By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
A Property Manager in one of the leading real estate firms in Abuja, ESV (Estate Surveyor and Valuer), Chika Nnebedum, has gave an insight on how to manage serviced and furnished apartments.
Speaking with Peoples Daily in a chat, Nnebedum made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja.
She explained that a s erviced apartment means several things to different persons.
She however, pointed out that serviced apartments are accommodations that already have installed home appliances.
“Most of such apartments includes a bedroom or multiple bedrooms all en-suite depending on its size, fully equipped kitchen, provision of air conditioners, and parking space”.
According to her, serviced and furnished apartments are usually likened to home away from home; the tenants have access to the complete package. “It is usually a situation of pay and park-in with just your clothing, and in some cases beddings and utensils.”
She added that: this type of accommodation may also offer facilities similar to those offered by hotels, a B&B (a bed and breakfast arrangement) .
She stated that, each rental arrangement is different depending on the services provided and the duration of the rental.
She said that, facility management on such apartments must align with the financial components .
“By ensuring adequate funds are available to effectively manage such apartments, therefore, the need for service charge is a necessity”.
The property manager gave more insight by saying that, service charge is a compulsory levy on tenants on multi-tenanted properties for the provision of services and maintenance of shared facilities in the estate.
She also refers to as charges landlords require from tenants, occupants to pay for managing common areas for commercial residential properties.
“These charges are usually found in properties with multiple tenants and the costs of maintenance and repairs of common areas are usually shared amongst the tenants.”
She said “caveat”, service charge is not landlord’s money. It is not a profit making centre or venture.
“It does not exonerate the landlord from fulfilling their obligation, liabilities under the lease.
These caveats help to forestall (prevent) conflicts amongst the stakeholders.”.
ESV. Nnebedum said, there are challenges faced by those who manage serviced and furnished apartments.
She said some of the challenges are
Wear and tear of
furniture, Disputes, conflicts in service charge administration and maintenance/repairs.
Others are deferred maintenance, immanent (inherent ) issues in the structural management , badly behaved tenants, void periods and collection of rent and service charge.
Consequently, she emphasized that in managing the service and furnished apartments, there are also several skills required, but are not limited to the following.
“Professionalism,
Solution Driven
Effective communication,
Knowledgeable
customer service skills,
Patience and having the ability to remain calm in stressful situations,
Business management skills as well as Risk management and
Administrative skills,.
Facility information and technology management
Detailed oriented
Performance, quality and Quick response time and efficient delivery of services.”, she said .
Meanwhile, she also called for proactive preparation for possibilities before they arrive.
“I encourage my team in the office to always realize that any action is a good action, if it is proactive and there is a positive intent”, She said.
