Good Landlords & the Golden State Warriors: A Deep (Vendor) Bench Matters
The Warriors won the NBA title this month in an exciting series versus the Boston Celtics. Steph Curry, the star of the team (and local Charlotte product!), won NBA Finals MVP and fellow starters Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson played well. But one of the major reasons they were able to pull off a series victory was the play of their bench. Less heralded Warrior’s players- namely Jordan Poole, Kevin Looney, and Gary Payton, Jr.- gave the team great minutes while the starring players weren’t on the court. “Strength in Numbers” was the team’s slogan during the regular season and it continued in the playoffs leading to an NBA Championship.
This is also applicable for landlords utilizing the vendors they have to do maintenance and repairs on their rental homes. I got a call last week from someone interested in our property management services. When asked what prompted the call, she said that her handyman had gone back to the workforce; this left her without anyone she trusted to do the work on her rental home in a timely, well done, and reasonably-priced manner. I could empathize.
When COVID hit, many people who had little time to make home improvements suddenly became very interested in their homes. Part of it was being home and seeing many of the issues their homes had that they had ignored. Some of it was just making improvements so they could enjoy their home as they were around much more. Either way, it led to vendor demand to increase which led to scarcity of vendor availability and price increases. This hit property managers as well. The advantage swung to vendors as they had more work than they could handle, putting them in a position to refuse jobs and not call prospective customers back. This trend continues now.
The good news for experienced property managers is that most have a deep bench of vendors. While we use many of our “stars” regularly to service our homes (and have for years), it is helpful to have a list of secondary vendors who are proven to do good work. Going to Google as sudden needs arise and hoping that a vendor is going to provide tenants a good experience is not ideal. It is far better to incorporate new vendors on a regular basis on smaller jobs to ascertain if they meet expectations. Cultivating a good vendor list is an asset that makes a property manager’s job much easier and keeps owner clients and tenants happy.
Though property managers have a built-in advantage of managing large number of homes which can make working with them attractive (repeat business), smaller landlords can also build good vendor lists by:
- Being courteous with vendors and trying to make things easy for them
- Paying quickly and in full
- Providing pictures and details upfront of what needs to be done so they can minimize trips and maximize their revenue
- Working with their schedules and only accelerating issues that are truly time-sensitive
- Providing referrals to them from friends and family that need similar services
- Writing 5-Star Google reviews (when warranted)
The Warriors would arguably not have gone far in the playoffs and won a championship if they did not allow their bench players to play meaningful minutes and make them feel like a valued part of the team. Smart landlords should do likewise and use secondary vendors on occasion so they are in the fold and can be utilized when the need arises.
Happy Landlording!
Learn MoreGolden State Warriors’s Recipe for Property Management Excellence
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship! They displayed a level of dominance that the league had never seen in its history by winning 16 out of 17 games in the playoffs. And in the only game the Warriors lost, the Cleveland Cavaliers had to set several offensive records to beat them.
How did they do it?
The easy answer is the players. They certainly have great ones- Charlotte’s own Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, etc. With that amount of talent, it could be argued that they could win by managing themselves. From a property management perspective, if you have great tenants who pay rent on-time without being asked and do their own repairs, it makes the job much easier!
But there is something to be said about the ownership group and management (including coaches) that make for a winning organization. It is truly a top-to-bottom effort to become a champion. Ownership and management need to be supportive of each other and have a common vision.
Owners Supporting Management
The majority owners, Joseph Lacob and Peter Guber, treat their employees and players well. When their head coach, Steve Kerr, had back problems the last 2 years (which caused him to miss half of last season and most of the playoffs this year) ownership showed unwavering support. They put no timelines on his return; they just wanted him to come back when he was ready. There was no coaching change controversy. They believed Coach Kerr was the right man for the job and he’s brought them 2 NBA Championships in the last 3 years.
Property management can be viewed the same way. Property managers work for home owners. And sometimes property managers make mistakes. We recently had a longer term tenant who we believe started running an illegal business out of the rental home; we don’t know why and exactly how it started. However, instead of getting angry and blaming us, the owner offered support as we worked to get the tenant out of the home as quickly as possible. We do our best, but will inevitably fail at some aspect of management. Having ownership support gives us the ability to do what needs to be done to right the ship and get back to a profitable equilibrium.
Owners Making Strategic Investments (aka Spending Money)
When the Warriors fell short in the NBA Finals last year, management felt they needed to improve the team; that meant spending and reallocating money on other players. With complete ownership buy-in, management went and signed Kevin Durant to a $54M guaranteed 2-year contract in the offseason. They were willing to spend money to potentially get better. There was no guarantee that Durant would mesh with the existing players (who had already won a championship 2 years prior without him). But they spent the money anyway. And Durant wound up winning the NBA Finals MVP!
Property management is no different. No one likes to spend money; I certainly don’t enjoy spending money on my personal rentals. But strategic investments are necessary to maintain and improve rental properties to keep them competitive against other rentals. When property managers make recommendations to spend owner funds, it is difficult to win when there is constant owner pushback. I guarantee Golden State ownership had financial questions about investing in Kevin Durant, and that is understandable! But no organizations can succeed in the long haul by practicing persistent parsimony (how’s that for alliteration!). And, really, it is much easier to not recommend needed maintenance and upgrades. The Warriors only missed winning the NBA Championship last year by losing Game 7 (so close- and they were even up 3-1 before eventually losing)- but everyone in San Francisco is ecstatic now that the organization didn’t rest on its laurels and aggressively pursued Durant.
The Golden State Warriors and successful property managers share a common recipe for consistent excellence- owners and management working together to make smart decisions for the long haul.
Happy Landlording!
Brett Furniss is a property manager at BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management. BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
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