies and individuals, there should be a particular focus on identifying labor intensive businesses that have the potential to make a significant and positive impact on employment creation as well as those businesses that have a product or service offering for export markets with the final objective of booming local economies.

Between the kids, your spouse, and your other responsibilities you barely have enough time to breathe let alone try to start a home based business. But your family could use the extra income and, even though things can get a little crazy at home, you would rather not get a job. Your only other option is to look at ways you can make money at home with a work at home business of some kind.The standard advice you’ll get from gurus about how to start a small home based business is to develop a business out of your existing skill set. For example, if you are a certified public accountant, then you would be encouraged to run an accounting business from your kitchen table.There several problems with this advice. First of all, what if you don’t want to make use of your current skills? What if the whole reason you quit your CPA job was because if you looked at one more ledger sheet you were going to scream? You will not be successful in a home based business you hate.Second, what if you don’t have any skills that you can draw from? You may be able to do lots of things but what if none of it could make you any money? If you took the advice of the gurus then you would have no business and still stuck at step one.But even if you could start a home business creating products or offering services for which you are fully skilled, is that really the best way to go?When you start a home based business, you are essentially beginning from scratch. There are numerous headaches involved with building a business from the ground up. Usually, there is licensing to obtain, product development and storage, customer acquisition, marketing and brand development, and a host of other things that must be done before your business gains the traction it needs to start making you money.Then there is the capital investment. Depending on the type of business you decide to create, you may have to invest thousands of dollars into your business before you even open your doors. The internet has made starting a home business easier and cheaper but if you don’t have any money, then you are still looking at putting in hundreds of hours of sweat equity.Lastly, most home based businesses are really work at home jobs in disguise. Since they require you to be actively involved in order to earn any money, your income will be tightly bound to the number of hours you work. This can be further complicated by the fact that you still have a household to run which means you may not have as much time available as you need to earn the income you want.A better way to start a home based business is to sign up with a direct sales opportunity. Otherwise known as network marketing, a direct sales business cuts out a lot of the challenges you face when trying to start a home based business from scratch. Investing in a direct sales opportunity is smart business because, you’ll have:* Less Startup Headaches – The company has already invested time and effort in getting the company off the ground. The products are created, marketing materials printed, and licenses purchased. All you have to do is find customers.* Lower Capital Investment – Instead of thousands of dollars, most direct sales businesses can be started with a hundred dollars or less.* Multiple Income Opportunities – In addition to selling the product directly, you will also be able to generate income through referrals and other passive income streams that help uncouple your time from your money. You’ll experience more personal freedom to do the things you want to do.If you are thinking about starting a home based business, don’t do it the hard way. Give yourself a leg up by joining a direct sales opportunity that will have you earning money right out of the gate. For more information on how I built my home based business, contact me. I’ll be more than happy to show you how I’m able to run a full time household and still make money in my business.