Property Health Check - Rent Level

The health of a property is determined by many factors, from structural status of the building to financial figures like yield or profit before interest. Even the financing structure can be a subject for a health check.

However all these factors influence some key measurements or key performance indicators (KPI) that can be used as a starting point for a health check of a property.

The first and most obvious KPI every investor is looking at without any consultancy is the Rent Level. The biggest problem most international property owners will run into is access to relevant benchmark data. Without local knowledge the exercise is futile and the investor has to trust in the performance of the property manager. Most investors are reluctant to spend money on top of the property management fees so we have developed quick and low cost assessment processes to identify any possible problem areas in a property.

Rent level benchmark

The rent level benchmark compares the actual contract rent to the rent table and market rent detailed down to the size categories and prevailing standard of the majority of the units. In a second step the contract rent is compared to the actual rent payments. Major shortcomings can then be investigated and tracked down to the underlying problem, e.g. problems in the building fabric, tenant mix or plain bad management, to mention just a few possibilities.

Rent level benchmark service

In order to perform the rent level benchmark service the following information is required:

Building:	Address and photo
	Year of construction
	Type of bathroom facilities
	Type of heating
	Recent modernizations and resulting rent increases
Tenants:	Rent list with apartment sizes, contract rent amounts and rent components (names not needed)
	Actual rental payments
Property management	Introduction and contact for questions. This can improve the quality of the resulting report but is not mandatory if you don’t feel comfortable with it at this point.

This is what you can expect from this service:
An assessment of the rent level of your property compared to other comparable properties and recommendations for the next steps if necessary. The report will be provided in English as a pdf-file. This service does not include site inspections.

Pricing

The fee for this service is 49.00 € including VAT. The payment is due with the order of the service. We give a 30 day money back guarantee, should you not be satisfied with the service provided.

To contact us about this offer please use our website feedback.

Property Health Check - Rent Level

Let's Meet at Expo Real 2012

Today we have some information in our own interest:

Let's meet at Expo Real 2012 to discuss the optimisation of the operation of your properties.

What you measure is what you get!

We have proven concepts for performance management using Service Level Agreements (SLA) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in the fields of Facility Management and Property Management.
If this sounds interesting to you and you happen to be at the Expo Real in Munich this year why don't we get in contact and meet up to discuss the next steps?

Uwe Falkenberg

Falkenberg Solutions
Real Estate Consultants

(view my profile)

info@falkenberg-solutions.com
Website: www.berlin-portfolio.com
Twitter @property2010

Let's Meet at Expo Real 2012

Service Level Agreements in Real Estate Asset Management

Performance measurement is key to a successful service philosophy:

What you measure is what you get!

We have developed a system of Service Level Agreements (SLA) with Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Property Management and other property related services like facility management. A vital part for the system is the inclusion of performance reviews and evaluations. We always incorporate a performance based element into any management or service fee.

In order to be able to measure results these results have to be defined and just as important a measurable unit has to be associated to it to determine the fulfilment of degree of fulfilment of the desired results.

An example: You want correct and timely reporting because that is also what your bank or your shareholders expect from you. So you have to define what the content of the report has to be. This would be your very rough service level for “reporting” in your service level agreement. The next steps are the measurements for the delivery of the results (key performance indicators, KPI): There should be no errors in the report. The report for the previous month should be delivered to your e-mail or uploaded on a reporting portal at the latest by the 10^th of the following month and in hard copy 2 days later.

But of course this is only half the job. Thanks to the KPIs you can measure the fulfilment: Number of errors and days of delivery after the 10^th of the following month. Now you have to define the consequences of this non-compliance. This is done by attributing points to the various KPIs, say per error 10 points reduction and per day of delay another 20 points. If the amount of points reaches a certain level there will be fee-reductions. If it becomes unbearable you have measurable results as grounds for a contract termination, a very strong argument should there be a discussion or even legal action.

These service level agreements and key performance indicators are very powerful instruments for managing the performance of your property portfolio and services generally. They should not be seen and used as a means of fee reduction after signing a contract. Actually you want to pay the full fee agreed because then you know that everybody is performing as they should. The setting of the points for the KPIs requires some skill and a clear strategy of what you want to achieve. By giving certain areas like renting of sales support special weight you set the points high. This will be a strong motivator for your property manager or asset manager to perform especially well in these areas as there is a likely punishment for failure. This aligns the actions of your service providers with your goals.

Uwe Falkenberg, the author is a Berliner and active in the German property market for more than 25 years. Experienced as project manager, developer and head of the German Business for a UK based property consultancy he now owns and operates Berlin Portfolio Ltd His international background and local expertise is an ideal combination for an international investor.

He offers "Health Checks" and problem solving for non or not as good performing properties as promised at the outset. This includes "forensic" review of the information provided at the purchase and review of the performance of the property management - all in English!

For Property Search we recommend Properties in Germany.

Service Level Agreements in Real Estate Asset Management