At GA Services, Thomas, a property assets manager, has two main responsibilities: lease and technical management of buildings under full ownership and the co-ownership association.
Consulted when setting up the project in the pre-contractual phase, he is involved until the end of the building management agreement.
He is responsible for maintenance contract set-up and follow-up. He identifies the right service partners likely to quickly deliver the right solutions.
He draws up an annual budget and a multi-year work plan. He ensures the tenant honours the terms of the lease and submits reports to the landlord, making him the single point of contact between these two parties.
He issues receipts for rents paid, reviews rents annually, and draws up and sends out advance charges.
Lastly, in his role as property assets manager within the corporate property management division, Thomas performs an important advisory role for the principal pertaining both to legal and technical matters.
What Skills Are Required From Thomas, Property Assets Manager?
A methodical and meticulous approach! As a tertiary property manager, Thomas is under pressure from both parties: on the one hand, the landlord and their concerns about being cost-effective, and on the other, the tenant expecting a certain level of services. He has to ensure that the relationship between landlord and tenant is as smooth as possible. He also has to demonstrate good interpersonal skills and be able to withstand pressure.
Over a single period, Thomas can sometimes manage up to 25 buildings. This requires an ability to see the bigger picture and good organisational skills!
A Day in the Life of Thomas, Property Assets Manager
Having obtained a university technical diploma in Business and Administration Management and then a professional bachelor’s degree in Management and Property Law, I continued my studies at the ‘Institut de la Construction et de l’Habitat’. I was recruited by Foncia as co-ownership manager. After one year with a landlord, I was lucky enough to join the GA Group in 2018 as a Property Assets Manager. By incorporating the entire value chain for a building into its business, GA Smart Building offers a very broad range of expertise and fosters a real team spirit at all levels.
Start of the Day
Site visit. Identifying any potential needs and improvements to be made to the site. Monitoring ongoing work. Once approved, incorporating improvements into a multi-year work plan. Statement of energy consumption. Monitoring consumption helps to recommend work that will bring down the energy bill.
9:30 a.m.
Dealing with tenant requests, or site appointments and meetings at the various sites where we are responsible for managing property assets. Following up directly on work resulting from discussions with clients.
10:30 a.m.
At the start of the month, drawing up a schedule for all site visits. These are carried out a minimum of once a month to maintain a good relationship with the tenant and follow up on ongoing work. Objective: improving the user experience for the tenant and improving the property asset to make it more commercially appealing.
1:30 p.m.
Reporting and follow-up on actions taken in the morning at the various sites. Passing on comments and requests to the different stakeholders, landlords, tenants and service providers.
2:30 p.m.
Meeting with a service provider to draw up a quote. Verification and approval of quotes further to my requests for assistance.
4:30 p.m.
Validating current invoices from service providers working on site.
5:30 p.m.
Updating activity monitoring reports that are sent to landlords every quarter.
End of the day
Preparing paperwork for upcoming meetings.