How to choose a manager who coordinates maintenance well

When you hand your property's maintenance to someone else, you're handing them a phone that will ring at the worst times. A burst pipe at midnight. A tenant complaining the geyser is cold. A roof leak during the rainy season. The question isn't whether emergencies will happen—it's whether your manager can handle them without panic, without delay, and without disappearing into a black hole of poor communication.

You need to separate the managers who treat maintenance as a logistical puzzle they've solved before from those who treat it as chaos they'll manage when it arrives.

Track record with speed and problem-solving

Ask any candidate: when a tenant reports an emergency—a burst pipe, no water, electrical fault—what's your response time, and who decides whether it's truly urgent? Listen for specificity. A good manager has already thought through triage. They know which problems need immediate action and which can wait. They've experienced the cost of getting it wrong: a frozen pipe that bursts, a minor leak that rots the ceiling.

Ask for examples. Not promises, but stories. "Last month a tenant's geyser failed in winter. Here's what happened." You want to hear that they called a plumber within two hours, made a judgment call on cost without waiting three days for your approval, and updated the tenant so they weren't left wondering. You also want to hear what they did differently next time, or what system they put in place to avoid the same problem.

Request references from landlords (not property agents—landlords who've used them)—specifically ask how quickly their manager got back to them during a maintenance crisis. Speed matters less when everything is calm; it reveals character when it's not.

How they organise the day-to-day and the unpredictable

A manager's system tells you whether they'll scale when you add a second property or stay reliable when you do. Ask how they log maintenance requests. Do they use a written system, a spreadsheet, a property management app? Do they photograph damage or just take the tenant's word for it? Can you see a record of what's been done? A manager who works from memory or loose notes will forget something. A manager who logs everything gives you a trail.

Find out who approves costs. The best managers have a threshold—they can approve repairs under a set amount without waiting for your go-ahead, but anything larger gets your sign-off first. That balance is important. If they need your approval for every R500 repair, you'll spend your life in email chains and tenants will wait. If they approve everything without limits, you'll get invoices that sting. Ask what that threshold is and why they chose it.

Ask how they manage tradespeople. Do they have a shortlist they trust, or do they shop around for each job? Both approaches work, but you want to understand their logic. A trusted shortlist speeds up work and often improves quality; a competitive bidding process can drive down costs. What's their reasoning?

Don't ignore communication style. When maintenance is needed, will they send you a photo, a quote, a recommendation, or will they just do the work and invoice you later? Will they WhatsApp you for quick approvals or write emails you can't find? The manager you choose should communicate in a way that keeps you informed without drowning you in noise.

Making the decision

When comparing managers, side-by-side checklists won't help—two people can both have five-year track records and handle emergencies differently. Instead, run a mental stress test. Imagine it's 7 p.m. on a Friday, your tenant's heater has stopped working, and it's June. Play out how each candidate would handle it. Who stays calm? Who has already thought through that scenario? Who would you trust to make the right call without reaching you at dinner?

The manager who coordinates maintenance well isn't the cheapest or the busiest. They're the one with a system, a clear head, and enough experience to treat your property like they own it. Finding someone like that on Strove means you can verify their references, compare their approach, and see whether their experience matches your needs before you sign anything.