Four Top Challenges of Block Managers
Property management may sound easy, but it’s far from it. You are managing Leaseholders and their blocks, arranging for maintenance of the communal area, raising purchase orders to ensure that the expenses are within the budget, dealing with insurance issues, and increasing multiple challenges and legal responsibilities.
Let’s take a closer look at the four top challenges you might face and what you can do to conquer them all.
1. Time Management
Block managers face many difficulties day after day, but none is quite as challenging as time management. Dividing your time efficiently between various properties may end up in some tasks getting neglected. Letting tasks accumulate by postponing them will not only overload your schedule sooner or later but could lead to stress or work overload on other days.
The easiest way to achieve good time management is by following strict procedures and setting up priority lists to help you get through the day’s demands without forgetting something important and without overworking yourself.
For instance, you could create a daily or weekly checklist for each property you manage, a list for all other tasks you have to perform, including attending Annual General Meeting with Directors of the building, property maintenance, health and safety checks, routine inspections, and so on.
Control these checklists at the beginning of each day and mark out each completed task so that you can optimise work processes and perform all your work on time. This process can be manually put together, although it’s best to set it up on a client or customer relationship management tool; this allows you to task activities, log, and mark tasks as complete. It flags it up when it requires attention. There are many CRM out there for your specific needs.
2. Communication and People First
Property managers must handle all logistical issues of a building without losing sight of the responsibilities they have toward the people of the building. With today’s technology, a property manager should be accessible at all times, yet one of the biggest complaints they receive is that they are sometimes difficult to contact
Poor communication is one of the top reasons why Leaseholders change property management companies. It is also a top complaint dealt with by the Association of Residential Property Agent (ARMA). Click here to read more on other complaints as published by ARMA.One thing successful property managers have in common is their ability to address all questions and deal with people on top of the whole slew of daily responsibilities they have.
The notice board of any block is also a good ground for effective communication and efficiency. Although not all leaseholders stop to read updates on the notice board, it is a point of reference to any leaseholder when an update has left on the building’s notice board.
3. Customer Services Vs. Service Charges
Alongside putting people first, block managers should also pay attention to the quality of services they offer.
A regular visit to each of the sites you manage will substantially impact the quality of services provided. No matter where the site may be, ensuring a visit to each of them regularly and updating the Leaseholder on a client portal platform with the report prepared for maintenance issues and how they are resolved, will make a good impression at any AGM meeting. It is best to track all maintenance issues and update with a tool that supports client updates. I have seen some of our clients using a platform called fixflo ( Please note that I do not have any affiliation with Fixflo)
There should also be transparency and accountability of money spent on behalf of leaseholders with supporting documents. Clarity will aid the collection of service charges before the new financial year begins.
If you fail to fulfil your responsibilities and update Leaseholders along the way, it may lead to the refusal to pay service charges by the Leaseholders.
Also, regularly updating the Leaseholder or its nominated Directors can assist with the enforcement of payment of service charges if things go the legal procedure route.
4. Maintenance
Finally, property maintenance is one of the biggest challenges block managers have to deal with. It is often on top of the list of discussions at any Annual General Meetings with Directors and Leaseholders. You get it wrong, and It becomes embarrassing at these meetings, which may lead to your services’ termination. It is best to make regular property visits, schedule inspections, sort out complaints, fix everything that’s broken, and manage communal area cleaning and maintenance and keep your operating costs within the development and report budget Leaseholders regularly.
One of the easiest and cheapest ways to handle at least a part of those tasks is hiring independent contractors that understand your pain points and potential problems.
For instance, Posh Cleaners, a firm that provides communal area cleaning in London and the Home Counties, can provide you with all-around property maintenance and cleaning services. Furthermore, hiring us helps you delegate tasks, clearing off your schedule, and giving you more time to deal with customer service – no matter how you look at it, it’s a win-win.
We also provide a report of all potential issues on-site, whether cleaning related or not, with supporting photographs enabling you to deal with the problems before Leaseholders get to complain.
Some of the things we can help you out include:
- Communal block cleaning of all outdoor areas
- Communal hallways cleaning
- General property maintenance and Communal Redecoration
- Communal Area Plant Supply and Maintenance Services