No matter what type of community you manage, where you work, or how long you’ve been in the industry, all property managers can agree that people are the hardest part of the job.
Many of our current team members are former property managers, and they have shared some examples that demonstrate just how demanding this role can be.
However, they also agree that using a top-performing software system like Condo Control can help alleviate the chaos and headaches that come with caring for a community.
Table of contents
- Challenge #1: One person, multiple bosses
- Challenge #2: People, parking and pets
- Challenge #3: Questions and complaints
Challenge #1: One person, multiple bosses
Property managers report to the firm’s president or CEO. They might also report to a director or team leader. But they also have to collaborate with board members, negotiate with vendors, consult with experts, and address a never-ending list of questions and requests from residents.
It’s impossible to make everyone happy, but it is important to maintain good communication with all of these different people.
How Condo Control can help
Traditionally, managers try to juggle requests made through email, phone calls, and in-person conversations. That is simply too much information to keep track of manually.
However, Condo Control consolidates everything on one organized platform. That includes maintenance requests, community data and performance reports, vendor quotes and jobs, and board tasks.
Not only do managers have digital records of all activities and form submissions, but auto reminders are also available for time-sensitive tasks. This ensures important tasks don’t fall through the cracks.
If the board or company president has questions about delinquent payments or violation resolution times, a report can be assembled and shared within a couple of minutes.
Condo Control sets property managers up for success by centralizing essential data and information, allowing them to respond to requests at record speed.
Challenge #2: People, parking and pets
Property managers are all too familiar with the 3 Ps. When it comes to resident issues, it generally boils down to neighbor conflicts (noise or odors), pets (not picking up after dogs or excessive barking), and parking (residents parking in spots that don’t belong to them).
These issues are often worse in condo communities since neighbors live so close to each other.
Unfortunately, residents almost always expect the manager to intervene, even if it’s determined that it’s not up to the corporation/association to resolve the matter.
How Condo Control can help
Some residents are new to condo/HOA living, and they move in not fully understanding what they have agreed to. They didn’t know that they would have to tolerate a certain level of noise on the weekends, or they didn’t expect others in the community to dislike their pets so much.
Managers will have more success if they can educate these residents instead of dismissing their grievances (or trying to fix everything every time someone is unhappy).
Condo Control can assist here by acting as a go-to resource for residents. Management can send welcome packages to new residents using Condo Control. The package is sent to their email address so that they can review the information at a time that is most convenient for them.
New residents will not only receive the information they need to create their own accounts, but they will also have access to community rules and regulations, policies, contact information, and more.
Once they have created a Condo Control account, they will also be able to view the document library, where they can look up specific rules or find out how to proceed if they think a rule has been broken.
Welcome packages can contain any number of useful resources; just ensure that there’s not too much information jammed into one PDF or file. Think about what you would want to know if you were moving into a new community.
Consider highlighting specific rules or policies about pets, garbage disposal, parking, noise and smoking to provide clarity and encourage cooperation from new residents.
Challenge #3: Questions and complaints
Property managers get the same four or five questions and complaints every single day. Some also draft the same four or five answers…every…single…day.
Over time, managers lose dozens of valuable working hours answering common questions and complaints.
It’s not that these inquiries should be ignored, but there is a better way to handle them. It involves residents taking proactive steps and doing more for themselves.
How Condo Control can help
Self-serve tools are huge assets for condo and HOA communities. Not only do they empower residents, but they also reduce call and email volumes for management, freeing up hours of valuable time. Condo Control has a mobile-friendly resident portal that makes it possible for residents to:
- make online payments
- read the latest announcements
- submit service requests
- access CC&Rs, policies, meeting minutes, budgets, and any other records posted to the document library
- view and book amenities
Management can also add an FAQ folder to the library so that owners can look up answers on their own.
As for complaints about maintenance issues, Condo Control handles that in two ways. Sometimes, people don’t realize that a clogged drain or broken light switch is actually a resident’s responsibility, not the condo’s/HOA’s responsibility.
But managers still have to take the time to respond to the sender. With Condo Control, management can set up autoresponses for maintenance submission and filter out irrelevant requests right away.
If the maintenance issue is being handled by the condo/HOA, residents want to know when it’s going to get done. People who submit requests through Condo Control will automatically be notified when the status of a request is updated. Moreover, management can leave comments for the requester if additional information is required.
The additional layer of transparency allows residents to see what’s going on, ultimately reducing those pesky “what’s the update on this” types of questions.
Finally, Condo Control’s AI Assistant will soon be able to pull answers directly from a workspace. AI can handle the simple stuff, allowing managers to address the more complex questions and complaints.
Conclusion
Being a property manager is definitely a demanding job. It’s a lot of work for little thanks, and the to-do list is endless. Regardless of its downsides, property management is a career that many people love. You get to make the place the people call home safer, happier, and more valuable.
Technology is helping to ease some of the hard parts of property management, too. Good software is making the job easier and more efficient. This means property managers can complete tasks more quickly, automate tedious manual work, make fewer mistakes, and keep residents (and bosses) happier.
