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PROBLEM SOLVING AND SOLUTION SEEKING

03.21.2016

Overflowing toilets, tight budgets and distressed tenants- all in a day’s work! Property Management is a volatile industry, a constant cycle of panicked phone calls. . Although demanding, property management is also truly fulfilling, allowing owners and tenants peace of mind that their investment is safe and aging gracefully.

The property management department at Shannon Waltchack serves over 2.9 million square feet around the Southeast, including our portfolio and third party accounts. The staff, comprised of 5 full-time employees and 4 technicians, handles it all with a smile.

“It’s a field for doers, and people who enjoy crossing things off their list. The over-thinkers of the world would be unsatisfied in property management,” said SW partner and CPM, Tim Blair.

Successful property managers are great listeners and effective communicators. Tenants are constantly calling with requests and improvements for properties, and they need to be understood and efficiently addressed. Patience is tremendously important when managing these issues. Director of Property Management, Peter Drake, CPM, has seen his fair share of interesting predicaments. “It is the type of job where every day is different and not like the last,” Drake said. Some managers are drawn to the variety that each day can bring.

The daily grind in property management can be arduous, communicating with hundreds of tenants and owners in just a week’s time. Property Administrator Jennifer Wood has to focus and make sure every tenant is heard. She does her best to stay calm and listen carefully. “Strangely enough, the biggest surprise I’ve found working in property management is that intuition plays a huge part in solving property issues,” said Wood.

Technology is improving the property management industry all the time, organizing vendors, tracking leases, property history and correspondence. Last year, we implemented YARDI, the leading property management software, giving SW an upper hand in ensuring tenant satisfaction and efficient financial reporting.

Despite their years of experience, our property managers on occasion can be surprised. Drake shares one of his most memorable moments: “One of the strangest I can recall is a man put in a work order request because he had left a firearm in the restroom a few hours before, he went back to retrieve it and it was gone. Luckily, someone else had seen it and phoned the police to come.”