About

Here are just a few success stories to illustrate the importance of choosing the right property management resources, and why we’re confident that The Fitzgerald Group is the best in the business.

“MAJOR SAVINGS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT”

An office park had asked for years for a way to reduce their trash cost. Their manager had told them that they had no options. “The property was within a city that had a fixed contract for trash removal”. Within 60 days after hiring Fitzgerald Property Management the park would see a 44% reduction to their trash removal services.

We were able to assess the current property’s trash removal needs and quickly determined that there were options. Because of our continuous education of the real estate management industry, we know how to arrange far more cost effective trash removal service. We sought out proposals and soon brought in a contract that would work for the property. They realized a $17,000 per year savings.

“BUILDING SHUT DOWN… NOT ON OUR WATCH”

Disasters happen, and when they do they can affect a property in disastrous ways. Imagine a fire sprinkler head discharging on the 6th floor of a 10 story building. The floor floods quickly and begins to drain down to the lower floors. The fire department was on property within minutes and closed the valve to the floor’s sprinklers. However, even with a fast response, the entire 6th floor now had 3 inches of water. All of this water began to find openings and within 30 to 45 minutes would be found exiting the 1st floor lobby. The tenants would be affected throughout the entire building. Where do you start? The building’s main electrical buss bar was wet and the local fire department would be just in shutting down the building with safety concerns. The building was red tagged and was not permitted to reopen until the fire department believed that the building was a safe to occupy structure. “See ya in a few days,” they say…… No, see you tomorrow morning.. 7 AM work, I ask?”

When a building has been dealt with an issue like this, you need to know who to call and how to react. The property manager knew that closing the building for any amount of time would impact the tenants and their businesses. Statistically, 50% of all businesses affected by a disaster fail within a year. The longer they were out of business, the more likely of failure. The job at hand was assessed. The moisture would need to be removed quickly; insurance adjustor would need to be called; many items were damaged beyond repair and would have to be removed; an electrician would be required to inspect and sign off on each floor as well as the main lines to be certain they were dry; special equipment could be utilized to accomplish the task at hand. With years of experience and training we knew just were to go to obtain the people and tools needed for the job. We had just less than 8 hours before the fire department would return to confirm their approval. When they left they said it would take days to dry out the building.

When the fire department arrived they were surprised at the progress and gladly issued their approval for all but 1 floor to open and that floor received their approval just a few hours later. All but 2 tenants were open for business the next day and those 2 tenants were operational just 1 day later.

“BLOWN AWAY”

One of the most difficult disasters in South Florida can be after a hurricane. The damage typically is wide spread and everyone needs the same supplies, services and adjustors. All of the preparation in the world sometimes has little effect on keeping damage at bay. The property was inspected prior to the storm. Secure all loose items, remove any debris, review the roof and confirm its mechanical equipment has secured panels; confirm tenant contact information is current and that they are clear on preparation. But when the property was hit by a small tornado, the roof system was pealed back removing the thin layer of water tight protection that kept the occupied spaces dry. The rains began to leak through the roof downing ceiling tiles and soaking the furnishings and flooring of many tenants spaces. Fortunately, most of the tenants had covered their essential equipment and files as we had recommended.

We needed to stop any additional damage. The roof required tarps and emergency repairs. Since we had a supply of tarps and had pre-arranged with our service providers to respond after the storm, the building was on its way to being repaired within 8 hours after the storm passed. Tenant’s spaces were cleaned up and equipment was in place to help dry out premises within hours. The majority of the tenants were back up and running within the week, some at 100%.

The insurance carrier was notified and adjustors were on-site within a few days. To help obtain fast approvals and photos, incident reports and proposals were given to the adjustor at his first visit. Within the week we had approvals to proceed with repairs. The property was back to business as usual in 20 days.