Property Management ... Company or Individual and why?

[David Kirkland]

Do you prefer to work with individual property managers or property management companies? ... and why?

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @David Kirkland:

Do you prefer to work with individual property managers or property management companies? ... and why?

 You're going to get pros & cons with both.

Many people's biggest dig at large Property Management companies is the communication isn't personal. You can't just text them & receive an immediate response etc. With a 1 man shop you can usually do just that. Small operation the Property Manager will know you as well as all of your tenants personally.

There is a trade off though.

A big company is a proven entity whit proven policies & processes. It isn't easy to build a big Property Management company so you can be assured that if you hire a large company the people working at it know what they are doing. Your 1 man shop is unproven. So even though the communication is more personal you may end up in situations that your 1 man operation isn't equipped or experienced enough to handle. That could lead to huge costs for you & your portfolio. On top of that the business is cut throat. Property Management is a very very tough industry. Many people flame out. So when you're working with an unproven entity you've always got the chance that one day the Property Manager just throws his arms up & closes up shop. I've seen it happen many times.