How to Know If Your Property Management Company Is Dropping the Ball
Think Multifamily | Mark Kenney
A great property management company can be your most powerful asset. They’re your boots on the ground—responsible for rent collection, resident experience, maintenance, renewals, and everything in between. When they’re strong, your investment thrives.
But when they’re not?
They can quietly destroy your NOI—and your reputation—while you’re busy thinking everything’s fine.
The scariest part? Bad PMs rarely announce themselves. They show up in late reports, vague excuses, and slowly slipping numbers. Whether you’re managing the manager or trying to troubleshoot performance issues, these signs often reveal that your PM may be the real problem.
1. Reports Are Late, Missing, or Light on Detail
📉 The Symptom: Your “Monday Morning Report” shows up on Wednesday—or worse, not at all.
Timely, transparent reporting is your first line of defense. If your PM gives you vague updates like “Leasing is going okay” or “We’re working on collections,” that’s not reporting—that’s evasion.
What You Should Expect Weekly:
Leasing activity (apps, approvals, denials, move-ins, and move-outs)
Current occupancy by unit type
Delinquency aging (30/60/90+ days)
Work order status (open, closed, pending)
Variance commentary that actually explains deviations from budget
Anything less? You’re flying blind.
2. Unit Turns Are Lagging or Costing Too Much
🛠️ The Symptom: Vacant units sit for weeks, or your make-ready costs keep creeping up without results.
A sitting unit is a bleeding unit. Every extra day a unit is offline is lost rent you’ll never get back. If turns are dragging—or costing $2,000+ for basic work—it’s time to get involved.
Ask Your PM:
“What’s the average turn time across the property right now?”
“What vendors are being used, and are their timelines documented?”
“Are turns being handled in-house, or outsourced? Who’s accountable?”
Then verify. Don’t just accept “we’re short-staffed” as an excuse.
3. Occupancy Looks Good… But Collections Don’t
📊 The Trap: You’re seeing 95% occupancy—but collections are nowhere near where they should be.
There’s a massive difference between physical and economic occupancy. If residents are in the units but not paying, you're not making money—you’re subsidizing someone’s rent.
What to Monitor:
Aging report: who owes what, and for how long?
Delinquency trends: is it the same people month after month?
Waived late fees: why are they being forgiven?
Allowance for doubtful accounts: is your PM masking delinquency in the reporting?
If collections don’t match rent roll expectations, demand answers—not generalizations.
4. Vendors Are Complaining About Late Payments
🚩 The Issue: Vendors are ghosting, refusing new work, or sending “final notice” emails to your inbox.
This one hits hard. When your PM fails to pay vendors on time, it causes ripple effects: delayed repairs, poor maintenance, bad reviews, and even legal exposure.
What You Should Do:
Request an aged payables report monthly.
Any invoice over 30 days should be flagged and explained.
Have a direct line to your top vendors to spot-check service quality and payment timeliness.
If vendors walk, your reputation suffers. Don’t let a PM tank your vendor relationships because of disorganization or cash mismanagement.
5. You’re Not Getting Market Survey or Renewal Pricing Logic
💸 The Cost: Your units are renewing $150 below market—and you didn’t even know it.
Many PMs take the lazy route with renewals. They apply a flat $50 increase across all units—regardless of floor plan, market movement, or recent lease trade-outs.
Smarter Strategy:
Require a monthly market survey comparing similar properties.
Use a renewal pricing tracker that benchmarks each lease against market, not current rent.
Implement a cap rule (e.g., “No renewal more than $50 below market rent without asset manager sign-off”).
Every under-market renewal is a compounding loss. One unit at $150 under market = $1,800/year lost. Multiply that across 30 leases, and you’ve got a $54,000 NOI leak.
6. Maintenance Requests Are Stacking Up
🧰 The Signal: You’re hearing repeat complaints from tenants. Online reviews mention “ignored work orders.” Your maintenance tech seems overwhelmed—or disengaged.
This is one of the fastest ways to lose good residents. If your PM isn’t prioritizing work orders or managing maintenance tickets well, your reputation takes the hit, not theirs.
📋 What to Review:
Time-to-close on work orders (Is there a backlog?)
Repeat issues in the same units or systems
Preventative maintenance plan—does one exist?
Resident surveys or Google reviews referencing maintenance delays
Remember: maintenance quality directly affects retention. Poor service = higher turnover = higher cost.
7. The PM Isn’t Following Your Business Plan
🎯 The Root Problem: Occupancy is high, but rents aren’t increasing. CapEx timelines are drifting. Renovation progress is vague. Your pro forma is off track—but no one can tell you why.
The truth? Your PM might be busy—but that doesn’t mean they’re aligned.
🧭 Reminder:
The PM isn’t the visionary. You are.
They’re there to execute your plan—not create their own or “wing it.”
✅ Watch For:
Missed renovation timelines or CapEx milestones
No regular updates on value-add execution
Unexplained variance from pro forma metrics
If they aren’t bought into your vision—or if they push back on the strategy—you may need a new partner. Fast.
Final Thought
A property management company can either be your biggest asset—or your silent liability.
The most dangerous PMs don’t yell or fail publicly. They just slowly let things slide… until one day you realize your NOI is off, your tenants are unhappy, and your investors are asking tough questions.
Don’t wait for problems to escalate. Know what to expect. Set clear reporting requirements. And inspect what you expect—because no one else will do it for you.
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