Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa September 2014 | Page 50

MANAGING

BY GAYE DE VILLIERS

Professional
Property Management
Far more than meets the eye

W

ith containment of operating costs –
along with maximum efficiency – being
key factors for any commercial property
owner, more landlords look to professional property
management companies to manage these valuable
assets.
“There is far more to property management than
initially meets the eye,” says Belinda Swanepoel, senior
portfolio manager for JHI Properties.
“Firstly, when you consider employing a property
management company to undertake property
management on your behalf, the decision will largely
depend on your own circumstances and experience,
as well as the size and number of properties you are
letting. If, for example, you have a large area of land
with a number of properties to let, you may not be
able to deal with the logistics of keeping them all
maintained and occupied yourself.”
She says, similarly, as a landlord you may not
want to deal with the financial, legal, tenant mix and
Occupational Health and Safety Act legislation aspects
of directly dealing with your tenants and prefer to have
it all dealt with by professionals.
The value
“Whatever your circumstances, a property manager can
provide you with a wide range of services -including
the above as well as maintenance, security, cleaning
services and parking management - designed to make
the process easy and relatively painless for you as a
‘sleeping landlord’. Another benefit is being able to
take advantage of having all these services provided by
one organisation, providing economies of scale as well
as ease of communication and control.”
The key aspects of property management services
may seem an extensive list, as it incorporates a wide
range of activities and capabilities. But bear in mind
that not only maintaining, but also enhancing the value
of your property investment is vital.
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September 2014 SA Real Estate Investor

Impact on cash flow
Says Swanepoel: “If we look further at the key
aspects of property management services, there are
several components which may be highlighted. For
example, rent collection is a very important aspect as it
determines the landlord’s cash flow, so as a managing
agent, this is a factor that needs to be closely managed.
Vacancy management is also crucial, as vacancies are
the second biggest threat to a landlord as they have
a major influence on cash flow. Vacancies also have
an impact on the overall building’s economy, and
negatively impact on other tenants and foot count.”
She says there are five main key areas which determine
tenant turnover in a building: the type and quality of
tenant, and whether it’s a national or private tenant;
historical occupancy of the tenant; the industry type

KEY ASPECTS OF PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT SERVICES
· Budgeting and forecasting
· Cost reporting
· Cost containment through leveraged
buying
· Security
· Disaster recovery
· Improving operations and efficiency
· Rebranding
· Green/sustainable building strategies
· Emergency preparedness (Occupational
Health & Safety Act)
www.reimag.co.za