Book features Wachtler's property management advice

REAL ESTATE

Philip Wachtler, principal and founder of Wachtler Knopf Equities in Farmingdale, thinks even idiots can be property managers, as long as they follow a few good rules.

Wachtler's advice is featured in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Success as a Property Manager," by Melissa Prandi and Lisa Iannucci (Alpha Books, $19.95, 2009). Wachtler manages 12 commercial buildings on Long Island totaling 800,000 square feet of space.

His basic advice: Treat all of the space as if it were your home.

"Do you want to be cold?" Wachtler asks. "Would you want your mother to use a filthy bathroom? Do you want to walk through a dirty lobby? Run the buildings as if they were your own house. Listen. Be a sponge and absorb what your tenants want and need . . . and then, do it."

In an interview, Wachtler said his management style has produced results. He said his buildings have a higher occupancy rate than they did when he bought them in 2005. Part of the reason, Wachtler said, is that, "I'm a friend, not just a landlord."

"In this market, you have to give something extra," Wachtler said. "There's a lot of landlords out there. There's a lot of vacancies. It's important to keep people happy."