Management company acquired by a larger competitor

[Alex Silang]

I'm debating whether I should stay.

Combined, the new management company will have 1000 units. They are definitely better with technology. 

The thing is, my current property manager is the best I've ever had and he's starting a new firm. I only have 1 triplex so I feel there's a decent chance I'll just get ignored in a big company. He said the old property management owner (original founder passed away, it was her sister) sold the company under the staff's feet. 

Any thoughts?

[Steve Maginnis]

Hello @Alex Silang.  There are some pro's and con's to having a large company vs. smaller one.  Regardless of how many units the company manages, the important part is how many your specific manager is handling.  Sometimes larger companies will have each manager manage maybe 50-150 or so units him/herself and be responsible for most all aspects of management.  Other times, your manager may manate 150-400 units, but only deal with the owners. If you have a question about how many showings your vacant has had, or an accounting or maintenance question, he/she may not know anything about it and will need to reach out to that department for answers.  

Many times, a larger company will have better resources, such as the technology you mentioned, and may have better systems in place to assist with staying on top of lease renewals, insurance renewals, following up with prospects, and so on.  Smaller companies are easier to over look some of these topics if they stay pretty busy.  Larger companies are typically more expensive due to their larger overhead for office space, marketing, dedicated accounting and HR departments, training costs, etc.

Smaller management companies typically will know more about the property at the drop of a hat.  This gives Landlord's more confidence that they are handling things properly.  Smaller companies may be more flexible in how they manage your properties.  Perhaps you want to file eviction on any tenants who do not pay by the 10th, but larger companies may have policies in place to not file until the 15th and cannot accommodate your needs.  

Since you were so happy with your manager(which seems to be very rare on BP), I would do anything you can to stay with the brother.  Sometimes your management agreement will have provisions for them to assign the contract if they sell, so you may need to adhere to your agreement in order to terminate.  If you are far from your window to be able to terminate, you may want to give the large company a shot to see how they do.  Transferring from one company to another can be a pain and there is a learning curve.  Since you are not a new investor, you should know what aspects of management are important to you.  Have an honest "discovery" conversation with your new manager to see if they can meet your expectations.  Best of luck.