Typical Day
Gotta Leasem, property manager extraordinaire, arrives at the leasing office of her 240-unit apartment complex at 8:30AM one bright May morning with a large cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel breakfast sandwich in the other. It's the busiest time of year for her team in terms of showing and leasing apartments.
Even though it's a Thursday, the two leasing consultants working today have booked ten appointments between them. It's entirely possible that Gotta and her consultants will be so busy that they'll have to eat a late lunch. As for Gotta, she has piles of paperwork to get through. She sits down at her desk, surveys the disaster that is her office, and sighs. After fortifying herself with her bagel and most of her coffee, she gets to work.
She starts by looking over the landscaping budget for her complex. Her property consists of higher-end units and is located near an elementary school, an organic grocery store, a public transportation hub, and the corporate headquarters of a major financial advising firm. Her residents expect the two pocket parks and public areas that are part of the property to look nice…which means the landscaping company Gotta contracts with is constantly having to replace the flowers.
So far, Gotta's plant expenses are within budget, but she's worried that a dry summer will require more new flowers, more often. She decides to talk to the landscaping company about using more drought-resistant plants at the complex.
By 9:00AM, Gotta's leasing consultants, Bob and Babs, are at their desks…and there are three people waiting in the leasing office lobby. Two of them are scheduled for an apartment and property tour with Bob, and he whisks the couple away. The third person is a tenant with a complaint. Gotta can't help but overhear the irate resident:
"I already pay $2500 a month for my apartment, and now you want to jack my rent up to $2800! A $300-a-month increase! That's ridiculous! I've only got one bedroom, and my windows look out over the entrance to the parking garage! The parking garage, I tell you!"
Babs does what she can to soothe the resident, and then pops back to ask Gotta if the property manager has a few minutes to talk over the resident's rent increase with him.
"May as well get it over with," Gotta thinks, and nods.
Mr. S.O. Lowd isn't even settled in his chair when he launches into the same diatribe he gave Babs. Gotta's face assumes a sympathetic expression, and she gives the resident exactly two minutes to vent before she gently cuts him off.
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Lowd, but the rent on your apartment is determined by market rates; we don't arbitrarily pick a number for you to pay."
"But…."
"Let me make a few suggestions. I can talk to our regional manager to see if there's any way we can lessen your rent increase. We could also look at other apartments in the complex to see if one of them has a lower rent that you might be willing to pay."
Mr. Lowd thinks for a minute, and then says he doesn't want to move apartments. Could Gotta get him a lower rent increase? She promises to bring up Mr. Lowd's request when she talks to her regional manager later in the day and to get back to him with an answer as soon as possible. Somewhat mollified, Mr. Lowd leaves.
The rest of the morning is uneventful. Bob and Babs field phone calls and take potential tenants on tours. By the time noon rolls around, they've rented a one-bedroom apartment and a two-bedroom apartment. Gotta goes through her email, examining the monthly goals sent to her from corporate. Gotta's regional manager has high expectations for her property, but she's consistently proven that she can keep her residents and fill empty apartments.
At noon, Bob and Babs are both busy with potential residents, so Gotta steps out to check on a maintenance project underway in Building 2. The contractors she hired have just finished lunch and are hard at work, removing pieces of the walkways on the second and third floors.
The noise as the contractors cut through the metal walkways is horrific…but Gotta sent out two emails in advance of the project's start, letting residents in the building know the project's timeline and that there would be a lot of racket from the work during the day. No one has complained; in fact, two residents contacted Gotta to thank her for the advance warning.
Back in the office, Bob and Babs finally get a break from tours. Gotta tells Babs to take a thirty-minute lunch, since Bob got to go to lunch first the day before. Gotta retreats to her office to prepare for the call with her regional manager.
That's when Bob pops in and says, "Um, we've got a problem."
"Yes?" Gotta says.
"There's a dog in the swimming pool."
Gotta groans. Dogs aren't allowed in the community pool; in fact, they're not allowed within the gated area surrounding the pool, in accordance with county health regulations. Yet, some residents insist on sneaking their dogs into the pool area.
"Please go tell the residents to remove the dog now, and let me know who they are because they've probably gotten in trouble for this before, and we need to send them a letter telling them they've violated their lease and we can remove them for cause. Also, would you please let Ben in maintenance know the pool needs to be closed and cleaned?"
Bob disappears, a man on a mission, just as Gotta's phone rings. It's her regional manager. The call is short: They go over the property's numbers for the month, and then Gotta brings up Mr. Lowd's request to have his rent increase reduced.
Given that Mr. Lowd has been a model resident, Gotta talks her boss into okaying a $100-dollar rent increase, instead of a $300-dollar increase. The regional manager then mentions that corporate has an assistant property manager candidate for Gotta's complex. When can she drop by to interview with Gotta?
After the phone call, Babs is back in the office and Bob is off at lunch. After ensuring that Babs isn't overwhelmed, Gotta goes back into her office and gobbles down a sandwich.
While she eats, Gotta contemplates how she reached her property manager position. In college, she worked as a leasing consultant for an apartment complex near campus for three years: The job helped pay for school, and she got reduced rent as a side benefit. She thought she'd use her communications degree to get a job in journalism after graduating, but there was no work to be found, so she stayed on at the complex. She liked interacting with the residents and convincing people to move to the property anyway.
After five years as a leasing consultant, she found an assistant property manager position at another, larger complex, and worked there for three years. And now, here she is, a property manager. With a few more years of experience, she'll be eligible to land a job as a regional manager.
Sure, property management wasn't her dream when she was a student, but the pay is decent, she gets a free apartment, the hours aren't onerous, and she finds dealing with her residents exciting rather than stressful.
When the leasing office closes at 5:00PM, Gotta praises Bob and Babs for their hard work. They rented out four apartments today, and re-leased three more. Tomorrow will be busy with tours, and the weekend is so booked with appointments that the leasing office won’t be able to handle walk-ins.
Gotta says goodbye to Bob and Babs, and steps back into her office to send an email to Mr. Lowd about the deal she reached with the regional manager on the rent increase. She's hopeful Mr. Lowd will be pleased with this outcome, as she really can't do anything else for him, corporate's rules being what they are.
Then, she turns off her computer and leaves the darkened leasing office. She has plans for dinner with friends at a new restaurant downtown and, if she doesn't hurry, she'll be late.