Busy Owner Case Study

During my conversations with an owner and his property manager, I learned that the owner wanted to grow his portfolio but was spending all of his time managing his in-house property manager and day to day operations. The reactionary nature of day to day operations was hampering growth efforts. This case study shows three recommendations made after studying the owners' business.

First, we found that the property manager was spending most of his day answering phones and showing the portfolio's available apartments and retail spaces. Our recommendation was to catalogue the portfolio's floor plans, create virtual tours and place all information on a website. At the property level, we suggested a permanent FOR RENT sign with a QR code that would take the prospective tenant to the website with the availability across the portfolio, virtual tour and rental amount. In doing this, the owner was able to pre-market availabilities across the portfolio, decrease the calls that just ask "what is the rent?"and turn units faster.

Second, we created a pro forma with the expected expenses each property should incur in a year. We compared that to what was actually being spent. In this, we found that preventive maintenance was not being done, only reactive maintenance. Reactive maintenance distracted ownership from operations and was often more expensive than preventative maintenance given the timeline for repair/ replacement. We not only had an understanding of property operations but were able to guide decisions on R&M that will keep the properties in top condition, driving rents and the overall value of the apartments.

Last, we created an asset management schedule. Each month has a theme. For instance, in March the parking lots are to be examined. The property manager can identify potential issues before they occur. Given the size of the portfolio, the manager can then go to contractors and receive bulk pricing bids.

This study took less than 2 hours of the owner's time and was done free of cost. We were able to advise this owner, increase his property value and he has a trusted brokerage partner when he's ready to purchase additional properties.