In Susan Henley’s nearly 20 years and 30,000 hours in the property management business working with over 2000 properties around the world, she has seen just about everything. Terrific tenants with fantastic tenancies, nightmare tenants taking landlords to court, smart investors with successful investments, Deaths, births, storm damage, burnt down houses, collapsed roofs … you name it – she’s seen it!
But the most fundamental aspect of having a rental property, in Susan’s experience, doesn’t have anything to do with property, tenants or landlords. It has to do with the care that is required to do the fantastic job she does.
A puddle of water is not just a puddle of water… A Story of Caring Property Management
A story that resonates with Susan: Late one Friday afternoon, a tenant reported a puddle of water on the floor of their bedroom along the wall shared with the kitchen. The property manager in charge of the property told the tenant “not to worry about it” and sent a work order for a plumber to attend and address the issue.
Concerned about the potential damage to the property over the weekend and perplexed about what caused the leak, Susan decided to visit the property herself, not only to investigate but to report back to the landlord firsthand. Knowing that this event could result in a possible insurance claim, Susan also wanted to eliminate the possibility that the leak was caused by the tenant’s negligence or ignorance; none of which could not be determined on the phone.
A simple unexplained puddle of water means water damage from a possible concealed leak. Water damage means mould. Mould means poor air quality, health problems, and a weakened building structure. The simple puddle of water now becomes lost money, frustration, and a lower quality of life.
Susan arrived at the property before the plumber but could not determine the cause of the water ingress. She called the plumbing company and insisted that the plumber attended that evening. The plumber did and discovered a leaking dishwasher pipe concealed behind the kitchen cabinets. The tenant was asked not to use the dishwasher over the weekend and the leak was repaired the following Monday morning.
After reporting back to the owner, Susan went home that weekend satisfied that she has cared enough to visit the property herself instead of leaving the plumber to attend on the next business day (Monday). The tenant would have used the dishwasher several times over the weekend thereby causing more and more damage to the carpet and shared wall. Holding that amount of water for more than 24 hours, the carpet would have developed mould and would have needed replacement.
Visiting the property that afternoon meant that Susan was able to limit the damage to the property and therefore minimize the cost to the landlord. The tenant was also happy to avoid the disruption that would have been caused by the replacement of the carpet etc.
For Susan, her job begins and ends with one simple word: Care!
Susan cares about the properties managed by Palm Property Management as if they were her own. That simple but profound core value shapes every single service, policy, and action that Palm Property Management takes on behalf of its clients, both investors, and tenants.
As an REIQ accredited member, full licensed estate agent, and with high-level academic training combined with years of diverse property management experience, Susan started Palm Property Management to provide an unrivaled, highly experienced, personalized service so her clients can relax while they trust her to manage their valuable investments
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Her testimonials speak for themselves.