A Day in the life of Property Management: Senior Property Manager Davina Tresidder

We recently sat down with Davina Tresidder, one of our senior property managers here at Dart, to discuss a day in her life.

“I have been at Dart almost 14 years now, with nearly eight of those in property management,” she said. “My portfolio includes responsibility for commercial properties outside of Camana Bay, including vacant lands between here and the Sister Islands. I also oversee the Camana Bay Visitor Centre and the Camana Bay Harbour. I really love that my role has so much diversity, from retail stores to commercial offices, golf courses to harbours, gorgeous beaches and parks and customer service at the Visitor Centre. My days are exciting and varied. And I really enjoy working at a fast pace, so property management is a great fit for me.

DT: It was an unexpected evolution really. I had been in events production for most of my career and started on the events team when I first came to Dart. When I decided I wanted a change in my career, I thought my transferrable skills worked well with property management. Apparently, Dart did as well because they hired me in my first PM role as the Residence Manager, at The Residences at Seafire.

DT: Working with my team is certainly one of the biggest highlights. I love when we collaborate and motivate and inspire each other. I get a real rush when all our teamwork results in big wins and hitting targets. I genuinely enjoy coming into work because of the team I get to work with.

DT: We have our set tasks and metrics; for example, responding to tenants’ needs, staying on top of accounts, lots of departmental reporting and our preventative maintenance programmes. But then the exciting part of property management is you never know what is going to happen day to day and I think any property manager would tell you, the challenge in our profession is pace. Dealing with the unexpected while also managing the regular work. One of the adages we have in PM is that they don’t call you when everything is going well; you mostly hear from people when there’s a problem. You have to be able to pivot, prioritise and multitask… and smile! 

DT: Tasks can run the full gamut; from building or facilities concerns, like plumbing, electrical and maintenance, to landscaping, inventory, contracts and document control, risk management, leasing, marketing and customer satisfaction surveys. Additionally, in my role as senior manager I work with my direct reports on their own goals and objectives, whether that’s personally or professionally. I want to ensure I’m there for them as a leader, and help them develop their PDPs and write a plan to achieve that.

DT: Marvin Cox, our vice president of property management, inspires me with the amount of insight he gives me from his extensive experience, and then the autonomy that he gives me to run with it. I feel empowered by Marvin and that he allows me to challenge myself. I have to say my husband also really inspires me. He is my champion in my corner and keeps me going when things get tough and supports me in all I do.

Property management is really 24/7, so from the moment I wake up I am checking my phone to catch up on what happened overnight.

• 8:30 a.m. - I will arrive at one of the properties and do an overall body check to make sure everything is running smoothly. Most of our emergencies and priorities come in through team chats, texts and emails, so the morning is spent checking all of these avenues.

• 9:30 a.m. to noon - I spend this time in response mode, managing any of the unplanned actions items that have cropped up.

• Lunch: This is a moveable target!

• 1 to 5 p.m. - Once emergencies or tenant requests have been handled, this time is spent going back through the standard departmental administrative work. Reports are very important to us, so a lot of my tasks are report-based. Although my day generally ends around this time, as I said before, property management is 24/7, and I am always “on the other end of my phone,” as Marvin would say.