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The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspectives of real estate executives to assess the extent to which property management is viewed as a commodity or as a value-added professional service contributing positively to investment performance and property value maximization.

The qualitative analysis draws on the result of 93 semi-structured interviews conducted with executives employed by some of the largest real estate investment management and service firms across the USA.

The findings suggest that significant perceptual cleavages exist in the real estate industry, with some executives believing property managers are incredibly important to the value creation process and others believing they play a much more modest role.

The results highlight the need for the property management industry as whole to continue its efforts to gain recognition as a value-added professional service and for individual property management companies to actively take steps to differentiate themselves from competitors if they hope to avoid commodification and fee compression.

The study is the first to the authors’ knowledge to examine real estate executives’ perspectives about the roles property managers play in the value creation process, as well as their views about whether property managers have the skills and autonomy required to make value accretive decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of the value that can be derived from embracing customer service and ensuring tenant satisfaction.

This literature review synthesizes the results of research conducted around the world to examine the value proposition of customer-focused property management. The literature was identified through a search of academic journal articles and industry publications, together with the authors' experience of working with industry practitioners. Drawing on these sources, the authors identify five emerging trends that are likely to make customer service an even more critical part of property managers' jobs and propose best practices to help property managers actualize the benefits.

Three themes emerge from the literature. First, property managers can add significant value to real estate portfolios by delivering high-quality customer service to tenants. Second, emerging trends in the real estate industry are creating new opportunities for property managers to participate in the value creation process. Third, there are a number of steps property managers can take to leverage customer service to benefit the real estate investors they represent.

Real estate investors, and the property managers working on their behalf, can realize the advantages of customer-focused property management by adopting a series of straightforward best practices, which are discussed in the paper.

The trends identified and practical steps proposed are likely to be all the more relevant in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This research should increase awareness of customer-focused property management and the mechanisms through which it can affect real estate returns. The ten best practices proposed should help property managers deliver effective service to tenants and achieve the associated financial benefits for investors.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the service quality (SQ) of property managers of shopping complexes in Ibadan with a view to improving management practice.

Primary data were used for the study through questionnaire administration. Ibadan was stratified into five axes using existing major roads where shopping complexes were highly concentrated. From each axis, 33, 65, 48, 64 and 66 shopping complexes were identified (Oyo State Ministry of Land, Housing and Survey, 2017), and the systematic sampling technique (20 percent) was adopted to select 57 out of 276 shopping complexes and 192 (10 percent) out of 1919 occupiers of the shopping complexes in the study area. In total, 157 occupiers responded to the questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using mean ranking and stepwise multiple regression.

This study found that professionalism, tangible, assurance and empathy dimensions of SQ were rated fair, whereas reliability and responsiveness dimensions were rated poor. Also, stepwise multiple regression analysis predicted 78.5 percent overall SQ of property managers, and assurance, professionalism and empathy dimensions contributed significantly to the overall SQ. Hence, reliability and responsiveness dimensions of SQ need to be improved. It is expected that the findings of this study will help property managers to understand the role of various dimensions of SQ for enhanced property management practice.

The study is one of the few studies that assessed the SQ of property managers of shopping complex with a view to improving its management practice.

In Australia, the A$2.2 trillion managed funds industry including the large pension funds (known locally as superannuation funds) are the dominant institutional property investors. While statistical information on the level of Australian managed fund investments in property assets is widely available, comprehensive practical evidence on property asset allocation decision-making process is underdeveloped. The purpose of this research is to identify Australian fund manager's property asset allocation strategies and decision-making frameworks at strategic level.

The research was undertaken in May-August 2011 using an in-depth semi-structured questionnaire administered by mail. The survey was targeted at 130 leading managed funds and asset consultants within Australia.

The evaluation of the 79 survey respondents indicated that Australian fund manager's property allocation decision-making process is an interactive, sequential and continuous process involving multiple decision-makers (internal and external) complete with feedback loops. It involves a combination of quantitative analysis (mainly mean-variance analysis) and qualitative overlay (mainly judgement, or “gut-feeling”, and experience). In addition, the research provided evidence that the property allocation decision-making process varies depending on the size and type of managed fund.

This research makes important contributions to both practical and academic fields. Information on strategic property allocation models and variables is not widely available, and there is little guiding theory related to the subject. Therefore, the conceptual frameworks developed from the research will help enhance academic theory and understanding in the area of property allocation decision making. Furthermore, the research provides small fund managers and industry practitioners with a platform from which to improve their own property allocation processes.

In contrast to previous property decision-making research in Australia which has mainly focused on strategies at the property fund investment level, this research investigates the institutional property allocation decision-making process from a strategic position involving all major groups in the Australian managed funds industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how property management firms are responding to the demands of asset managers and institutional real estate owners to address potential sources of conflict related to fee structures, reporting requirements and incongruent managerial philosophies.

Interviews conducted with executives representing 25 of the largest apartment management firms in the USA are used to complete the analysis.

Many of the apartment management firms represented in the sample are embracing incentive-based fee structures and a la carte service offerings as a means of aligning their interests with those of the asset managers and institutional clients they represent. A number of these firms are additionally incorporating new technologies and training procedures into their operating platforms to facilitate customization and responsiveness throughout the reporting process. Respondents also noted their firms are becoming more selective about who they work with and more willing to walk away from business opportunities when managerial philosophies conflicts.

The characteristics of the population from which the sample is drawn limit the generalizability of the results to large property management firms operating in the multifamily housing industry. Nonetheless, the best practices put forth by those participating in the study are anticipated to have relevance to a wide variety of real estate practitioners.

The analysis links theory to practice by considering how apartment managers are evolving in response to the institutionalization of the multifamily housing industry.

This paper is the first to the authors’ knowledge to examine apartment managers’ perceptions about the challenges associated with representing institutional clients.

This paper aims to examine whether property managers who live on-site within a residential apartment building provide a value-added benefit to the management in the form of cost control and revenue maximization.

This research uses two large US data sets that cover operational and financial data of apartment owners/operators and the financial and individual housing situations of renters themselves. The regression models developed were general linear models with operating expenses, rent collection and monthly rent paid as dependent variables, with on-site resident manager status as the experimental variable.

This research finds that the value of on-site property managers does not definitively maximize rent revenue, as expected. On-site property managers also don’t show significant reductions in operating expenses, although they are not cost centers either. Individual renter households do, however, pay a significant rent premium for units in communities with on-site personnel living there.

The limitations of this research include the inability to merge the two data sets and the inability to measure the intangible attributes of the on-site residential manager’s experience.

As roughly 30 per cent of US rental apartment buildings have some form of on-site manager, this research has some practical implications for multifamily housing investors/owners, a highly visible US building sector.

The action of hiring an on-site residential property manager also addresses issues related to the optimization and efficient allocation of human resources for property management companies.

This appears to be the first research addressing property managers who live at the site where they also work.

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors influencing service quality of the property managers to the occupiers of shopping complexes in Ibadan, Nigeria. This was with a view to providing information that could enhance property management practice.

Primary data were used for the study. The study area was stratified into five axes using major roads where shopping complexes were highly concentrated. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 139 out of 276 shopping complexes in the study area. The data obtained were analyzed using mean ranking and principal component analysis.

The study found that ineffective employee’s compensation, high employee turnover, lack of continuous improvement culture, inadequate use of employee empowerment, inadequate staff, lack of teamwork, inability to see tenants as customer, lack of motivation, education and training of the property managers and poor planning among others were the most significant factors influencing service quality of the property managers using mean ranking. The study further found that professional and empowerment factor, teamwork and motivation factor, customer related factor, work volume and operation factor, skills and job satisfaction factor, top-management commitment factor, experience and communication factor as well as financial factor were the factors influencing service quality of the property managers using principal component analysis.

This study will aid the property managers of shopping complexes in identifying areas which needed to be improved upon in order to provide quality service to occupiers thereby enhancing tenant retention and loyalty.

Previous studies on factors influencing service quality have been focusing on hospitality, healthcare, real estate agency and library industries. This study is one of the very few studies that examined factors influencing service quality of property managers of shopping complex. Also, the paper underlines the need for property managers of shopping complexes to give required attention to factors influencing service quality for enhanced property management practice.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors on the property management level for analysing incentives for an effective property management with a focus on organising it in-house.

This research is based on an interview study of 11 firm representatives from the Swedish commercial real estate sector with in-house property management.

The study concludes that the property management organisation in the in-house setting is governed in an informal way, with a large portion of “freedom with responsibilities” setup instead of regulations.

The research in this paper is limited to the Swedish commercial real estate sector.

The insights into the paper regarding how decision makers create incentives for the property management organisation can provide inspiration to design incentives for effort.

It provides an insight regarding how the commercial real estate industry prioritises different work tasks and how incentives are created to enable effort.

Aims to provide a clearer understanding of the perceived role of property and facilities management of higher education institutions. Shows that the provision in this area needs to be matched to the organization’s strategic direction. Outlines the position of estates management in HE institutions; the property manager’s understanding of the HE business; the role of property in HE institutions; and current strategic estates management practice.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the presence of ethnic bias in residential tenancy and the relationship between ethnic bias tendency of property managers/landlords and their demographic features.

Data for the study were gathered from administration of questionnaires, designed with items measuring bias tendency and the driving factors on the perceived wave of discrimination on residential tenancy. The structured questionnaires were administered on an intact sample of licensed property managers/agents (practicing Estate Surveyors and Valuers) at annual Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Programme (MCPD) held in metropolitan Ibadan, the largest indigenous city in West Africa and one of the commercial nerve‐centres in the country. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis, chi square and factor analysis.

The study confirmed a significant relationship between the ethnic status of the principal managers (managing directors) who were mainly Yoruba aliens and the tenants selected to fill vacancies, which implies that there is presence of ethnic discrimination in tenant selection in the area. It is also confirmed that landlord/property manager (agents) experience, environmental influence and landlord/property manager preference are the most driving factors for discriminating against tenants in the city. It is further revealed that there is a significant relationship between two demographic features; professional qualifications and ages of the property managers’ firms and bias tendency.

The research is limited to the metropolitan city of Ibadan, a city with expatriates and diverse ethnic groups working at different sectors of the economy. Further research and statistical tests that covers all the 36 capital cities of the country are required to examine the tenancy nature of other classes of property.

The implication of the study to the practice is reinforced by the consensus character of the study with the professional body (property managers). Insight and findings prove useful in developing a blueprint for curbing acts of discrimination which needs to be well addressed in property management practice. It implies that effective property rights that protect the rights and rental market planning policy in the developing nations require further reform.

Emphasis on tenants’ rights, campaign against racism and discrimination in the developing nations which support equal housing right for all races is the feature and uniqueness of this study.