Spring Property Walks By Mary Felix, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, CIRMS, Cedar Management Inc.
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s the weather starts to warm up and the days get longer, looming larger than life are the inevitable annual inspections of our communities.
There are a few things you can count on in life and in the world of property management — Spring Walk Throughs are among them! Keeping focused on time management and efficiency, here are a few simple techniques that can be helpful in managing both the task at hand and the data acquired.
1. The Guest List
Choosing the appropriate guests is extremely important for a successful event. This is your “party” and it will be the main outline for what will happen at that property for the coming year, as well as assessing how the property fared over the winter months. The Property Manager should decide about who attends the inspection. It’s a good idea to keep the number of people to a minimum, as that will make the best use of everyone’s time. A few small groups: Lawn/ Snow vendor and your Landscape Chairperson, General Contractor or Handyman and the Architectural Chairperson and finally the property manager and a Board member or two. Each group should work independently to review their specific areas, create punch lists, etc. Although this can also be a prime time for the homeowners to step outside and chat, that can cause the group to lose focus and can also eat up a lot of time. If you can, diplomatically, get the owners to understand there is a task at hand, and although you would love to stay and visit, you must forge ahead!
2. Your Network
Over the past year or so, I can recall reading a couple of articles addressing the importance of relationships in business. Developing a good vendor network, i.e. having vendors you can trust to meet deadlines, maintain standards and above all “Do What They Say They Are Going To Do” is a major key to success, not only in your walk-throughs, but in every phase of maintaining and enhancing your communities. Trust is something money can’t buy and a longterm relationship can be far more beneficial than a short-term gain.
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Minnesota Communit y Living