The 10-year future proofing property plan

Future proofing property plan. In July, of this year I wrote two blogs about how to obtain Utopia when handing over a property. I focused on the difficulties, we as managing agents face, such as poor budgeting by the previous agents, hostile tenants whose experience of property management was poor and most importantly lack of information from the previous agents.

I was astounded at the disinterest and inexperience of the property managers that we were dealing with at handover. This precipitated a further blog on how we train our staff at MIH and how we actively encourage them to be involved in all property management matters.

It’s all about future proofing

It also struck me, that other managing agents don’t adhere to the same principles of management as MIH. For us, one of the main elements of management should be “future proofing” the management for your client.

In one of my earliest blogs, I wrote about the MIH style of management and the building blocks (excuse the pun) we put in place to make the management easier for us, but more importantly, stress-free for our clients.

For us, the day to day management stuff is a “given”, much like brushing your teeth in the morning, and generally, even with poor management information you can get this back on track very quickly. The trickier side of management is the long-term maintenance of the building, obtaining the trust of owners in believing in this and at the same time collecting for it and then implementing it.

The 10 year plan

When working with a new client, we strongly encourage them to think about the long-term maintenance of the property, as properties do need maintenance. One of our first suggestions to our clients is to have a 10-year plan prepared, as surprisingly, very few seem to be in existence. If there is one, they are usually out of date and require updating.

For most owners, their biggest investment is their property and therefore MIH feel that it is imperative that owners are aware of all works required to maintain their property to the highest standard. To our mind, the 10 year plan is the best way in which to facilitate this.

A structured approach

A structured approach to the ongoing maintenance at your property should provide an owner with some idea of when works will be needed and the funds that need to be collected. For me, it is a bit like taking out the service pack when I bought my car recently. I, for one very much appreciate the comfort and reassurance of knowing that my servicing is paid for over the next five years.

Unfortunately, we are unable to guarantee or fix the costs like a service pack (although I have to pay for parts I believe) a 10 year plan does give a very good indication of what you are likely to have to pay over the period and help you plan your finances and your future at the property.

Making it Simple

Furthermore, at MIH we don’t stop at just the 10 year plan, we appreciate that our owners can be fazed by the technicalities involved so we produce a simplified plan that is comprehensible for anyone to understand. All of which helps build up trust with our owners and ultimately assist our clients and ourselves to collect a “savings account” in accordance with the provisions of the lease.

At MIH, we know that it is difficult to look to the future and put money away for a rainy day, but we also know that the benefit of knowing what your money is going towards and what is anticipated goes a long way to dispel owners’ concerns.

If you would like to hear about how MIH are looking to manage your property into the future and building a long-term relationship with you please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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