Always a bit caught between two stools as an administrator

A skilful balancing act between owners and tenants

When the Black Label Property Management crew moved into the office space in Charlottenburg in spring 2017, there was initially still plenty of room in the shared office. Now, the office of Black Label Properties' independent management and letting service is bursting at the seams. Seven employees, five full-time and two dual IUBH students specialising in business administration and real estate, deal with the needs of owners and their tenants on a daily basis and are always a bit caught between two stools, says Heike Hentschel, CEO of Black Label Property Management, with a smile.

"In this sense, we are not just a traditional property management company, we do much more," continues the managing director. In addition to the basic package, the independent BLP property management company's portfolio also includes services such as flat handovers, new lettings of flats, letting of furnished flats on a temporary basis and the inspection and handling of construction projects. These additional services are particularly interesting for owners who cannot be on site all the time or do not have the time to take care of them.

Looking after what are now 450 units, as the jargon goes, always involves a lot of administrative work, which can sometimes be very complicated. Units always refer to individual flats, either the residential units of an apartment block, individual flats or even just furnished rooms in shared flats, depending on what Heike Hentschel's management team is commissioned to do. A distinction is made between property management, which is responsible for the complete management of an entire apartment block, and separate property management, which only looks after the separate condominiums.

Always up to date on legal issues

And that's where things start to get tricky. Bogumila Wodzynska, a quadrilingual lawyer, keeps track of all legal issues relating to tenancy, condominium and special property law. As there are also many international customer enquiries, she is also the ideal contact for foreign owners, mediates between authorities and lawyers, but is also happy to provide information to prospective tenants and existing tenants. Since October, property owners have also been able to call on an external Berlin legal department for tenancy law issues. "We always find a solution for our clients and tenants," says the likeable property management expert.

We are experts and at the same time "girls" for everything

As a property manager, you are always close to the tenants and gain a lot of insight into people's lifestyles. Greek-born Yiannis Tzakris manages the property with Heike Hentschel and, together with Lukas Ratuschny, takes care of the many external appointments. As there are also an increasing number of international landlords and tenants, the two are able to use their perfect English to deal with their customers on site. This involves water damage or other defects that need to be inspected, or there are also occasional cases where a guardianship right is exercised for a messiah in one of the managed flats.

"We do practically everything, we liaise with insurance companies in the event of water damage, we mediate between lawyers, surveyors, tax advisors, tradesmen and architects on behalf of the owners when it comes to renovations or repairs. We are now experts in everything - for example, we inspect flats when tenants change or supervise progress on building sites and talk to the tradesmen," says all-rounder Yiannis Tzakris.

Patient and competent mediators between many different parties

As a property manager, you need a lot of patience and negotiating skills. There are tenants who sometimes have to be put in their place. "But we are relatively patient and always try to find a satisfactory solution for tenants and landlords, whether it's about reminders, instalment payment agreements or rent reductions. But of course there are also cases of evictions where we have to be present as the administrator, and unfortunately everything has failed in advance. That's very sad to see," says Heike Hentschel, describing an extreme situation from her everyday life, which fortunately can usually be averted.