Should you have a full time or part time property manager?

The size of your self-storage property will help you determine whether or not you need a full time or a part time manager. Anything over 40,000 square feet should probably have a full time on-site manger. If you are smaller than 35,000 square feet, then you can get away with just having an onsite manager part time.

You don’t want to wait until you have your C/O (certificate of occupancy) before you hire your manager. You want your manager working on advertising so that you have renters lined up to get their keys as soon as you open. They can be working on brand awareness in the community by posting online. You can work on training beforehand so that when you open your self-storage facility, you are ready. You don’t want a long line of customers and a manager that has no idea what to do with them. Your manager is critical to your success. Make sure that you are utilizing them properly.

When you are trying to determine what days to have your manager onsite, you may want to keep a few things in mind. Mondays are busy phone days. Tuesday and Wednesdays are just slow. If you want to change that, run advertisement with special pricing on those days. Thursday and Friday are a little busier and Saturdays are always crazy. Sundays are usually in the dead category except for a short period of time between noon and two.

If you can’t justify a full time employee onsite at your self-storage facility, hire a part-time employee. You want them onsite between 4-6 p.m. on MWF and all day on Saturday.

There is software that will allow your tenants to rent the property online. You still want them to see the unit and finish up the rental contract with your manager. This way the manager can upsell them on insurance or additional packing supplies or show them a nicer, closer unit.

No matter how you decide to have your manager manage your property, make sure that you have enough support for your current renters and potential renters. You don’t want to lose business because you don’t have a manager available to rent to new customers. Find the right balance for your self-storage facility. As always, happy investing.