Cover Interview for Property Manager

“ We have a job to do and it’s important for housing is a basic need and we are counted on to be responsible for the most personal aspect of a person's life, their HOME!

It’s where memories are made, baby’s are had, new puppies, you name it! So my final advice is never to forget the WHY and positive impact you have on building community. We crave human interaction and relations, it’s not natural for us to be alone and everyone deserves to bathe their child in a clean and well presented bathtub; no matter what the price point.”

Cover Interview with Christin J. Daniels

A constant learner creates diversity in experience and skill set. Even with extremely diverse experiences in utilization of many skill sets (from coding to Property Manager. The core values that Christin believes in remain the same regardless of the landscape. This interview is a hypothetical stretch from the good old "Cover Letter". Many have given positive insight and valued her contribution and ability to share this with the Linked In audience. Happy reading!

Why hire Christin?

If you're looking for someone who is strong and you know you can get it done, “I am the “go to”, the “we can count on her” the “yes, I will do it” action figure of business.

Give an example of what others would say about you?

Not everyone has that sense of urgency to RUN to help a resident or client as opposed to slowly move over to them without even greeting them at the door briefly. My gift is hard to handle fires both literally and not.

We have a job to do and it’s important, housing is a basic need and people count on us, We are overseeing the most important aspect of someone's life and if you are on my team you won’t even want to deliver anything but positive experiences.

The ability to make everyone feel personally valued when conversing 
with any team member is important. Listen first, then speak.
        

Christin believes the above and thus empowers people to take initiative without fear of making a mistake.

“ My philosophy is to meet people, genuinely, professionally human, and listen to exactly where they are at in any given endeavor or situation.

From there, have an honest conversation based on what you have learned through listening, listening gives you most of the answers on what people want”

No matter what they start out as they can always end positively by treating people with respect and understanding."?

So the core values associated with this concept include 3 things:

1. a sense of urgency
2. a desire to serve
3. and good communication no matter what the situation!

Listen for those answers and don’t interrupt, you will find the key factor that can turn a situation from negative to positive just by simply doing that.?

As a manager, have you ever seen someone or yourself go through burnout or overwhelm? What did that look like?

In property management, YES! And there are many factors that play into that but the most controllable are the ones you can implement personally to restore your sanity. It’s all in the “WHY” and efficiency vs. busy, taking time for yourself to breathe is highly recommended, and for heaven’s sake use your PTO! Read more in my article featured in Houston Abode Magazine HERE

Quick tips:

• Take PTO and do something or have a stay-cation, not doing so is NOT a badge of honor.
• To revive the “WHY” behind what you are doing, make a list of all the moments and rewarding experiences you have had over your career. Find some inspirational TED Talks,?
• If your a manager I highly suggest the read, “The one minute manager meets the monkey” to apply to your operations.
• Listening and being mindful and realistic to how you are feeling. Are you drinking enough water, exercising, how’s your sleep. Health can be heavily impacted by stress and make things difficult.

What are you looking for professionally or for your next role?

I am a low maintenance manager, extremely resilient, and believe in delegation and empowerment whether it’s delegating to me from my boss or empowering my team. Those who work with urgency and a strong “WHY” get things done. To find that flow, I need to be professionally free within an organization and trusted to perform the next indicated thing by taking initiative. I don’t like micro-red tape management. I don’t care for all the black and white policies but to have fun, be creative, and everyone walk away with a great feeling of accomplishment. People remember that!?

I”m the one who takes it and runs with it. I sense when an RM or VP or Client is slammed and serve to take something off their plate if they will allow me to. Delegation is a great thing and a "feather in your hat" when given the privledge to do something new. I have always said “yes” when this happens unless I REALLY can't take it on.

Roll Call: What does your next step look like

• I'm looking for purpose and service. Building community is important to me. Watching employees grow is heartwarming, and truly being in your “Genius Zone” (Dr. Debbie Phillips) to every regional and above who always sent me on due diligence and takeovers.?
• I seek long term tenure with the ability to be involved in a role that makes a positive impact and has challenges.?
• I am the right fit if your company wants loyal, ethical, and professional behavior while remaining human and genuine through soft skills. Attention to detail, seeing micro and macro finance goals,?
• I lead by example and expect people to work at work, I will always be the manager who is in the trenches,? empowering my team, you don’t get that everywhere you go so it’s important my people always know what to expect.
• And leasing; you must stock the “wow fridge” aka take initiative.

To be professionally fed I am always asking questions, listening and learning from everyone, I have built a dynamic skill set applicable to most businesses because I keep an open mind and figure things out seeking solutions and not bringing monkeys!

What do you mean by "monkeys":

Link to purchase the book here, no proceeds to me only knowledge for you!        

We have a problem with employee turnover. We strive to have good “culture” yet still lost X percent of our maintenance techs to outside trades last year. How can you help?

Tricky question but i’m going to answer all of them in one simple statement.

No company with a good culture seems to talk about it much if at all."

I have worked my way from being a telemarketer, to leasing, and have experience with other specialties such as wire-framing websites, content, email marketing campaigns and sales cadences with rebuttal statements to overcome objections, written sales programs, sales in general… I even can shred a solo on the electric guitar.

Back to the question, treat humans like humans! Here’s what I mean”

• Infectious energy and passion will make someone stay, at least it has for me. (or follow them). I remain open and search for opportunities to learn myself so my teams tend to follow the? willing attitude and grow with me.?
• I am tough but very realistic and? fair. Once again, communication of any expectations or just checking in regularly with the team members shows care. Can’t promise you that if you aren’t with ME! believe in coddling, but do value hard work and you to take your PTO.
• ?I have worked my way from the bottom to humility where I am learning from subordinates and superiors by asking questions and taking note. A good example of that is in my Virtual Leasing article for HAA’s Abode magazine.

Summarize your career to date; what challenges and victories have you had along the way?:

I have had ups and downs in my career but know exactly who I am as a human and a professional. I received strong mentor ship back in? Georgia and tapped into the assistance I received when in this position.? to help overcome these times. I seek to do the same for others through my personal actions and treat employees like humans, just don’t friend your superiors on Facebook, it's not a good idea.

Referenced in the Abode Article on Uncertainty is Certain I touch on some of the ways to avoid overwork on property teams. Read the article or consider the following:

1. Everyone needs someone to vent to, share good news with, and seek guidance from,
2. someone? who believes in them, encourages them,
3. and doesn’t tolerate sub-par work if they are capable of more.

It’s tough love! Loyalty can be built and that can drive retention. Listen to the front lines, they are your eyes and ears, especially maintenance. Adjust accordingly and be open minded! Read this article for more.?

Tell us about your strategic and objectivity and how it corresponds with remaining

?Simply put, I take intentional action, and I look at objective data from capex scopes, financials, budget forecasting, and beyond. I also test sites etc to ensure AI and data are working effectively and properly. Test all marketing channels to ensure everything is being tracked correctly. I have a keen eye for budgets and a creative mind for campaigns. Furthermore, share with my teams the WHY behind the marketing and also mentor on budgeting and effectiveness with people trying to move up and learn..?

What have you done to market yourself or companies in the past that can be below budget to make up a variance?

I have the best story for this one. We had all these ads in the typical apartment industry search websites and we got average calls and qualified leads off them. I thought, “What about us is different and what can we do to show it to everyone we can shopping for apartments?" The answer???

We ordered a huge rotating sign that looked like one you would see at a gas station and put different pricing and catch phrases on there daily. It was fun and we got more leads off that sign than anything else. We also had giant jenga, connect 4, cornhole, and checkers in the office. All huge and we would close so many deals through the interactions, especially cornhole.

Virtual Leasing is a great example of this. Featured in Abode HAA 2020.

What motivates you?

I am motivated by service and watching others grow through mentoring opportunities. I love seeing them adopt their personal style and follow their “WHY” to success. (especially when I hire them, I love recruiting everywhere I go). Business is about objective ROI in multifamily and all that goes up to that figure. I am always aware of the objective data and can craft a strategy to apply to reach numbers and goals with my team. But finding out and using employee strengths is huge Check out the Clifton Strengths Finder and see your top 5 and do it for your team if you can!

My reputation in most companies has been the person who gets it done. I also train and empower my team so I have a lot of experience with acquisitions and takeovers as well as renovations from start to finish. I have a strong fire hose to put out fires and most know that.

Why are your teams motivated, why do you have such loyal teammates who can handle the property while you're on acquisitions?

Empowerment and trust (but verify)! I am a very intentional person and actions align with strategic thinking and collaboration with multiple stakeholders. Reviewing Objective Data is KEY! Action with Intention and Strategy are key. Aimless actions aren’t productive or effective and being busy is not impressive to me at all. If you can’t take time off as a manager without having your team contact you while away, it’s time to empower them!?It's important they can handle and engage with residents or any client effectively and genuinely.

“ We have a job to do and it’s important for housing is a basic need and we are counted on to be responsible for the most personal aspect of a person's life, their HOME!

It’s where memories are made, baby’s are on the way, new puppies, you name it!

So my final advice is never forget the value of building a community, never forget your “WHY" and review some of my other content for more details.

My core values are :

Handle with care, the property is coming out of some tough times but there is no excuse for bad landscaping or:

No matter what the price point, homes should be comfortable and cared for, everyone deserves a fresh bathtub to bathe their child in at move in,? no matter what the price of the home is!”

Thank you,

Contact info:

[email protected]

970-531-5446

Boulder, Colorado