such that we’re going to potentially have a higher vacancy
rate and lower rent, as well as higher turnover cost.”
2010 IREM President Randy Woodbury, CPM, and vice
president of property management for Woodbury Corp.,
in Salt Lake City, added: “All owners have been forced to
accept the reality of what’s going on. Values aren’t just
going to continually multiply and multiply like they have.
Inflation in the price in real estate is not what it was.”
• gREEn lIgHt •
In many instances, owners’ realizations that they can’t just
command higher rents while cutting services has made
them more open to managers’ suggestions regarding
properties. They are refocusing their management plans
and giving managers the green light on certain projects.
“In a good real estate market almost anyone can
make money,” Gallagher said. “A down market is when
the skills and expertise of our IREM Members can really
shine.”
Gallagher said he is much more focused on customer
service, although it has always been a priority. He said it’s
especially important, now, that residents or tenants feel
their complaints are heard and tended to so they don’t go
elsewhere when their leases are up for renewal.
“We want to keep that tenant when their lease comes
up for renewal,” he said. “We want them to remember the
good service. It’s a whole lot less expensive to keep the
tenant and do things for them, than to experience down
time with vacancies and build-outs for new tenants.”
Gallagher also said the focus on operating expense
management—doing things like appealing real estate tax
increases; managing utility and energy costs; and reigning
in personnel cost—has intensified. In fact, he said owners
have been open to sustainability projects and upgrades to
a degree in the name of energy savings.
Woodbury said he is paying a lot more attention to the
financial health of tenants—communicating with them
about how they are doing, their prospects for the future
and trying to catch any financial problems early before the
tenant is beyond help.
“We’re all just trying to be on top of our game,” he said.
“There is a keen sense we can’t be passive about anything
we’re doing these days. The stakes are just too high.”
Holland said owners have certainly been more open to
repositioning their properties. For example, because she is
in Las Vegas, some clients have elected to switch to desert
landscaping to save on water expenses by not having to
maintain watering plants and grass.
She said they are watching other expenses as well—
doing things like renegotiating insurance or workers compensation policies; buying maintenance supplies in bulk
or online so staff isn’t spending time on the clock shopping when they could be servicing residents; and bringing more things in house, such as hiring HVAC certified
maintenance personnel or helping current maintenance
personnel get HVAC certification so the company doesn’t
have to incur the markup that comes with using an outside company for such services.
• PosItIVEly REalIstIc •
Property managers aren’t just catering to their owners,
they are trying to serve their teams by maintaining a positive attitude for the sake of their employees.
“I can talk to family members or clients privately about
the tremendous pressure that is happening,” Holland said.
“When you come into the office, though, you have to
sound upbeat. I have to keep the morale high. I have to
motivate and excite [the team]. Your attitude is everything
in this type of market place.”
Property managers aren’t just catering to their owners,
they are trying to serve their teams by maintaining a posi -
“I can talk to family members or clients privately about
“When you come into the office, though, you have to
sound upbeat. I have to keep the morale high. I have to
And while property managers are trying to
stay positive, they ultimately are trying to be realistic—a virtue that keeps them from getting ahead of
themselves and making costly management and business
mistakes.
“This isn’t a blip. This is a major correction in the
marketplace,” Woodbury said. “We are seeing signs of
stabilization and upturn, but this is not going to be a
springboard back to happy days. Things will improve on a
slow and steady basis, and I think that is a good thing for
the real estate market in the long haul.” n
Kristin Gunderson Hunt is a contributing writer for JPM. if you have questions regarding this article or you are an
iREM Member interested in writing for JPM, please e-mail tulie o’Connor at toconnor@irem.org.
