Maisons Tournesol - property management in Pezenas

As often happens, you don't choose what you become, it just happens.

I realise that the title is "the day in the life of a Property Manager" but as a start I have to give you the background of this story. I am a Property Manager based in Pezenas (often wondered if this is a correct title, it never really sums up all the activities that are involved - cleaning supervisor, project manager, translator, mediator, peacekeeper, internal designer, purchasing manager, HR Manager, legal advisor, priest - well maybe not a priest but you get the picture!  Pezenas is a beautiful town, and I have always liked houses. I sincerely believe that houses have a soul.  Well, you enter a house, and it feels comfy, and yet, other homes, you just itch to change things around, and some houses change owners every 3 years or so.  But I like them all. I became a Property Manager in Pezenas just by accident. I started looking after one house, then another, then I realised that I was good at this and then more and more came my way just through word of mouth. Now I have 40 houses and a team of people working with me to keep them all in tip top shape.

Pezenas and the area has its share of lovely houses.  They are all happy houses.  In fact I could say that the old houses in Pezenas are a treasure.  You look at a place from the outside and then you walk in and it hits full in the face, and you think:  This is character; this is your dream come true.

Pezenas has a population of 8000, but it is still a small village to me. It is a good place for living. I go to a different butcher every other day, to the baker, I meet the plumber, and I meet the locals around court Jean Jures, on market day.  I deal with people and houses.  I am better with the houses, I have to admit. So my days are full of surprises, and hard work.

Take the other day. 



6.00am It started with a fax. And a phone ringing. Both at the same time. The fax from plumber sending a quote - and phone call from a tenant on vacation calling to say that the house is on fire.  This is south of France, and this is Pezenas area and some of the electric wiring is 50 years old.  I picked up the fax and realised that the quote is too high for the work involved, and the work has to get done, well, for yesterday.  On the other hand, I have a scared vacationer with a house that is on fire.  I have to choose from 3 options:  take a shower, call the plumber to ask him to revise the quote or drive as I am to see the house on fire.  I am not sure what I did, but I think that I had to do all 3 things at the same time. I dressed and spoke to the plumber, and than drove like mad to see the house.  Before, I got there, I spoke, while driving - a no no- to an electrician and got him out of bed.  Both the electrician and I stopped in front of the house at the same time.  You still remember that this is Pezenas where streets are narrow and winding and parking at a premium.  The fire was caused by burning wires, which we corrected.  It is 6am, and next task is calling the owner to say that we had an electric problem.  He is 80 years old and he will never believe me.

8.00am The vacationer doesn't want to stay at the house, she wants out of it, and she wants out NOW!!!  Problem is who pays for it, and how do I find another house that is both empty, and in the same budget range?  Back to the phone to solve a problem, called 5 owners and lucky for all I found a home owner willing to lower his rent and accept to accommodate the surprise tenants at a low cost.  It was another matter convincing the owner of this beautiful house in the centre of Pezenas to agree to refund the fees.  After all, his contract said "not responsible in case of malfunction".  It is now 8am.  I need my first cup of coffee or I am ready to kill someone.  But I am smiling. We always say that we work with a smile so I have to keep smiling!. I walk to the nearest café and in Pezenas there are several with a terrace, and before I have the time to sit down an estate agent sees me and asks if I could, please, come with him to see a house they just sold to a Scandinavian family.  It isn't in Pezenas but 20 kms away, in Canet.  I can't have my cup of coffee; it is now or never, because the owners are due to leave for home in the afternoon.  So we drive to see the house. 

12.00 noon It is now mid day and I have my first cup of coffee in Canet.  The owners sign a contract; they give me the keys to the house and a set of instructions, petty cash, and dash off with a promise to write with more instructions.

14.00 I drive home, inhale my hefty lunch, answer all my e-mails, note on the to-do lists, and drive back to a house where there is building work in progress.  I have renovated 9 houses, and have moved 28 times in my life, so I know a bit about building sites.  I like working with builders, painters, etc., and they reciprocate, and harmony rains….  But this time there is no harmony, there are no workers at the site, and Saturday guests are due to arrive. The house needs a total clean-out, and the work MUST be done.  So back to the phone again, get the workers to come over.  They have to work till mid-night if need be, I am a bundle of nerves and I tell the workers off.  Now they feel stupid, a woman 4,11ft tells them off, but they are used to me and they will finish the work - promise (and I hope that they keep the promise).  But this is the south of France, and this is Pezenas area.   It is 5pm.

17.00 Back to the office, answer phone calls, write e-mails, and get ready for the next day.  I also have a 5 booking enquiries through our holiday rentals site (www.golanguedoc.com) to deal with. I still get a buzz when we get new people coming to stay in the Pezenas area and they discover how beautiful it is. We also get a regular stream of repeat visitors who come back year after year and it is good to catch up on what has happened in their lives. This is the fun side of the job I suppose, but work today, will still not finish until 9pm.

Esther Rouff is the Managing Partner of Maisons Tournesol. Maisons Tournesol provides a full range of property management services in and around the Pezenas area of Herault, covering everything from pool maintenance, gite cleans, building project coordination, website marketing of holiday rentals, property repairs and assistance with French paperwork and bureaucracy.