Property Management, when done efficiently, is a solution to cutting costs and expenses associated with buildings and increasing the value of assets in the New Normal era.
What is Property Management?
Property Management is the management of assets and real property, either for residential or commercial purposes. It is a crucial task enabling a real estate development project to be met with success.
The building administrator, known as the condo juristic person or condominium juristic entity, oversees and manages shared assets, the common area, the building systems and the environment at a project for the purpose of keeping the project in good condition, attractive and orderly - doing so ultimately adds value in the long run.
The entity responsible for property management also delivers services and facilitates convenience related to all dimensions of living. It looks after safety, prepares contingency plans and create activities that cater to the needs of diverse lifestyles. Said work contributes to a liveable and attractive community, and reinforces residents' satisfaction, confidence and trust towards the project.
Why need a Property Manager?
A property project exquisitely designed or impeccably located does not automatically translate into happy residents. Having a management team that fails to prioritise the benefit of residents could bring about continually depreciating assets within a project.
Property management companies have become an important factor for living at a residential project and for ensuring a project's sustainability. Let us now find out the composition of a property management team and how each component helps to make your project or your home more liveable.
The distribution of personnel at a given property development will differ from that at other developments, subject to the building types, the area involved and the number of residential units or houses.
The principle positions are as follows:
Building Manager / Housing Estate Manager
The key person who makes sure that a property project is tenantable and satisfactory. This individual has a responsibility to plan expenditures in a way that gets the money's worth and achieves high efficiency. The position supervises all affairs at a property project to make sure all work is up to standard.
Said supervision is applied to housekeeping, security and contractor firms with an aim of looking after the interests of the residents. The manager provides relevant advice and addresses problems that arise in a manner that does the utmost good, while overseeing orderliness and compliance with the juristic person's rules.
All in all, the manager strives to deliver services to the best extent to clients at a property development.
Mechanic/Repairman/Building Technician
Tasked with maintenance work on electrical and water systems, other utilities, the swimming pool and various other building engineering services inside units and in the common area. This role enables residents to keep using systems and amenities conveniently and without interruption.
These personnel conduct inspections on various physical attributes at the project to plan for maintenance, which leads to extended life for machinery and increased safety in systems that cannot be inspected by the residents themselves. These professionals are ready to follow up on problems and play a significant role in delivering good living experience for the residents.
Administrative staff
The administrative staff can be likened to assistants of the manager. They handle the paperwork and keep the documents system in order, coordinate various affairs and provide assistance to visitors who arrive at the building to carry out various errands. These individuals receive reports of problems, sort the mail and etc.
To their best extent, they do what they can to facilitate convenience for the residents in all matters of affairs, on top of arranging activities for the community.
Housekeeper/gardener/security guard
A clean, attractive-looking property development is the result of caretaking by housekeepers, who are ever busy with their cleaning duty. Trees and gardens at a property project are kept beautiful by professional gardeners. Meanwhile, the security division takes care of orderliness and safety by screening entries and departures at the project and by delivering assistance to residents when needed.
Having these individuals around mean the residents need not worry about cleanliness and safety. Generally, these positions are contracted from external companies although they remain under supervision by the staff of the property management firm or by the condo/housing estate manager.
How Property management works?
Managing common assets is among the primary functions of a property management firm, as the common area is a large shared space that is used by many people. The management's work here is to foster a proper environment, maintain appealing living conditions in the long term and preserve the quality of the common area.
Standards have to be kept consistently, and the work that falls on the condo management are as follows:
The above 9 functions of property management in Thailand are not exhaustive and form just part of the property management company's responsibilities. Other tasks of significance include the management of expenses, common fees, the sinking fund and the juristic person management budget.
Important meetings have to be held and amiable relations between the residents at a project need to be promoted. Work has to be put in to foster a good community where inhabitants are happy, while the surrounding communities and society at large also need to be accounted for.
Property Management : Building administration for cost-cutting in the New Normal era
The COVID-19 pandemic which has become the face of life over the past 1-2 years proved challenging for property management in Bangkok and in Thailand. Management has had to handle measures that include caring for infected patients who were staying at the residential development and sealing off common spaces to reduce the risk of infection.
Planning was needed on the part of the service provider as well as the service receiver, and the administrative methodology was sometimes adjusted daily in order to navigate the rising number of infections.
Property Management involves the management of assets and the caretaking of real property. Looking after a building's condition and its systems must continue, if the building is to retain its functions. The common area being out of service presents a good opportunity for a property management firm to carry out a physical survey to plan for any improvements. Perhaps the condo building or the houses in a gated community needs repainting to keep looking lush.
It would also be an opportune time to check on the condition inside a building - the building systems that usually remain hidden from the eyes. These are crucial elements of condo living, and they give a building its life. To name a few - the electricity system, water system and the lifts system.
Checks might also extend to the security system. Property management for outdoor assets as well as in-building systems involves maintenance work that takes place in advance of incidents/damages, and that which takes place after incidents/damages.
Costs or expenses relating to said damages are usually high as building systems make use of complex machinery, while personnel costs also become unavoidable.
We might find ways to reduce the aforementioned costs of building administration by laying down maintenance plans that pre-empts incidents/damages - what Plus Property calls preventive maintenance. This type of maintenance initiative has a direct effect on the aforementioned costs/expenses.
Management starts by establishing a table that displays the details of all equipment and machinery in the building. The functionality of each item as well as their age and maintenance cycles per year are listed.
A clear detailing of equipment allows the building caretakers to reduce errors associated with specifying and inspecting the maintenance cycles. With equipment now receiving regular checkups, their lifespans are extended.
Making this kind of table has the benefit of helping the building administrator plan the budget by taking into account the replacement of equipment, in accordance with their service life. Equipment needing frequent or yearly changing are listed under the short-term budget.
The medium-term budget is set with regard to equipment that has somewhat long service life, and the long-term budget is made with consideration given to change or replacement of costly equipment such as the lift.
A building blessed with good budget planning directly reaps the benefit of optimal common area fees, which then allows any increases in the fees to be efficiently planned and implemented, without spikes or jumps that cause jitters among the co-owners.
Making use of technology in property management
We are stepping onto an era of digital transformation. At present, we already see new technology being brought into use for purposes of building management. Most notably, leading property management companies have introduced novel technology to shorten the work process, reduce errors and improve work efficiency among personnel.
In Thailand, building administrators have been using various systems to monitor systems and equipment inside buildings in a way that provide them with real-time information. Data is inspected and stored, allowing for analyses to take place efficiently. Certain technologies help with predicting equipment failures before they happen.
For example, applying BIM or IoT give rise to platforms that integrate the building plan with the maintenance handling system. A scan by a tablet can then display the location of various equipment that are embedded in the floor, on the ceiling or in the wall.
The layout of water pipes in the wall or of HVAC conduits on the ceiling can also be determined, while abnormalities can be more easily pinpointed. This technology helps building administrators with their work and reduces certain risks, such as additional damage that came about by drilling the wall and hitting a water pipe.
A certain technology enables remote monitoring of building systems from a central location, which helps to increase work efficiency for mechanics. Equipment exists for centralised monitoring of the electrical system, sanitation system, lifts system and fire alarm system.
The command centre is made aware of abnormalities, allowing the centre to notify the relevant responders in a timely manner. Problems and issues are thereby kept from exacerbating.
The said technology can also help to free up time for the building caretakers, so they can work more efficiently on other tasks or tend to an increased amount of tasks.
Presently, property management companies have started using the aforementioned technology. Plus Property has become the first and only firm in Thailand to have taken the initiative in implementing its LIV-24 Smart Technology in property management.
The platform makes work speedy and convenient, as well as accurate. Building users are able to feel at ease around the clock and take advantage of this convenient service.
Buildings that enlist the service of a proficient property management firm will enjoy advantages over buildings that were looked after solely by the owner.
Some of the leading property management companies have developed their own building management systems, with the knowledge that clients or buildings receiving their service will be able to benefit from a building management system without needing to invest in its development.
Said management systems facilitate timely resolution of issues and cost-saving, and are a great fit for the Thailand 4.0 era.
Plus Property is a full-service professional real estate agency that provides comprehensive assistance in reselling/letting properties and the purchasing of second-hand condominium units. With more than 20 years of experience, PLUS's team of quality professionals manages residential and commercial properties and also manages projects' sales and marketing, heeding to all types of demand.
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