People often ask, “Lex, what’s the perfect property to work at?” And my answer is always, “There is no perfect property. When you go to another property nothing changes but the names and the faces.” So take it from me, someone who has worked at two dozen properties and has looked high and low for the perfect property. I can say with confidence that they don’t exist. If the only time you’re going to be happy at work is when you find a property that has no annoying people living or working at it, then maybe property management isn’t for you because you’re going to be unhappy for your entire career.

You can’t control who lives on the property or how they act. But, you can control your actions and how you react to them. Change how you look at things and the things you look at will change. I know, sounds easier said than done, right? I myself am someone who’s impatient and had a horrible temper so I’m proof that you can achieve this mindset. Instead of saying, “Fu@k!ng Mrs. Johnson in apartment 101 is never happy and I have to deal with her again today.” Calm yourself first and in your mind quietly thank Mrs. Johnson for the job security and for the opportunity to make money that’s going to pay for your vacation. See what we did there? We changed how we saw the interaction with Mrs. Johnson. Instead of a dreadful experience that puts a damper on our day, we flipped it into a gratitude mindset and secretly thanked her for putting cash in our pocket. Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change.

It gets easier and easier the more you practice this. Don’t just do it for a day and then complain that it doesn’t work. Let it slowly become your thinking process and watch how your property slowly becomes an awesome property that no longer grates against your soul. Just try it for 90 days! If you don’t like it, you can always go back to being a whiner.

Now, don’t get all huffy puffy. I’m not saying be a pushover. If someone is hostile or rude, you can simply refuse to give service and tell them you’ll come back when they’re feeling like an adult instead of a child jumping up and down for attention. But, be nice when doing so. There’s no greater feeling than killing someone with kindness. They can’t stand it because that wasn’t suppose to happen! They were suppose to dominate the situation and you were suppose to lose control with them. You can control every situation using wisdom and grace with a smile on your face. No tantrum is worth a body full of peace and energy.

 

What You Can Control

So, we’ve discussed that you can’t control who lives on property or how they act. However, you can control the office you work with. I get lots of messages and e-mails from techs saying how the office they work with is unsupportive and doesn’t have their back. When they ask for advice, I first ask them if there are other property management companies they can work for in their area. If they say “Yes”, then I tell them to leave. It’s that simple. If you’re a rock star and the office is keeping you from doing rock star work then LEAVE! We spend most of our life at work and life is too short to be around a toxic office. There’s a shortage of good maintenance techs now days and a plethora of properties. So, right now properties need good techs. Not, good techs need a property. Property management companies haven’t woken up yet to the supply and demand that’s going on here. The market is saturated with properties while good technicians who watch over the million dollar investments are in low supply but in high demand.

 

Conclusion

So, if you have been bouncing around from property to property looking for the perfect place I hope this blog post reaches you. If you’ve found the perfect office team to work with, then I suggest that you stop the job hopping today. The only reason for leaving should be to escape a toxic office. Because as for the property’s residents, nothing is going to change but the names and the faces. There will always be around 97% of awesome residents and 3% of terrible residents who will make your day a living hell if you let them. You could discover a cure for cancer that comes drinkable from a soda can and the 3% of bad residents would unhappily whine about the flavor. The only way to fix it is to change the way you look at things. Because perfect properties don’t exist.

 

 

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