Dear Property Manager,
I have witnessed firsthand that your job is no picnic.
I have seen tenants play on your emotions, lie to you, and turn your precious properties into squalor. While others quit renting altogether, you stayed in the game.
You know that enforcing a lease takes effort, and evicting a tenant takes even more effort.
For you, the thick-skinned warrior that we call a property manager, I wanted to pass along three encouraging truths as you remain engaged in the “theater” of what we call property management.
You Provide Shelter
I have a special respect for you as a property manager. You dedicate your time, money and energy to provide one of the three basic needs of humanity: shelter.
The money that people make is useless if you are not there providing shelter in exchange for it.
Think about that.
Despite the dramas and messes your tenants leave, remain cognizant of this vital service you provide to humanity.
You Provide Dignity and Security
Everybody (whether they admit it or not) needs a home. A stable abode for relaxing, eating, resting and preparing for the next day is integral to our existence.
Remember the Will Smith movie, The Pursuit of Happyness? (Yes, that’s how the title is spelled.) I stressed out that entire moving thinking, “Where are they going to sleep tonight? What’s he going to feed that boy?”
Their lack of shelter was not the only tragedy in that movie. It was also their lack of security and dignity that a shelter provides!
You Provide Reality
I once had a landlord that required payment on the first day of the month. Every day past that he added $10 to the rent. This forced me to deal with reality.
You know an eviction is not done on a whim. When done correctly, you set a legal process in motion, inform the tenant of “d-day,” then coordinate with the authorities to remove them from the premises.
Reality.
Some tenants learn reality early on. Others drag it out until the sheriff shows up. Either way, you administer a fresh dose of reality.
Doesn’t society just work better when more folks live in reality?
Pat Yourself on the Back
Whether you have one rental- or oversee hundreds of doors- never lose sight of the valuable service you offer. Yes, property management is a business, and it should be treated as such. But it is also an honorable service that meets the needs of mankind.
When the relationship with your tenant works like it should, they get shelter with the added benefits of security and dignity. When it doesn’t work out, they still retain reality- a vital ingredient in life that makes everything work like it should.
For that, property managers, I salute you.
Michael Rodhouse is the founder of 417 Rekey, a mobile locksmith service. Considered “The Best Friend of a Property Manager,” his company has been serving property managers, REALTORS® and home owners in Southwest Missouri since 2013.