BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Buildium, the property management solution for real estate professionals, and The National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM), the leading trade organization for the residential property management industry, today released the findings from their joint survey, “The 2016 State of the Property Management Industry Report: Focusing on Growth in a Thriving Industry.” The report, which surveyed nearly 1,500 property managers across the United States in June 2016, explores the most common and most effective practices in the property management industry.
Despite property managers having a positive outlook for growth through 2018, many still struggle with finding and keeping reliable contractors and vendors, generating new leads and growing their portfolios, and effectively managing their time, processes and employees. The report aims to highlight the attitudes, behaviors and beliefs that are most likely to combat these challenges and help property managers achieve business success.
“There has arguably never been a better time to be in the property management industry, but successfully expanding portfolios and growing their businesses remains a critical concern for property managers,” said Michael Monteiro, co-founder and CEO of Buildium. “The Buildium and NARPM State of the Property Management Industry Report aims to deliver clear insight, from and for property managers, so they can more effectively manage day-to-day tasks, better service tenants and clients, and adopt solutions and processes – like property management software – that deliver direct value-add benefits to their businesses.”
Key findings from the report include:
- Property managers have a range of portfolio types, but mixed portfolios were most likely to report high profitability (54 percent), compared to self-managed portfolios (50 percent) and third party portfolios (48 percent). Further, self-owned portfolios experienced 70 percent growth in the last two years, with mixed portfolios growing 83 percent and third party portfolios growing 77 percent in the same time period.
- 2016 has emerged as a high-growth cycle for the property management industry, with 77 percent of respondents indicating they’ve grown their portfolios over the last two years, and 89 percent expecting their portfolios to continue to grow over the next two years.
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Property managers continue to face day-to-day challenges, despite
record growth, with the majority of respondents (38 percent) citing
finding and keeping reliable contractors and vendors as their top
challenge.
- Finding new leads (37 percent), managing time and employees (29 percent), attracting and managing great tenants (23 percent), and handing inspections and maintenance calls (22 percent) round out the top five property management business challenges.
- Business challenges are also often dictated by what services property managers provide – tenant screening (90 percent), maintenance (85 percent), leasing (85 percent), listing services (85 percent) and financial reporting (80 percent) were all included in the top five offered services in 2016.
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When asked what has had the greatest impact on business success, an
overwhelming number of respondents (60 percent) cited excellent
communication skills and following up.
- Organizational skills (35 percent), hiring the right employees (32 percent), and embracing technology and innovation (30 percent) came closely behind.
- In addition to those property managers who identified technology as a key differentiator, 88 percent of survey respondents revealed they are already using a dedicated cloud-based technology solution to help them run their business. Of the four percent of respondents who are not already using property management software, half said they would like to be.
- In addition to healthy business growth projections, property managers are also very happy with their jobs. More than 25 percent of respondents said they have no frustrations with their portfolio owners and 95 percent said they always or sometimes love their line of work.
“Growth emerged as an overwhelming theme in this year’s State of the Property Management Industry Report, but with that exceptional growth comes a new set of pains in preparing for and managing increased expectations for property managers,” said Gail Phillips, CAE, executive director of NARPM. “By offering a benchmark for how a select number of property managers are taking advantage and succeeding in this up-market, this year’s report serves as a guide for our industry’s best practices.”
A full copy of The State of the Property Management Industry Report can be downloaded from the Buildium website. For an in-depth look at the report, visit Buildium at Booth 5 at the NARPM Convention and Trade Show in Maui, Hawaii from October 19-21, or register for the Buildium and NARPM survey webinar. Michael Monteiro, Buildium co-founder and CEO, and Gail Phillips, CAE, executive director of NARPM, will also be presenting on the survey findings at the NARPM Convention on Thursday October 20 at 4 p.m.
About NARPM
The National Association of Residential Property
Managers (NARPM), founded in October 1988, provides a permanent trade
organization for the residential property management industry. NARPM
continues to be the premier professional association of residential
property managers, currently representing more than 4,000 members
comprised of real estate agents, brokers, managers and their employees.
About Buildium
Buildium is the only property management
solution that helps real estate professionals win new business from
property owners and community associations seeking services. Backed by
expert advice and relentless support, Buildium enables you to outperform
across all facets of your business with intuitive software that balances
power, simplicity and ease of use. Buildium services more than 12,500
customers in 46 countries, totaling nearly one million residential units
under management. In 2015, Buildium acquired All
Property Management, a leading online marketing service for property
managers, making Buildium the only company to give property managers a
way to acquire new customers and increase revenues. For more
information, visit
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