What’s Happening to the Property Management Industry
What’s happening to our industry? Do you ever ask yourself this question? It is a question that is constantly on my mind.
Industry colleagues often hear the words escape from my lips “I’m on a Mission with a Vision”, it’s my personal mantra. From that start of my career as a Property Manager, I recognised that our industry, property management, was on a path to self destruction. We were and still are imploding for many reasons.
Now, there is no point to lay blame or make excuses. The simple fact of the matter is that we were under resourced, under supported and provided with systems that were…well not really systems. I will cover more of this though in future blogs. Don’t get me started!!!
We have reached a point of frustration and burn out and far too much blaming, yet through all of this we expect higher and higher salaries. This high salary demand has caused many agency owners to question the value of running a property management division and we are seeing more and more businesses selling their rent rolls. Our customers are fed up with broken promises and ‘buck passing’.
We expect higher salaries, and yes I agree, property managers’s have a very important role, but are you prepared to make yourself accountable? Are you prepared to charge equitable fees for the services you provide?
When we look back at the statistics, it a real, ‘BFO’ (blinding flash of the obvious), that whilst we have put this upward pressure on salaries, we have not been prepared to increase our fees for the services we provide. Whilst the cost of doing business has skyrocketed, our fees have plummeted in comparison.
I pose this question to many agencies that I visit and ask why their fees are so low. Their usual response is that because their competitors charge that rate they are fearful they won’t get any business if they set higher fees. If that’s what you think, then that’s what will happen.
So how do we change? Two of the first things we need to do are value ourselves and value the service we provide. If you don’t value these two important factors, then how do you expect others too?
How do you value yourself? That part is easy. If you act like a professional and work like a professional, then you will be treated like a professional and paid like a professional. That correlates to being paid like a professional by our clients and by your employer as well.
If we all have a shift in attitude, the property management industry will evolve into an intrinsic service essential to property owners and real estate business owners and even sales consultants. More importantly property managers will feel pride in their work, their clients will become loyal fans, and 100% job satisfaction is guaranteed.
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