Golden 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!