Carin's Corner
No shortage of tales, no matter what the property manager’s role By Carin Garaghty, CMCA, Keller Property Management
I
t had been a hot, sunny day (steamy, muggy and sticky being other words to describe it) and my friends and I were deliriously happy to sit on the beach, swim in the lake and roast hot dogs at a gorgeous campsite in Lake City. Our site overlooked Lake Pepin and the campground’s picnic area, office, facilities and camp sites are surrounded by towering, old trees in a heavily wooded forest. That night as we lay in our tents, a ferocious wind started to blow, the rain kicked in and thunder and lightning were right behind. It turned into a vicious storm with flood and wind advisories for the county, and at 5 a.m. the manager Joanne was in her truck, waking every camper and ordering us to the shelter. As we huddled in the bathrooms of the shelter and Joanne made sure all heads were counted, I admired her calm demeanor as she watched the radar and chatted with guests, knowing that when the storm passed, the light of day would not reveal injured campers in tents crushed by fallen tree limbs. I thought to myself, “I would not want that job.” Whether our property management duties involve renting campsites and apartments, managing high-rise condos or commercial properties, we all hear complaints and scattered compliments, and we are all likely to hear, once a week or so, from a business partner, from a homeowner, from a board member — while offering sincere sympathy — “I would not want your job.”
I spoke to a woman who found a squirrel in the fireplace, and listened as she described giving it food and water for two days, hoping it would scale back up the chimney and find its way out. Instead it eluded her linen bag when she finally opened the door. Traps baited with food didn’t work, either — this was one fast squirrel! Instead of being hysterical or upset, she was nonchalant as she asked my advice on what to do next. Instead of blaming the association that her chimney allowed a wild animal into her home, she seemed not to mind that it did, and was even enjoying the chase. I smiled and laughed after I hung up the phone. Speaking of wild animals, I thoroughly enjoyed a letter from the property manager at a Florida condominium where my parents spend the winter. It opens with a sentence I’ve not had occasion to use in my experience: “It’s that time of year again, when alligators are on the move for mating season.” The manager informs that alligators can travel five miles in a day, and that residents should be vigilant while walking pets on leashes, and that alligators will enter open garage doors and open front doors. The property manager further advises that trash cans must be used instead of trash bags, that pet food should not be left on the lanai, and that leaving a pet unattended on a lanai is not only against community rules, but alligators have no problem coming through lanai screens, making food out of your pet. “Wow,” I thought, imagining the property manager at his computer, just another day at work as he writes the annual letter advising on alligator avoidance, “I want that job!”
Sometimes we get a pleasant surprise, though, like when a situation with blowup potential turns into another humorous tale. Recently
July | August 2016
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