The real estate industry has recorded a giant stride in recent times, the development of this industry has led to massive urban development and provided jobs for technicians, engineers, interior decorators, gardeners, and private security guarding service providers among other professions. In Lagos state, there are more than 10,000 private residential estates and many more are under construction!

The beauty of property ownership is the revenue it could generate through rentals and leasing, however owning property can be a nightmare in terms of losses if the property is not properly managed.

Here are 5 Major reasons why security guards are critical in property management

In this article we are going to share with you, 5 major reasons why security guards are critical to effective property management.

1. Prompt repairs and maintenance

During routine patrols on the properties, security guards have access to checking for areas that need maintenance and repairs, because they are always around, they can easily tell when something is faulty. When there is a fault with facilities like street lights, water, and sewage pipe, they can promptly inform the estate management about the faults. Yes, security guards might not have to access the houses but can see from the outside and make recommendations to Estate’s management.

   2.   Accountability

It is impossible to separate accountability from effective management, facility managers are accountable to their tenants, tenants, or occupants of estates who love to see that they are getting value for the monthly, bi-annual, or annual fee paid as development fee.

For this to be done, the security guarding service of a top company like Sheriff Deputies would go a long way in achieving accountability. For example, security guards are to ensure that houses within the estate are not burgled, their jobs are not limited to staying at the estate gate, and they also patrol the estate to prevent unauthorized entry to apartments. In some cases, security guards are liable, while others are at the risk of the owners.

     3.    Enforcement of property rental conditions

Enforcement of some property rental conditions has been delegated to some trained security guards, they vet the list of dues defaulters and share information with a residence when there is a need.

However, residents of these estates are always informed beforehand of new changes in the activities of the security guards to avoid confrontations and misunderstandings.

As a property manager coordination of dues collection become easier, as you won’t need to spend hours trying to convince residents to pay the amount due. Though there are other ways to go about this, especially with technologies, research of shown that having a person request payment tends to create more urgency. Even if they will handle cash, they will not abscond because they have been contracted to a security company that bears the loss if such happen. Since our 25+ years of existence, none of these have been an issue, our guards are properly vetted with no criminal record and a low tendency of committing such crimes.

N:B avoid handing over a lump sum of money to security guards, take them to the bank!

        4.      Access control and management

The entrance of the residential estate is most likely the first place you will see a property guarded by security guards. Just a 5-minute observation of the security gate, you can tell what their duties are there. They make sure your gates are not open to criminals, and they conduct routine checks just so they prevent a breakdown of law and order.

         5.       Emergency responders

The security guards can serve as the first responders to emergencies, they assist with the use of fire extinguishers when there is a fire emergency and can aid in the arrest of fleeing thieves. Though not armed with guns, Sheriff Deputies guards are trained to use equipment like stun guns and batons to arrest; these pieces of equipment might look ordinary to the eyes of a novice, but criminals, they would rather wish it was never used on them!

In other to aid this, highbrow residential estates have intercoms for each apartment where they can reach the guards at the entrance to report an emergency.

Action Points

As a property manager, you need to help your management make a profit on their investment, so factoring in the aforementioned reasons should help you achieve your objectives – profitability and peace of mind of residence.

Sheriff Deputies ticks all the boxes when it comes to home security, our officers are trained by the best combat and security personnel. Trust by 20+ tertiary institutions and hundreds of companies all over Nigeria.