Attention, property managers!

In My Humble Opinion
1

*Good evening:

I am an administrative assistant in a Victoria property management office. I am considering getting my property management licence, but have some concerns about the size of the residential portfolio I would be expected to manage.

Our office is a very busy one, and perhaps I would be happier to remain in an assistant position.

If you would be kind enough to provide some quick answers to the questions I have about other Victoria property management firms, I would be very appreciative.

I am wondering if you could tell me how many units your property managers look after? Do the property managers have assistants? For apartment buildings, if they have those types of properties in their portfolios, do the resident managers do typical tenant paperwork like processing applications, credit/reference checks, and producing tenancy agreements?

I appreciate your time. My telephone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX if you would like to speak to me about this email.

Sincerely,
Savannah’s Real Name*

That’s an email I’ve just sent to all the property management companies in my city that do residential property management.

I know we have a couple of property managers on the boards, and I’m wondering if you do residential, would you mind throwing in your two cents?

“My” property manager, due to changes in the office, is now handling 532 residential units (169 properties–a couple of them a pretty big apartment buildings). I think that’s way too many, but management said that it’s a “small portfolio”.

Even with apartment buildings with resident managers, we still have to do a lot of paperwork (rent increases, yearly lease renewals, letters re: noise, etc.) so every single one of those units is work, now that management doesn’t want us offering any month-to-month leases.

I want to know if the powers that be are telling us the truth about the size of the portfolio.

I used my real name and my real telephone number so that if the property manager was hesitant, he or she could call me. I also am very aware that I might be sending those firms my resume in the next few months.

Any property managers, please toss in your portfolio info! Thanks, folks!

2

One gentle bump, then I’ll let this gently sink into oblivion. :slight_smile:

I did get two responses today–one wouldn’t tell me anything, and the other–the head of the company–was surprisingly chatty and helpful.

3

Just so I’m clear are you saying that two people (you and the mgr) are managing 169 properties with 532 residential units by yourselves?

4

I would tend to agree that that’s a pretty small portfolio.

For comparison, our management company has a squeaky-clean newly-licensed strata agent starting tomorrow, and her initial porfolio is 447 units in 13 smallish buildings - just to get her feet wet.

By comparison, our monster agent manages 17 properties, the largest of which alone has 407 units. She is the only PM who has a dedicated administrative assistant - the usual thing is for an AA to have at least two PM’s.

5

Yes. I’m the admin.

6

Hm, that’s very interesting–and helpful. I would, however, argue that strata properties are different from managing apartment buildings and single residential units. I would expect a strata PM to have more properties in their portfolio, simply because each “doorstep” requires a lot less involvement on the part of the strata PM (i.e. there aren’t inspections, complaints, faulty appliances, lease renewals, rent increases, etc.). However, each unit in a strata is an owner, and hence must feel the same sort of obligation on the property manager to act on their behalf.

I will take another look at your responses, and I appreciate the answers!

Thanks, folks.

PS Annie X-Mas?

7

I don’t really have an informed opinion about that - I deal mostly with strata, and don’t have very much involvement with rental properties at all. I’m not sure, though - strata management has its own challenges, particularly when it comes to building envelope issues. (One of the PM’s in our office has the pleasure of dealing with this situation. I hope he doesn’t have anything else scheduled for a while, the poor son-of-a-bitch.)

Most of my interaction with the folks in the rental department is purely social, and I have to admit I couldn’t even begin to estimate what their portfolios are like. It’s a whole other world. I will ask some of the rental agents what they have on their plate and get back to you. I can tell you straight off that the ratio of rental agents to administrative assistants is 3:1, though.

8

…and 300 units seems about par for rentals 'round these parts, it seems.

9

Thanks, Larry! I appreciate the information.