Do you ever wonder what your Property Manager does all day? Or if having your investment property professionally managed is really necessary at all?
Well, we recently buddied up with one of our property managers, Susie Ellis, to see what she gets up to during the day so read on for a real-life insight into a typical day in the life of an Oxygen Property Manager.
Being a Property Manager isn't always easy. Still, it is not all grotty, rat-infested flats and unpaid rent as portrayed by the show 'Renters' on TV. There are some certain aspects of the job that are required to be dealt with thoughtfully and carefully. This job is not just about managing a property; it is about connecting people and building relationships based on trust while resolving any problems that arise along the way.
Wednesday is Susie's primary day for conducting routine inspections. She told us that she would be out and about for much of the day and in between inspections she plans to answer emails, make phone calls and deal with any urgent maintenance issues. Susie loves the team and culture at Oxygen and says that she's fortunate to work with a bunch of awesome people who love their jobs as much as she does.
Susie's day kicked off early. She took a phone call at 7.30 am from tenants who had just had a pipe burst. Susie explained to them where they would find the toby and how to shut this off. Of course, this meant that her tenants now had no water - not an ideal scenario first thing in the morning! She put in a quick call to a plumber who Susie knows very well and sometimes feels like she talks to daily! He assured her that he would get to the property quickly, find the source of the issue and fix the problem. This plumber is one of Oxygen's preferred tradesmen and provides our landlords with a specially negotiated rate. She organised to get the key to him and then let the tenant know.
To get through her day of inspections, Susie needs to be well organised in advance and has all her keys ready and all the relevant information for the properties on her list downloaded onto her iPhone. Before leaving the office, she clears her voicemail and scans through her emails. With five voicemails received overnight and 20 emails to check, she quickly actions what is urgent and then hits the road.
On the way to her first inspection, she tells me why she loves the job. For Susie, every day is different, and she enjoys the challenge and diversity that the job brings. Susie, like most property managers, loves the flexibility that the job allows. Being able to leave her desk for a short while and get out of the office can be quite refreshing.
Susie planned her inspections to be all in the same area. On this day she had eight to do. She manages to get to her first inspection by 9.30 am and completes all of her inspections by midday. She's captured all the details she needed, and taken new photos on her iPhone. She recorded a detailed list of what maintenance was required, and on this particular day, the common theme was stoves and bathroom fans.
Susie stopped for a quick bite to eat and checked her emails and voicemail. She had some urgent work orders to send off and new approvals for work by landlords which meant that she could get these orders underway. Susie then replied to the non-urgent emails that she had received. A few requests for invoices and statements said that she needed to search the system for these and get them out to awaiting landlords.
With the recent changes to Health and Safety legislation, Susie said that she's been explaining the process to a few of her landlords. She was also able to direct them to our website for more information.
While answering emails, she calls the owner of the property with the burst pipe and explains exactly where the process is up to. This particular landlord lives in Australia and likes to be notified of anything significant like this. At this point, they are happy with the action that Susie has taken, leaving her to finish off the job.
Her afternoon progresses quickly with emails answered, all phone calls returned, and the morning's inspections downloaded and sent out to landlords.
Next, she checks to see if all of her rents have been paid and deals with any arrears. There is one that she needs to follow up with today, so she calls the tenant. It turns out it was an oversight, and the issue is sorted by them both quick-smart!
The last thing she does before going home is to follow up with the plumber who was sorting out the burst pipe. He states that the pipe is fixed and the water supply has been sorted for her tenants. She sends an email to the owners, letting them know the outcome.
She comments that tomorrow is another day and looks forward to the challenges ahead. She got the ball rolling on getting issues sorted for tenants and owners alike; she made sure her owners got a positive outcome, and their investment is well looked after. Susie has provided her landlords and tenants with open communication and peace of mind.
