building at a clip of three or four bathrooms a month.
Then came the recession: unemployment, financial
meltdown and comparisons to the Great Depression. The
company had a decision to make: Continue to tile, at a
cost of $750 a bathroom, or hold back and wait for better
times.
Sunrise chose to slow down but not stop. Though it may
seem counterintuitive when the recession has managers
watching every penny, property managers say spending
money on capital improvements now is a wise investment. New bathrooms help attract new residents and
give current residents one more reason to stay, thereby
minimizing expensive turnover, said Jesse Holland, CPM®,
president of Sunrise. And with contractors hungry for
work, the price is right.
“In a year like this, everybody tries to pull back, but now
is a great time to do capital improvements,” he said. “As
we come out of the recession 12 or 18 months from now,
you’ll already be ahead of your competitors.”
In other words, you have to spend money to make
money.
Before
and after
photos of
the Bathroom
upgrades made
By sunrise
management &
Consulting at
the mansions
at delmar in
delmar, n.y.
( www.albany
mansions.com).
photography
© sunrise
management &
Consulting
prIorItIze And reAdjust
While Holland continued with the bathroom upgrades,
Sunrise temporarily shelved plans to build a new main-
tenance shop to store pool equipment. Holland said this
type of improvement would not be
noticed by residents and could eas-
ily wait until more funding comes
along.
