Cutting Expenses Case Study – The Power of In-House Property Management
Did you know our water consumption has tripled in the last 50 years in the United States?
This staggering statistic is motivation enough to protect our limited resources. In our homes, there are water-saving actions you can take, like fixing leaky faucets and using your dishwasher-you read that correctly, hand washing dishes is more wasteful.
In the Water Use of Texas Water Utilities 2020 Biennial Report, it’s reported in 2019 over half of the reported water use was delivered to residential customers. Single-family homes made up 48%, while 10% of the Texas water users were in multifamily homes. It’s important for us to be water conscious at our properties to help ensure water availability for generations to come. We also recognize the financial impact that poor water management can have. At REEP, we benefit from having an in-house management team, REEP Residential. Our team members are empowered to monitor utility usage firsthand and uphold what is important to us as a company.
Case Study – Something Doesn’t Seem Right….
The team at Archer at Willowbrook, a REEP Residential property, saw an unusual increase in the community’s water bill and knew something had to be causing this uncommon spike. They acted quickly and hired a water leak detection company to identify the possibility of a leak.
Each unit and the entire property were inspected to properly identify any water issues. Once all the residents were informed of a unit-by-unit inspection, the leak detection company got to work.
The inspection report came back with numerous water-wasting issues, providing our team with the information they needed to address the source of the high-water bill. The report showed that running toilets, faulty shower handles, and issues with faucet cartridges and handles contributed to the property’s water waste. It also identified opportunities to improve the sprinkler systems’ efficiency. A plan was created to address these issues to improve water-saving tactics and reduce the cost of the utility bill.
By having all the REEP portfolio managed in-house by REEP Residential, our properties have the additional benefit of having access to help from neighboring sister properties. In this instance, maintenance technicians from neighboring REEP Residential communities were able to go over to the Archer at Willowbrook the same day to help rapidly complete work orders. This economy of scale eliminates the need to hire outside maintenance contractors or delay the work for days due to technicians’ work schedules.
Acting Quickly Helped Save Water and Money
Since the team monitors utilities closely, they were able to react swiftly to resolve the problem. After the maintenance technicians fixed the water-wasting issues in the units, the property saw the benefits on their next bill. There was an average savings of $5,046 per month since the inspection was completed and issues were fixed.
The event at Archer at Willowbrook is an excellent example of the benefits of having our in-house management team to keep a watchful eye on our portfolio. Our talented management team has trained each property team member to monitor bills and question when things seem out of the ordinary. Additionally, within REEP Residential, each community can rely on each other when they need to. Not only did addressing the issue help the property with cost savings but fixing the water-wasting issues contributed to the overall fight to protect water usage.
At REEP, we firmly strive to be a partner with each other, our tenants, our investors, and our communities. By safeguarding our water supply, we improved our tenants’ homes, cut our investors’ expenses, and protected our extended community’s water supply. We like to call this the power of TeamREEP!
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