Why property managers are important

6/23/2020 (Permalink)

Commercial Property management is so much more than collecting rent. It is a pivotal part of retaining tenants, engaging clients & Building health

Why it is important to hire a property management company

Commercial properties have unique needs and should not be left to amateurs. As any property owner knows it is not a matter of will something happen it is a matter of when, and how bad will it be. How bad could it really be? Right?

Many commercial properties are multi-use facilities. Some have multiple businesses with various needs. Some have both business and residential tenants. In addition to the individual needs of each tenant there are building needs and the efficiency of the equipment that keeps the building running.

With the novel nature of the current economy and many commercial buildings being shut down for upwards of three months. As companies start to prepare for their reopening many are walking in to find quite a bit of damage.

When they shut the buildings down, they did so with costs in mind. Many buildings were put into an idol mode. Lower heat or AC settings, lights tuned off ,etc.

While in doing so was an effort to save money. Many failed to schedule walk throughs to ensure that the building was still healthy. That it had the proper air movement to prevent warm humid temperatures from building up inside?

Were rising temperatures outside taken into account as the sun beamed through the windows? When the building was shut down was the water to the building turned off or allowed to remain on? Did the building electricity get turned off at the breakers or did just a light switch get turned off? . As the time was getting closer and closer to looking like it was going to be time to reopen it was time to get the buildings ready.

As the reality of our new normal set it companies sent small number of staff back into these buildings. To prepare for the new way of doing business, deep cleans were set to be done, IN/OUT rules needed to be established, Protocols for client interaction and safety for all involved needed to be implemented. When employees were walking into these buildings they were finding multitudes of problems

Water bubbler or a pipe has been broken and leaking unchecked for upwards of 3+ months. Where carpets are slippery with bacterial growth, Walls are saturated, air quality poor, trapped water in and around every aspect of the building.

Mold at all of the HVAC vents and all of the windows from lack of air movement and improper humidity levels. Resulting in unsafe air quality. Hotter or colder than normal temperatures resulting in unhealthy work environments.

Did someone take advantage of the building being shut down and break in to live as a squatter? Did they use the toilet, shower, fridge microwave? Did this use result in filthy conditions in your facility? Was there a sewage back up because of it ? Did the empty building become filled with a squatters things?

Maybe you get a late night call from the fire department that there is a fire on site and that the smoke and efforts to put out the fire have caused more damage to not only your building but adjacent buildings. With a property management company in your corner theses issues can be handled properly, quickly and efficiently. Trying to navigate the landscape of the unknown is always a challenge. Insurance companies can be cumbersome if you are not used to it.

If only a property management if had been hired. They can do periodic walk throughs. When would that water leak been noticed? How much water damage could have been prevented? Would all this growth on the walls, floors, carpets, and ceiling tiles been thwarted? Would that fire have occurred? Could all that smoke that ruined the computers been avoided? Would people have realized that the building was not empty and moved on to another?

If there was a property management company that checked on everything and made recommendations for equipment replacement or upgrades. They would have been periodically in the and out of the building to lend the perception of partially occupied.

Would they have noticed that your exhaust pipe for the carbon dioxide was rusted out? Maybe they could have pointed out that your four $10,000+ water heaters should not be in the same room as the corrosive equipment you use for the pool chemicals.

They may have noticed that your HVAC unit was building up too much condensation and that you needed to replace it before the moisture resulted in mold throughout all the vents and around the windows in the building?

They could have provided you with a proper shut down procedure to best mitigate any potential damages. Could they have the right connections know the right vendors to immediately address any and all issues quickly to reduce the secondary damage when something was amiss.

Walking away from a building for even a week can result in some very costly damage if not done properly. Working with property managers is your best bet for keeping your building and tenants happy healthy and safe.

SERVPRO of East Boston is here to help when you are working towards getting back into your building. We will work with you through any surprises you find so that you do not miss a beat. Should you find yourself walking into a mess. Please know our reputation and our vast network of vendors will work tirelessly to get you back to "Like it never even happened."