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Winnipeg’s Tom Haughton know there’s more to being a leader in the rental marketplace than just finding tenants who can afford the rent.
Thomas Haughton is the vice president of My Place Realty in Winnipeg, which owns and manages approximately 1,400 apartment developments in the city. What landlords want as renters, he says, is people who will treat their apartments like they are owners.
That can be hard to screen for, Haughton admits. “But we’ve found over the years that there’s a lot of truth to the ‘if you build it, they will come’ axiom,” he says. “When you build quality homes, they attract quality renters. And when you provide a high level of personal touch in dealing with people – before they become renters and in servicing their needs after they’ve moved in – you’ve fostered a strong sense of loyalty and community. That’s how you become successful in this business.”
These are among the basic tenets of business that Haughton has learned in the years since he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba. He has held various management positions prior to joining My Place Realty, including serving as chief executive officer of Global Drug Supply, a mid-sized international business corporation based in Barbados.
Thomas Haughton has utilized the management skills he has honed over the years – ranging from customer service and marketing to business development and finance – to help to grow My Place Realty into one of the most highly regarded property management firms in Winnipeg.
He discussed some of the takeaways.
Q: What do you think are some of the most impactful trends shaping the property management business today?
Tom Haughton: You can’t escape the impact of technology in any industry. For owners and property managers alike, the reality is that tech solutions seem to be moving a lot faster than a lot of us can keep up with – from a knowledge and financial perspective. As a society, for example, we are trending toward home automation. It’s important for the industry to find a way to embrace the possibilities. Emerging demographics – millennials, in particular – want to be able to seamlessly control their home environment, whether lights, heating, air conditioning or security, from their smart phones. Speaking generally, I anticipate it ultimately will become standard operating procedure to integrate smart technologies into homes, making for a great marketing tool, among renters.
Q: What do property managers like My Place Realty gain, though?
Tom Haughton: Most of the industry, ourselves included, is still watching the trends develop to identify potential operational benefits. A lot of discussion has focused on the enhanced ability to monitor conditions and detect problems early. When you have multiple units, a leak can easily spread to other units and become costly to fix. It’s even worse if the unit’s unoccupied and the leak goes undetected. Property automation can be a competitive advantage all the way around, and that will help property managers like My Place Realty, in turn, provide higher quality of service to our tenants.
Q: Before you joined My Place Realty, you were working and leading a company that was not part of the real estate industry. Can you describe how you were able to execute a transition like this?
Tom Haughton: You know, it helps to know the ins and outs of different industries. The pricing pressures in pharma are different than those in real estate, for example. And there are different sorts of pain points. But really, the underlying principles of leading and growing a business, and establishing a brand and living up to its representations are really the same. The industry is less important than knowing how to establish and maintain a good relationship with customers. And ensuring that those coming up behind you in the organization are equipped with the training and tools to do it right themselves.
Q: What have you found to be the biggest misconceptions about the rental side of the real estate market?
Tom Haughton: Where do I start? Here’s one that I don’t think all that many people believe any more: “Paying rent is like throwing your money away.” Millennials, for sure, don’t believe that and, really, it’s not true. Renting often makes more sense, especially when you think about your down payment, closing costs, maintenance, opportunity costs, immobility, and all that. For a lot of people, it just makes more sense to rent.
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