Take care of your Management Staff and they will take care of you

An apartment is an apartment is an apartment.  Every one has walls, floors, ceilings, kitchen ,bathroom and bedrooms.  In the grand scheme of things there is very little that separates one apartment from another or one community from another.  Yet communities, even right next to each other, are vastly different.  The one thing that makes the biggest difference is the staff.

Why is it that one management team can make a property a great place to live, receive top rents and fantastic financial results, while another management team can run it into the ground.  The key-determining factor always seems to come back to the staff.

Let’s take a look at two different methodologies.   I have seen the first happen over and over again.  The staff at property A have all been there for a very short time.  The owner has very little involvement other than in setting the budget.   Staff turnover is high at this property, they are constantly having to hire.  The hiring process is disorganized at best.  Pay is low, benefits are non-existent.  So a new rental agent is hired.  On his first day he is given a set of keys, a list of vacant apartments, and barely legible employment paperwork.  He is told to answer the phone and rent apartments. The manager is out sick today but do the best that you can.  Is it any wonder he can’t rent any apartments. The staff at this property as a whole is demoralized.  They are never given positive feedback, only yelled at for doing things wrong.