The Christmas season can be hectic for condo managers. But with the right preparations, you can get through it smoothly, right into the new year. We take a look at some preparation tips and tools that will help improve your holiday cheer and decrease backlog.

5 Winter Holiday Condo Manager Tools & Tips

1. Package Tracking

These days, Santa is coming from Amazon, not the North Pole. Deloitte estimates that 60% of holiday shoppers will be buying gifts from online retailers. While that’s easy and convenient for gift givers, the mass influx of packages can create challenges for condo managers.

With non-stop deliveries, storage space fills up quickly and it’s easy to lose track of packages. Condos need to take advantage of package tracking software. This makes sure that nothing slips through the cracks, so all the good boys and girls get their presents on Christmas morning.

Condo package tracking tools log the packages into the system, along with signatures of who accepted the package. The system notifies the tenant via email that their package has arrived. When they pick it up, they sign the digital signature pad which saves it into the system.

If the tenant takes too long to pick up a package, the system automatically sends out reminders. Package tracking is the most effective way to make sure Santa comes for everyone in your condo.

2. Increased Visitor Traffic

Look out for carolers! During the holiday season, condo visitors come in droves. Family, friends, and guests from out-of-town are coming in to join the festivities.

While this boisterous atmosphere is welcome to most residents, all this visitor traffic presents a challenge for managers.

In the best of times, managing condo visitors comes down to striking a balance between convenience and security. The extra visitor traffic only adds to the challenge. To keep organized in busy times, cloud-based condo management tools are ideal.

Visitor tools make it easy to sign guests in and out, recording their information, and when they arrive and depart. They can also help to ease condo visitor parking, making sure the spaces are fairly used and available

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3. Parties & Amenities

Parties are a staple of the holiday season. Office parties, ugly sweater parties, carolling parties, and family gatherings. Any or all of these are likely to occur in your condo building. You already know how to handle the extra visitors, but what about amenity use?

Amenities like party and games rooms are in higher demand throughout this season. How do you distribute their use and bookings fairly?

Online amenity booking is a necessity this time of year. Residents can easily request bookings online based on calendar availability. The condo manager can then review, approve, and track bookings online. This makes for a fast, efficient, and easy way to manage amenity bookings.

As well, taking advantage of condo key tracking software helps to make sure you don’t lose the keys for any of these amenities. It also lets you see who checks out keys and when they are used and returned.

4. Tenants Going Away

It’s not just people and packages coming into the building that you need to keep track of. Lots of condo tenants also use this time of year to go away on vacation or head off to visit family.

While they’re away, they may request that family or friends check in on their apartment. Or they may use this opportunity to have contractors or repairmen do work in their unit.

A good condo authorized entry tool lets the concierge know who has permission to enter which unit. This ensures that visitors need valid authorization to enter a unit while the tenant is away.

This is safer for tenants and more convenient for people with authorization. As well, tenants can update permissions online (even from their phone) at any time.

5. Security

They say it’s better to give than receive. But in the Christmas season, there’s plenty of taking. December has the highest break-in and burglary rates of the whole year. Burglars will take any opportunity to get their hands on presents and packages, so condo security is paramount.

The holidays are no time to relax the rules. Managers should make sure to improve condo security during this time of year. Double-check locks and lights, make sure your condo security software is up-to-date and have security perform regular checks.

Is Your Condo Ready For Christmas?

Condo managers and board members can give themselves a gift this Christmas with Condo Control Central’s award-winning property management software. Our user-friendly software will get your condo up to speed in time for the holiday rush.

Discover the really smart way to run your condo, sign up for a risk-free demo below.