What is the key to good Vancouver property management?

There are many things that go into separating a good property management company from a bad property management company, but the one key that seems to be more important than everything else is the manager to managed units ratio.

The property managers to managed units ratio

The higher the ratio, the more hands on service you can expect from your property manager. Let’s look at an example. If a manager has 100 units under his or her portfolio, how much attention can you expect as an owner for your single rental property? Maybe 1% of your property manager’s time…if you’re lucky! If the rental market is strong, and the vacancy rate is low, they may have more time and the ability to handle this size of portfolio, but if vacancies are hovering around 10% as they are in Alberta right now, than means that he or she will always be handling potentially 10 vacancies at a time which is enough to keep anyone on their toes!

Now if the manager only has 50 units under his or her belt, you can expect some phone calls to actually be returned and some decent service. This will generally come at a higher price, say 10-12% , whereas property managers with 100 + properties may only charge 5-7% . It’s really just simple math, but beware the property management companies that charge 5%. If they are, find out how many properties they have under their wing and ask yourself honestly if you think that number is too many. Systems and technology can help, but anything over 100 can be very difficult for one person to handle effectively.

If you have any questions about our property management services, please contact us here.

Chris Stepchuk April 26, 2017