Hands-Off Management But it takes more than just developing properties to be successful in the multifamily arena. While Wheeler’s expertise was development, he knew that in order for Gables to succeed it had to provide excellent management.
“One of the smart things [Wheeler] did when he came to Gables is he focused heavily on the operation management side of ledger sheet,” says M. Austin Forman, president of American Marketing & Management Inc., a third-party client that uses Gables for management services. In addition to development, Gables invested in personnel and focused on the management of properties. “They continued the development arm, but at a controlled pace,” he says.
That system stems from a decentralized organization. “We don’t make all the decisions in the corporate office,” says Banks. “We empower people to take accountability and responsibility for their parts of the business and to make decisions.”
The property manager runs the asset, explains Wheeler. The property manager makes the decisions regarding what Gables needs to do to service the residents best. “We really empower local people, believing that local on-site management know best how to run an asset and how to increase net operating income,” he says.
Gables makes sure that all of its employees have the proper tools and the training to make decisions. The company uses a prospective model to help determine the impact of supply and demand, employment and vacancies on the multifamily industry and specifically its communities.
The model, called Proact, is a forecasting tool that compares the future to historic patterns. The information is passed to the local level, and it’s up to the local and regional staff to figure out the best way to react to and implement the predictions, says Wheeler. “We try to make decisions based on what we think is going to happen over the next six months, as opposed to looking at what’s happened in the last quarter and say, ‘hmm, we better do this,'” he explains.
In addition, Rheo, the web-based property management software that Gables uses, helps its employees do their jobs better. It frees up the on-site people from the monotony of filling out reports and looking at numbers, explains Wheeler. “They can input information once and get back to what’s really important – which is taking care of the residents,” he says.
The software also allows the executives at the company real-time access to all information about the properties, which helps them make better decisions.
By having the proper training and access to management tools, associates at Gables not only know what they are doing but understand why they are doing it, explains Banks.