Buying, selling and operating apartments in Portland

Why do I Need a Property Manager and How do I get the Most Out Of our Relationship? | 12 September 2017

Property management serves a vital function and while you can do it yourself and save a noticeable amount of fees,  here are some questions to ask yourself, in order to see if it’s something you want to do on your own:

1. PAPERWORK – With all of the laws in place (and more coming) most will require more paperwork and proper notice to tenants.  Unfortunately, with a relationship between tenant and landlord that is growing more adversarial, you’ll need to understand what you are required to do and deliver notice tenants in a legally acceptable way.  Do you keep up with the rules and regulations constantly?
2. TIME – It does take time and effort to pay bills, deliver notices, respond to maintenance items and make a plan on growing your NOI.  You’d be the most motivated individual for your property, but are you willing to invest the time from your other activities? 
3. CONTRACTING – Some management companies have services like maintenance and billing in house.  In any case, you need to understand whats required to keep a property in good shape (which attracts good tenants) and just doing the day-to-day things (e.g. paying bills and collecting rents).  Do you have the organizational skills to manage this?
4. TENANT MANAGEMENT – You’re striving to keep a cast of tenants that live well together and respect your property and other tenants.  This requires a lot of observation and then learning how to deal with bad actors.  Some properties require a major amount of effort to stabilize and get a good population in if things have gone sideways.  Again, do you have the time and experience to do this?
5. PLANNING – While the state requires fee managers to give you a full and complete accounting of funds, on a small property, this can be a daunting stack of paper.  An ongoing conversation with your property manager should be on how to separate signal from noise, for example asking: “What are the 3 measurable things we’re going to do this month to increase NOI?”

If you’re new to apartment ownership or deal with low-income housing, hiring an experienced manager can be cheap tuition and train you on what to do or understanding what needs to be done running an apartment.

Steve Morris | Vice-President
IMG Northwest
1234 SW 18th, Suite 102
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503.970.4593 
steve@imgnorthwest.com | www.imgnorthwest.com
OR License # 200202054 | WA License # 24512

For the Oregon Real Estate Agency Pamphlet click here.
For the Washington Real Estate Agency Pamphlet click here.