Common Problems in Commercial or Retail Property Management ...

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When you work in commercial or retail property management, the handover process adopted when taking on a new property management is critical to the end result. Preparation is the key to effective property management handover. As the property manager, the success of handover is entirely in your hands.

When other agents are losing a management they will generally give you the briefest of detail in the handover. In other words, if you do not ask specific questions and chase specific information, you will not get it. This leads to all of the problems below plus more.

So often the handover is poorly processed and the end result brings real problems to you as the property manager such as:

Errors in lease documentation
Arrears shortfalls
Incorrect invoicing of tenants
Loss of outgoings
Loss of property history
Loss of as built drawings and tenancy plans
An angry landlord
Lost property history
Poor tenant communication
Loss of rent and other income incidentals
Lost lease documentation, titles, agreements, and licences
Lacking incentive detail for current tenants
Disruption to property maintenance
Poor property performance

If you are taking the property over from another property manager in another agency, rarely will cooperation feature in the process; mostly they just want to move on and away from the property as quickly as possible. To compensate and fix the problem it is best for you to use a complex checklist that covers the property type and the property location.

Any property managers that attempts to do a handover without a checklist are leaving themselves open to liability and future problems.

Here are a few ideas to get you started on a property handover checklist for yourself and your clients. You can and should add to this list given your location and property speciality.

Tenant contact detail
Tenancy schedule (check its accuracy)
Incentive detail
Bank guarantees and other bonds or rent securities
Lease detail
Plans of the property
Plans of the tenancy areas
Plans of the building (as built drawings are critical)
Income records currently and historically
Current tenant communications on outstanding issues
Arrears status report
Expenditure budgets and plans
Income and expenditure history over the last few years (ideally 3 or more years)
Energy consumption details and ratings
Environmental matters and orders
Heritage matters and orders
Building code compliances
Occupancy certificates for the building
Landlord reports and formats
Lease expiry profiles
Maintenance plans and records
Maintenance budgets
Tenancy mix plans and strategies
Property zoning orders, notices, and obligations
Essential services reports and compliances
Safety matters including Workplace Health and Safety

So this list covers some of the main issues to ask questions about in a property management handover. There are other things you can add and should do so as you refine the list to different property types and locations.

The more detailed you are in the procedure the easier your job will become. Protect yourself and your landlord by adopting a thorough and comprehensive handover process. Leave no stone unturned.

By John Highman

Source: http://www.albkolping.org/management/common-problems-in-commercial-or-retail-property-management-handover.html

chely wright