Best property management company in the country?

Question

I'd love to get recommendations on awesome property management companies (located in cash flow markets).

The kind that require little to no micro-management, that treats tenants well, have low vacancy rates, and decent fees.

I know most of the time people are looking for a PM in a particular market, and I've already dug through a number of those threads.

A lot of the times when I get a recommendation for a PM I can relatively quickly find not-so-stellar feedback on them here on the forums or elsewhere.

I've seen some people say you just can't expect very much from PMs. I know there's no such thing as perfection, but I'm holding out hope that there is a truly awesome PM out there, even if they charge a bit more than the standard.

Since I'm not tied to any market, I'd be more likely to go with one market over another (assuming it's a nice cash flow market) depending on the quality of the PM there.

Would love to hear recommendations!

Samina Kwan · Answer

@Chris Clothier

The PM through REI Nation seems pretty amazing. Just spoke to them and they seem to have great customer service. What I gathered from the call: They will provide comps of the properties in the neighborhood to support the purchase price, they check in monthly, and return earnest money if in anyway you are uncomfortable with the appraisal coming in low. The biggest piece that blew me away was that they will supplement your rent if for some reason it comes in below the rent range they provide you with for as long as you hold the property. I even asked what would happen if the rents catastrophically dropped 50%, she said they would still supplement the rent if it is below the rent range they initially provided b/c they ultimately want to satisfy their customers.

Maybe Chris can chime in about supplementing the rent and any concerns about them falling below the rent range in the next RE turn down.

Overall, REI Nation's PM (which is also owned by the Clothier family) tends to get a lot of positive fdbk, mind you it's not perfect all the time, but for the most part I've read positive stuff. I also appreciate that Chris responds to what folks say about this company both the turnkey and PM, it shows that his effort in ensuring a quality service.

Chris Clothier · Answer

Kalen,

You are 100% correct.  PM is THE most important piece of the puzzle.  So many investors ar concerned with how the numbers pencil out on paper.  Property Management is the piece that helps you understand how and if those numbers are even going to be achieved.  Great management is very, very hard to find because it is a very difficult business.  Good luck in your research and I commend you for going about it the right way.

Davartay Miller · Answer

@Whit EwenThank you for your post! I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in understanding how our business operates and for taking the time to personally speak with us to discuss your one property in Austin, TX. As mentioned in or email on March 11, 2021, we value customer, resident, and team feedback! In fact, we care so much we tell people we are not in the property management business – we are in the people’s business. However, we regret that we did not answer your questions to your liking. We teach and train our staff on how to listen empathically and seek to understand the client’s perspective before responding. We also encourage them to close the the loop with a member – if they don’t have the answer to a client’s concern or question, they find out and follow up with the client. I wish you the best on your journey finding a property manger that is the best fit for you, understands what you are looking for, and most importantly deliver.

Should you wish to discuss the issue/situation further, please do not hesitate to contact us via email, phone call, and or office visit. Our doors are always open.

Best of Luck!

Whit Ewen · Answer

I know it’s an old thread now, but @Kalen Jordan, do you have an update based on your last year’s worth of experience? I just found out that Mynd property management purchased Empire that you mentioned.  I spoke with REI Nation yesterday, but was less than impressed with their representative’s knowledge of their own operation.

Samina Kwan · Answer

@Chris Clothier

Thanks Chris! It was great talking to you too. Appreciated all the information you provided on your experience during the downturn and comparing active vs.passive REI.  Looking forward to working with you all. So far it’s been a great experience! I’ll be sure to post about it elsewhere once we are all done.

Chris Clothier · Answer

Samina,

Thank you for taking my call earlier.  I really appreciate the time you spent on the phone with me and the awesome post you left for us above.  Since we had the chance to speak before I posted this, I wanted to answer your questions here for other readers.

We do not have any rental guarantees nor do we make any promises about future rents.  As a company, we have an outstanding track record stretching back over 17 years of being able to accurately hit our projected rental ranges including over the length of ownership.  During the last downturn, the average rental price dropped roughly 11% in our Memphis portfolio, although as we discussed, that was very dependent on where you were located.  Some did not drop at all. We did not supplement rental income for investors during that period strictly over an economic downturn.  We did supplement investors rents or other costs where we feel we could have performed better as a company or even where we felt they had taken extraordinary steps of faith with our company (such as purchasing 5 or more properties) and we felt we could and needed to assist.

However, we don't make guarantees about performance because we don't want prospective investors focusing on the guarantee.  We do know how to focus on the customer experience and we do have the ability to step in and make sure an investor is having the experience they expect when unforeseen circumstances hit.  That is not to say we would supplement 50% rent drops in some catastrophic event!  We would be out of business and all of us would be facing much bigger threats to our wealth if rents dropped like that!

As we talked about, sometimes circumstances can happen to an investor and we as a company have been able to and will continue to do everything in our power, including covering some costs, to make sure they know we value their experience.

I hope you have an awesome weekend and we appreciate the time you've spent speaking with our team!

best to you,

Chris

Kalen Jordan · Answer

Yeah I know! I actually wasn't super interested in TX - moreso in KC/Indy but I'm warming up to Dallas just based on them. It seems like PM is such an important piece of the puzzle.

Gary Parilis · Answer

Pretty good!  But they only seem to serve Texas.

Kalen Jordan · Answer

Updating this thread with some of my learnings on this topic. I'm surprised no one mentioned Empire Industries - I just caught podcast episode 343 with Steve Rozenberg - I was very interested in the systems-driven approach that he describes and it sounds like the perfect thing for a PM company.

They have by far the highest rating on google of any property management company I've looked at recently. Even really good PM companies like FS Houses have their share of negative reviews (tenants can be crazy obviously), but this rating that Empire has is insane.

Best property management company in the country?

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