THE ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS, MAINTENANCE, AND STEADY REVENUE STREAM

ESV Solomon O. Ehikwe

INTRODUCTION:
It is widely believed that identifying a sphere of human activity that successfully conducts its business without recourse to real estate is a herculean task, if not impossible. There is no doubt that housing is a basic essential of life, and this notion seems endurable. Humans consistently require real estate for numerous reasons which constitute conviction, thereby assuring security of revenue stream.

KEY WORDS:
Role, Stakeholders, Real Estate, Investment, Maintenance, and Steady Revenue Stream.

DEFINITION OF TERMS:
Role: The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (10th Edition) defined role as the function or position that somebody has or is expected to have in an organization, in society or in a relationship.

Stakeholder: The complete Real Estate Encyclopedia by Denise L. Evans, JD and O. Williams Evans, JD defined stakeholder as anyone who might be affected by a decision; anyone who has a “stake” in the outcome of a situation.

Real Estate: Real Estate means land and everything above and below the soil, as enunciated in the Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia.

Investment: The act of investing money in something. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (10th Edition).

Maintenance: Defined as the care and upkeep of a building to keep it in roughly the same condition as when it was first built, except for natural changes in the patina finishes.

Revenue: The total rent, sales, or earnings of a company as expressed in the Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia.

Stakeholders’ role includes but not limited to the following:

1. Property Owners/Landlords: They would usually oversee the maintenance of properties, deciding rents, and compliant with extant laws, regulations, etc. In practice, they outsource the maintenance and management of their properties to Estate Surveyors and Valuers (ESVs) who are proficient in property management.
2. Tenants: They remunerate property owners/landlords, i.e. paying the prescribed rents on occupation of properties, and relay feedback on service provision and maintenance.
3. Estate Surveyors and Valuers (ESVs): Coordinating/supervising day-to-day activity, operations, maintenance, and ensuring communications between property owners and tenants.
4. Investors: Arrangements for funding of property acquisitions, renovations, and other incidental expenditure.
5. Government: Providing policy frameworks/statements, regulations implementation, infrastructure provision, and compliance with zoning laws, building codes, etc.
6. Service Providers: Providing services which include maintenance, repairs, renovations and upgrading of facilities.

Stakeholders play a key role in real estate investments:

1. Risk Management/Identification: identifying and mitigating risks, such as fire incidents by insuring properties, market fluctuations (price crises), volatility, policy/regulatory changes.
2. Financing: Investors source funding for property investments, while property owners oversee budgeting processes and operations.
3. Property Valuation: Stakeholders (Estate Surveyors and Valuers) ascribe values on properties, guiding and influencing investment decisions and processes.

In the maintenance area, the stakeholders’ role includes:

1. Well-being of property: Estate Surveyors and Valuers ensure constant maintenance and repairs are carried out by dint of strategic maintenance plan.
2. Service Satisfaction: Stakeholders accord priority attention to tenant service needs, ensuring properties meet intended expectations.
3. Compliance: Government and property owners collaborating on compliance with safety and building regulations.

Stakeholders’ involvement to ensure Steady Revenue Stream:

1. Consistent Rents Generation: Rent collection otherwise regarded as return on investment (ROI) by Estate Surveyors and Valuers on behalf of property owners, while also maintaining tenant relations and feedback.
2. Market Analysis: Monitoring and evaluating market trends, thereby adjusting rents and investment strategies.
3. Tenant Retention: Estate Surveyors and Valuers and property owners collaborate on tenant retention so as to minimize loss of income occasioned by unoccupied properties/.
4. Security: Government protecting lives and property, minimizing vacancies.

Benefits of Stakeholder Collaboration:

1. Improved Property Integrity and Quality: Consistent and timely maintenance and upgrades enhance property value and culminate in better performance.
2. Improved Tenant Satisfaction: Proactive maintenance and property management result in satisfied tenants, amplifying willingness to renew tenancy.
3. Steady Revenue: Effective and efficient maintenance and management of properties that meet tenant satisfaction generate consistent rents.
4. Service Services:
   Proper and transparent administration of service charge funds would incentivize tenants to meet their rent payment obligations which ensures steady revenue.

CONCLUSION

Cognizant of the roles of each stakeholder in real estate investments, maintenance, and steady revenue stream premised on well-structured, more effective and efficient maintenance approach is a recipe for steady revenue generation stream.

Ehikwe, an Estate Surveyor and Valuer, wrote from Asaba, Delta State