4 Things to Consider When You’re Hiring Residential Property Management in NYC

A good residential property manager can handle it all, from home maintenance and organization to interior design and decor, house sitting, coordinating repairs and renovations and, even, simple day-to-day tasks like mail sorting and errand-running. But that’s the key—finding a good, experienced and client-first residential property manager to meet your unique household needs. So what to do if and when it’s time to hire? Start with these simple steps to finding, engaging and activating the best possible residential property management in NYC to ensure your success.

STEP 1: Understand what you’re looking for

No two households, no two families and, as a result, no two clients are the same. To that end, quality residential property management in NYC is far from one-size-fits-all—instead, it’s fully customized to each client’s specific wants, needs and household makeup.

To help steer your vetting, selection and onboarding process, be sure you’re very clear on exactly what you want to achieve with a residential property manager. Do you need basic household tasks performed—sorting mail, making household purchases, organizing closets, house sitting—or do you need more specialized work like interior design, household staff management or, even, relocation assistance? It’s all possible with the right support, but it’s important to hammer out these needs in advance so you can ensure you’re engaging the right people. (Check out our list of sample services here.)

STEP 2: Determine your schedule

Once you understand what, specifically, you need, you can start hammering out a daily, weekly or even occasional schedule for your residential property manager. There’s a big difference in tapping full-time or part-time residential property management in NYC that opting for one-off services and support. Understanding the commitment will help you better identify and vet candidates, while managing expectations on both sides.

STEP 3: Decide where to search

Where you start your search will dictate the type of candidates who turn up. Some clients opt to post on job boards like Care.com or Indeed, while others leverage services like Elite Custom Concierge to connect them with highly trained, highly experienced residential property managers. The benefit to the latter? Cutting through the clutter and getting a strong manager right away—someone who can, hands down, handle your schedule, your household and your ongoing needs efficiently, effectively and with you in mind.

STEP 4: Interview candidates

During the interview process, focus on their personality—remember, you’ll be working closely with this person—as well as their experiences and skills. You’ll want to see a good mix of relevant hard and soft skills. For example, if you need someone to manager your household staff, you’ll likely want someone with managerial experience or experience handling a household’s day-to-day needs. Same with tasks like interior design—this isn’t something anyone can do successfully, so you’ll want to vet candidates for these specific hard skills.

Beyond that, though, it’s important to also consider soft skills—skills like a strong work ethic, good attitude, solid communication skills and problem-solving are just as important if not more important than a specific background in household management. In that vein, you’ll also want to give thought to what skills can be taught versus need to be honed on day one—this could sway your decision in a big way.

STEP 5: Ask the right questions

As you’re assessing candidates, be sure to ask the right questions. This will help you compare apples to apples and, from there, identify the ideal residential property manager for your home. Some good jumping-off questions?

●      Why did you choose this line of work? What motivates you everyday?

●      What is the greatest strength you bring to a position like this? Your greatest weakness? How are you taking steps to address the latter? 

●      How would your last boss describe you?

●      Why are you leaving your current job/Why did you leave your most recent job?

●      What is/was the biggest challenge or frustration in your job? How do you deal with it?

●      What your long-term career goals?

During these questions, look for someone who engages and responds easily—if this is a true passion, they’ll have no problem navigating this Q&A. Feel free to push on anything interesting or if you feel the question wasn’t answered.

STEP 6: Hire and onboard

With needs determined and candidates assessed, it’s time to choose and onboard the right residential property manager for your home. Elite Custom Concierge can help handle much of the heavy lifting, and connect you with quality household managers who check every box—and who can hit the ground running from go. To learn more, click here or get in touch.