Blog

Did you know that the term “going green” doesn’t just mean being conscious of the environment; it also means saving money? While the energy costs required to run a commercial property can be high, there are several things you can do as an owner to cut these costs. Your property manager can work with you to conserve energy and save money. Below are some tips that we think are the most beneficial for commercial property owners. 1) Conduct an energy…

As the snow melts and temperatures rise, April showers bring May flowers. There is a freshness in the air and spring is in full force. While the warm weather is a much-enjoyed change, it probably means a much-needed sprucing up for your commercial property. But with so many landscaping decisions, how do you know you are making the right choices? Here are five landscaping tips to improve the look of your commercial property. 1) Use Native, Perennial Plants While flowers…

In order to answer whether you should hire a professional property manager you need to understand your capabilities and capacity to perform in these six areas: Time commitment Property updates and repairs Accounting Marketing Customer service Cost If you have the time, a plan for repairs, a good CPA, can market your property, are good with people and problem solving, and can do all this for less cost than hiring a professional property manager, then you should not hire a…

It’s the new year and if you are in the commercial property management business, you know what time it is! It’s CAM Reconciliation time! CAM stands for Common Area Maintenance. If you own an office building, your leases most likely include a provision to recover CAM. If not calculated correctly, you may be leaving money on the table. With the help of a professional property manager, you will get as much income as possible from your CAM reconciliation. CAM expenses…

We hear this question often and there are no hard and fast rules on property management fees, but there are some industry standards by which you can measure. These standards may vary by property type, market or region of the country. So how much should property management cost? Generally speaking, most commercial property management companies charge between 2-6% of the total monthly revenue. If your property generates monthly revenue of $25,000, then the base management fee would be $500-$1500 per month.…

Elevators with regular maintenance should have a life expectancy of  20-30 years. However, factors such as design, usage, environmental, and maintenance frequency will increase or decrease lifecycle. Lift cables last between 10-15 years based on use, load capacity, and use frequency. How do I know if it’s time to replace? Each manufacturer designates a life expectancy on the individual components of their system. Once the components exceed the manufacturers determined life expectancy, the component needs to be replaced. Elevators can…

It would serve this community well to learn from the best practices of other service-intensive fields, such as hospitality, financial services, and other consumer industries. When was the last time you used a typewriter? How about a home movie camera or dial phone? These are a few examples of technologies that have become obsolete due to newer innovations. So it is with best practices. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (online of course, because when was the last time you used…