Asset Manager's Toolbox: The Site Visit Plan

摘要

Although individual asset managers often form the bulwark of protection for portfolios of apartment properties, these professionals are often trained as they go, overworked and underpaid. More often than not, asset site visits are scheduled in batches based upon geography and airline schedules to obtain budgetary economies of scale, rather than allowing sufficient time to properly inspect and evaluate each asset. It is therefore incumbent upon each asset manager to have a comprehensive site visit plan to efficiently gather as much critical information as possible in the time allotted. This article provides both a checklist-driven plan for the newly anointed asset manager and a look beneath the surface of effective multifamily site visits. It is not intended to be an exhaustive examination of all site visit considerations, but merely a jump-start. Much of the discussion here is adaptable, with a little tweaking, for other commercial real property assets such as office buildings, shopping centers and storage facilities.