PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to uncover the extent to which firms in the apartment property management industry in the USA are promoting green property management services via communication on their websites.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis is the main research method for this study. Once all qualifying terms listed on the company website were recorded based on LEED credit and category, the data were synthesized to create a sustainability continuum organizing the firms based on the extent to which they communicate sustainability initiatives on their respective websites.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the majority of the largest 50 apartment management firms in the USA are not communicating any sustainability initiatives on their website. In all, 52 percent of companies have no acknowledgment of sustainability initiatives on their website; 16 percent of companies provide some cursory reference to sustainability initiatives; 16 percent offer some detail on their website; 6 percent contain in-depth detail plus metrics. The remaining 10 percent of firms are providing comprehensive sustainability reporting on their websites.Practical implicationsProperty management companies have an immense opportunity to capitalize on showcasing their green building features via company websites. Not only does incorporating environmental sustainability practices support a climate mitigation strategy, marketing these practices can foster consumer satisfaction and a willingness to pay more. With the awareness that opportunity abounds both to mitigate negative environmental externalities and complement financial goals of apartment property management companies, this research sheds light for property management companies and related parties of missed opportunities in the environmental sustainability space.Originality/valueThe analysis presented in this paper is one of the first to the author’s knowledge to explore the degree which property management companies are promoting green real estate management services through website communication.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a nuanced understanding of the complex factors driving the decision of commercial property owners (investors and developers) to stay and rebuild after a major disaster. The study examines what happens in the post-disaster rebuild of a central business district (CBD) from the perspective of commercial property owners in Christchurch, New Zealand.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretive approach is adopted to understand what it takes to rebuild in a post-disaster environment through the lens and experiences of property owners. The study has observed the significant physical changes that have occurred in the Christchurch CBD as a result of the earthquakes. For this study, qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews from 20 purposively identified property owners rebuilding the Christchurch CBD. The interview findings were subjected to a thematic analysis used to provide a factual way of characterising the viewpoints of those interviewed.FindingsThe findings have highlighted that the decision-making behaviour of property owners in Christchurch’s CBD post-disaster rebuild has been driven significantly by an emotional attachments to people and place.Practical implicationsThe global trend in increasing destruction from natural disasters has raised the need for more efficient and effective post-disaster responses and activities. The paper has developed a knowledge base required to inform public policy and advice all those involved in the rebuilding of cities after a major disaster.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the property literature and debates about the decision-making behaviour of commercial property owners who are engaged in rebuilding after a major natural disaster. The qualitative methodology used presents a novel approach to property research. The findings challenge the underlying premises of much of the mainstream property literature on normative investment behaviour and decision making.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify factors on property management level for analysing incentives for an effective property management in an outsourced setting.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on an interview study of a set of three real estate-owning companies and their contracted facility management companies’ property management teams.FindingsThe study concludes that the property manager within the facility management company is highly controlled by the contract between the real estate owner and the facility management company. However, this contract does risk the individual property manager to prioritise the wrong work tasks as she/he has to know exactly what to prioritise in each contract and consider in whose interest she/he performs each task, the real estate owner, her/him employer or the tenants.Research limitations/implicationsThe research in this paper is limited to Swedish commercial real estate sector.Practical implicationsThe insight in the paper is regarding how real estate owners create incentives for the facility management companies’ property management organisation and how that are perceived by the individual property manager.Originality/valueIt provides an insight regarding how the commercial real estate industry prioritises different work tasks and how incentives are created to enable effort.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which gatekeepers of information stymie due diligence investigations in the multi-owned property environment.Design/methodology/approachThe study reviewed and analysed the relevant state legislative provisions providing statutory protections for (pre)purchasers of lots within the multi-owned property context. Further, an exploratory survey questionnaire was distributed to owners corporation (OC) managers in Victoria to gain knowledge and a greater understanding of the extent to which OC managers are gatekeepers of information.FindingsThe study emphasises how relevant state governments, OC managers and sellers of multi-owned properties (MOPs) are involved in gatekeeping activities. The governments have created a legislative framework that appears to offer “protections” to pre(purchasers), however, discretion and exemptions within the legislation can hinder the undertaking of due diligence investigations. OC managers are, generally, protective about the information in their custody and contribute to the gatekeeping environment by stymieing the dissemination of information.Originality/valueTo date, there has been a paucity of scholarly attention directed to understanding the barriers faced by purchasers when buying into the MOP environment. This paper contributes to the wider body of knowledge relating to purchasing decisions within the multi-owned property context. More specifically, gatekeeping theory is used in this context to highlight the barriers that stymie a buyer’s right to discover information and decide on their purchase. The findings of this study are relatable to other countries using a similar MOP structure as Australia.

PurposeEnvironmental rating systems typically focus on building characteristics at a specific point in time; but from investment and valuation perspectives, actual performance over time should be the most important thing. Newly constructed commercial buildings today usually come with a high degree of technically advanced installations and a wide range of monitoring possibilities. This provides us with the possibility of monitoring a building’s in-use performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how frontrunners in the Swedish green building market actually monitor their new buildings, and look for similarities in that area.Design/methodology/approachBy investigating a selected case study, conducting a survey and follow-up interviews among Swedish real estate companies and finally studying the available industry information, this paper considers what key performance indicators real estate developers choose to monitor as well as how they go about collecting and using the data. By doing this, we can get an idea of what is already monitored and to what extent. The case study also provides an insight into what is technologically possible.FindingsA comparison of the gathered data from this study is then made with information that investors and property valuers would be expected to be interested in. The results show that these data are, to a large extent, information that the frontrunners already gather, but it is not made publicly available. One area where important information is lacking, however, is data about indoor climate.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is solely focussed on commercial buildings in Sweden and also on real estate owners with a high sustainability profile.Originality/valueThis paper presents a starting point in introducing the research area of the continued sustainability performance of our built environment. In order to understand and improve the environmental performance over time of our buildings and the connection to potential value, it is important to know what we can and should monitor.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the lessee eviction process in Zimbabwe in order to suggest possible ways of improving this process that has become a rutted road characterised by a litany of hiccups.Design/methodology/approachThe study is guided by the qualitative methodology. Data were mainly collected from property managers operating in the real property market in Harare using in-depth interviews. Analysis of data was done through content analysis.FindingsIt emerged from the study that the eviction process in Zimbabwe is fraught with impediments and expenses that are sometimes exasperating to property owners and investors. The current eviction regulations favour the lessees at the expense of lessors thus niggling lessees have aggravated the already protracted process by unnecessary appeals.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper only focuses on residential property management and eviction of legal lessees due to non-payment of rentals.Practical implicationsThe rent regulations should be reviewed in order to create a fair legal system that protects the rights of both the lessors and lessees in Zimbabwe.Originality/valueThe perpetual decline of the economy in Zimbabwe has crippled lessees’ ability to pay rentals. Yet, it has also become intricate to evict defaulting lessees thereby causing loss of income to rental housing investors. Thus, the paper challenges the protracted eviction processes in the real property industry that have prejudiced property owners and scared away potential rental housing investors that are greatly needed to boost the rental market.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) on real estate agency transactions with a view to determine its influence on the performance of estate agents.Design/methodology/approachA research approach in which questionnaire was administered to elicit relevant information from 220 practicing Estate Surveyors and Valuers surveyed in the course of the study. Data collected were analysed using mean ranking, relative influence index and analysis of variance.FindingsThe results showed that the use of ICT impacted positively on real estate agency transactions by promoting company’s brand thereby increasing the level of patronage. Consequently, the increased level of patronage signifies an increase in the level of income of the agents.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to social media applications otherwise referred to as ICT, which are used in real estate agency transactions. Further study on other ICT media and their effects on more areas of real estate practice in the developing economy may be required.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few works on the impact of ICT on real estate agency transactions with particular reference to the social media networking especially in an emerging economy. Most of the previous studies conducted on ICT and real estate focussed only on internet use with respect to real estate agents and practices.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the real estate journal ranking by comparing journal performance statistics to researcher preferences.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a survey of members of the International Real Estate Society and sister societies with comparison to impact statistics for real estate journals which are analysed using data from Google Scholar.FindingsThe findings show a high correlation between researcher preferences and the empirical results, supporting the findings of previous research in this area. However, while most previous studies were conducted on high-impact US journals only, these are still found to be amongst the highest ranked overall even with inclusion of other international journals. There are, however, some differences found, such as the perception of researchers on electronic vs hard copy journals, which were found to be moving more towards the former.Practical implicationsThe results provide a ranking of various real estate journals, especially with regard to other international journals not included in the previous studies that are dominated by high-impact US journals, providing a guideline on where to publish. The paper also shows the methodology used in order to determine how the journals are ranked, which could be applied to other journals not included in this study in order for researchers to make informed decisions concerning publication choices.Originality/valueThis paper extends the research on this topic by analysing the preferences and statistics of a broader international sample of journals and compares researcher preferences to empirical analysis.

In the third issue of Property Management for 2017, we present six more research papers drawn from Asia, Africa and Europe, and include some papers from regions which are not widely represented in the research literature.In particular, we have two papers from Thailand and one from the Czech Republic.As an Editor, I always find it interesting to read papers from the less well-represented countries as these provide us with a good insight into property management practices in those regions.It also serves to encourage the production of more research papers from these regions and opens up opportunities perhaps for collaborative research across world regions.In addition to the regions above, there are also papers from Botswana, Malaysia and Portugal.This issue has a stronger focus on commercial property and sustainable practices with papers looking at sustainable ratings in offices together with papers focussed on facilities and maintenance planning in commercial buildings.The first paper in this issue comes from Sarich Chotipanich and Sittiporn Issarasak from the Department of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.Their paper is entitled: "A study of facility management operation strategy in shopping malls: insights from 4 top-class shopping malls in Bangkok".The paper explores the management of retail malls in Bangkok and identifies the strategic objectives of facilities managers in four large malls.The results provide an interesting perspective on retail management in Thailand.The second paper is written by Kittipong Suweero, Wutthipong Moungnoi and Chotchai Charoenngam from the Department of Civil Engineering, King Mongkuts University of Technology,