3 key skills MIH look for in a Property Manager

We have written several blogs about interviews, and what we look for in a Property Manager. Indeed, some of our team members have even written their own blogs. All are written to demonstrate the approach we take to property management and how important it is for our team to be united one and all committed to the same thing – delivering property management services to a very high level.

Our interview process is such that we root out those who can’t do and should be teaching in favour of those who can. In fact, if we were looking to rename MIH we might think of changing the name to CDM – obviously for Can Do Management rather than Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 which the acronym is more commonly associated with.

What qualities do we look for in a property manager?

With this in mind we got to thinking about the three qualities we look for in a property manager. We must admit that when pondering this conundrum, we started to rack our brains as there are so many different things we look for and aside from refining this to a definitive list we also struggled with placing these in any kind of order but have tried to give it a go below.

So, without further delay and with the sound of a drum roll in our ears, our first quality is:

1. Resilience

We appreciate that this sounds a strange quality for a member of staff to have and doesn’t scream Property Management. However, to MIH, it absolutely imperative due to the nature of what we do and how many people we are dealing with. Invariably in any block, large or small, residential or commercial there are always going to be people who disagree with what we are doing.

When you are dealing with people there are always going to be opinions to deal with even if it is an opinion of one, – for individual unit management- and as a person you have to be able to validate your client’s decisions, rationalise them and make them work.

The most unpopular decisions are frequently made for the benefit of the property and although it may not seem it at the time, can signify a fresh start for the property. Unfortunately, the property manager or the property accountant has to ride the storm until the benefits are released – a difficult task, believe us.

2. Future Focused

At this point we think our next quality becomes apparent- Long termism, sometimes better known as crystal -ball gazing!

When MIH was first started in 2016 one of its founding principles was to look at a property as if it were our own. All of us have lived in properties, undertaken short term measures to make it liveable (refreshing the mastic, some minor painting, changing lightbulbs, or simply giving it a good clean) until we know the property and can undertake the big ticket items like changing the bathrooms/kitchen and installing wood floors.

This overview is vital for successful property management, from preparing a long-term plan to encompass all the works required immediately which have been budgeted for and those that haven’t like the internal/exteriors and Health and Safety Works. However, this future forecasting is not down to the property manager alone, it also falls to the property accountant who will be more “au fait” with the budget and making sure that the proposals are affordable.

3. Communication

This neatly dovetails into the next quality we look for communication skills. Often, much to our combined vexation, our office is extremely noisy and frequently you can’t hear yourself think let alone speak. Notwithstanding this, it was always our intention to ensure that we had people who worked for us who were able to speak to anyone and everyone.

Obviously we want staff who are knowledgeable and committed but all of this pales into insignificance if they are unable to speak to our clients and explain what they do day to day, what their vision is for the building, (and we do believe that everyone one has a vision for the property) their objectives over a 5-10 years for the property and the way in which they believe they can achieve those goals.

If we as a company don’t believe in what we are doing and can’t share that with you – we are failing. Therefore, we must be able convey what we are doing and at the moment we truly do believe that MIH are able to do so, at least that’s what are client feedback suggests, just look at our Google reviews.

As positive as we are about our team and our skills, we always keep our eye on the bigger picture as we never want to become over confident and appear braggadocio. It is unfortunate that as team we are more upset about the negative feedback, which is most regularly from late payers or those who wish to act outside of the Lease Terms.

It is those people who we seek to engage with all the more to try and make them understand why we do what we do and it is for them that the three qualities are required.

To recap Resilience, Future Focused and Communication Skills are the key combination of skills that we believe all property managers should have but in no particular order as MIH all require all three combined.

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