Property Management Built From the Experience of an Owner and of a Philosophy That Says "Manage Others Properties as if They Were Our Own"

For over 12 years, David Leiter has been investing in real estate. He has owned many residential and mixed-use properties, as well as some condos and coops. He was on the Board of Directors of 2 Coop buildings for over 10 years. He has done everything from taking out the garbage in the early days to writing budgets, overseeing construction, to dealing with buildings with 100+ units.

In the beginning of his investment career, he was already working at Credit Suisse, the investment bank, where he was credit trained in the Syndicated Finance apartment. This gave him a solid financial background not found often in the property management business.

In addition, through the dozens of real estate transactions that he was involved in personally over his career and dozens more through the real estate brokerage where he is the founding member, he dealt with many, many other property management companies. In many cases, there was much left to be desired in these interactions.

David says, "Over the years, I've had to deal with many management companies and owners in buildings that I've managed. The biggest complaint that I've heard and experienced first-hand, is the unresponsiveness of the Management Company to issues. We have solved these problems through using more efficient communication techniques and leveraging technology to get things done effectively."

David continues, "The other things I've noticed is that Management Companies usually don't do much planning ahead on what is best for the building in the long run and they nickel and dime sometimes 20-30% of the monthly management fee in "additional fees". As an Owner, I have a different way of thinking. I'm always looking to cut expenses and figure out ways to improve the building in a cost-effective way. I carefully weigh investment to return that I would receive, whether that be a financial return or a return on quality of life for the Owners. I have naturally brought this attitude and philosophy into the management of properties for others. Really, there is no other way to do it for me. I'm just not wired to do just enough to get by. I'm a person who seeks improvement constantly from myself and for my clients."

David realized a couple of years ago that there was a big opportunity in the Property Management field for new ideas and specialized knowledge, especially in areas like Williamsburg, where there are many new condo buildings that are experiencing construction problems.

"My experience dealing with contractors over the years and being involved in building myself, has taught me a lot about construction issues and effective ways to get things done. Contractors can be difficult to deal with and I've figured out how to do it over the years", David says.

David has come up with 2 new innovations in Property Management, which seems to be a rarity in the property management field. One is the use of a dedicated website for the Board of Directors and another website for the Owners of a condo/coop building.

"This system allows us to post all notices to the building in a central location. Additionally, all documents related to the building including the Offering Plan, Financials, Minutes of the meetings, House Rules, and anything else can be posted in a central location where any owner can download it without having to wait for the Board or Management to get back them. This makes life easier for the Board, who are volunteers, for the Owners, and for the Managing Agent."

The system also allows the Board to correspond with the Managing Agent, and anyone else who you want to give access to (Attorney, Accountant, etc), so that a "To-Do" list, separated by items, can be worked on, comments left, and files uploaded, all in one central location.

David continues, "The online system allows us to communicate in a central location on what is going on in real time. Every time we have a conversation or have news, on a particular "to-do" item, we can post a comment for the Board to see, and the Board is emailed that a comment has been posted. They can read the comment from their email. Additionally, this is great for going back to see what has happened on a particular "to-do" item in one location, rather than fishing through emails to find what has happened in the past. The Board is busy with their own lives and careers, and this system makes communication much more efficient and saves time and money in the long-run"

The second innovation is simple, yet effective. This involves holding a series of meetings when Leiter Realty takes over the building to educate owners on the responsibilities of the Owners, the Board, and the Managing Agent. "I've noticed over the years," David says, "that sometimes we have situations with Owners where they expect things to be fixed as if they were Tenants. The other problem I see is miscommunication between the Owners, the Managing Agent, and the Board sometimes as to who is doing what and who is responsible for what. A simple meeting or two to educate Owners on that the various people's roles and responsibilities are and how a Condo/Coop operates, goes a long way to keeping smooth relationships between everyone involved. Understanding and education is key."

"Property Management something that I enjoy very much. I like implementing systems, improving processes and getting things done so they run smoothly", says David.

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Phone: 718-387-3700
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