Organization also is a top priority at BH. “Their processes and procedures for the day-to-day management of the assets are very well-defined within their organization,” says Vance Voss, regional director of Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Real Estate Investors, which hires BH as a fee manager for about 15 of its properties.
Open a filing cabinet at any leasing office, and you won’t find any surprises, says Lyons. Files are labeled and ordered consistently at all property sites. “Literally you could sit at any desk in the company, open the drawer, and you and I would know what we have to do because [everything] is labeled,” she says. The BH approach isn’t limited to desks and filing cabinets. The shelves in all maintenance closets are color-coded for ease in locating items like tools and cleaning supplies.
Roll Up Your Sleeves
“People know that I am not beyond doing anything. I will do whatever it takes, even if that means painting an apartment again.” —Laurie Lyons
Lyons’ offer to help isn’t an exaggeration. This hands-on approach won respect during her on-site days, when she would help the maintenance crew paint units when they were down to the wire on a make-ready. “My black Lab spent the first five years of her life looking like a Dalmatian because she would be in the apartment with me waiting to go for a walk, while I was in there painting,” she recalls. And this do-anything attitude continues to earn Lyons respect and challenge other BH leaders to act the same. In fact, BH’s entire senior management team has a reputation for rolling up their sleeves and helping with daily management challenges, a task that other companies tend to delegate to their employees, says Voss of Principal Real Estate Investors. “Their people aren’t afraid to dive in the details and really help you out with a project,” he says.
Tom Dolan, vice president of asset management for New York-based Sterling American Property, agrees. The company co-owns 26 properties with BH. “If they have to knock on a resident’s door personally, if they have to call them back at midnight to make sure that they received the proper service, they will do it,” says Dolan. “They will do what it takes.”
BH executives are especially supportive in the evaluation and selection of property amenities, adds Voss. He points to The Phoenix Midtown Apartment Homes, a 449-unit Class A project that Principal Real Estate Investors acquired in July 2001 and is fee-managed by BH. After thorough market research, BH decided that a spa would add the most value to the complex and then helped select the right spa management company as well as market the amenity with gift certificates and unique signage.
Proceed With Caution
“If you walk in a [leasing] office, you see a lot of people behind computers, and to me that is really annoying, and it doesn’t serve our customer at all. People know that I threaten to take computers away.” —Laurie Lyons
Lyons can certainly appreciate the evolution of property management technology. After all, when she began her career, she had to collect the rents the old-fashioned way—in a file box with ledger cards. Like many property managers, BH is currently making the time-consuming switch to Web-based management software. But while she’s excited to reap the benefits of a Web-based solution, Lyons also recognizes that technology doesn’t solve all problems.
“It doesn’t really matter what gets put into the computer, because all that is going to come out is junk if we are not removing ourselves from those computers, taking care of the residents that live there, and attracting new, good residents,” she says. So the service-oriented CEO keeps a close eye on the site-level staff to make sure residents always come before computers.
BH has learned that simple technology can work wonders, pointing to its successful 24-hour free hotline and an e-mail address that residents can use for any problems or complaints. All calls and e-mails go directly to BH’s Dallas headquarters, where a team member responds within 12 hours. “We really publicize it,” says Steve Roach, BH Management’s new president. “If I don’t see that little magnet saying ‘BH Hotline’ on the refrigerator in a make-ready, then it’s not ready.”