Maximizing Resident Managers In Your Scattered Site Portfolio

Effectively establishing an on-site presence at small-to-mid size multifamily assets can pose challenges for investors and operators alike. If you are a self-manager, it can be difficult to visit your property often enough to keep tabs on what is going on day-to-day. Resident issues come up, maintenance concerns arise, and broadly speaking, things happen on-site that often go unreported.

Similarly, investors who outsource property management may find that without the manager having enough scale for a permanent on-site team, the property is not being visited enough. Whether you are a self-manager, or an owner with a 3rd party manager in place, to ultimately maintain curb appeal, address critical level maintenance issues quickly, and establish long-standing relationships with your residents, you must have a presence on the property, and you must first know of problems before you or your manager are able to address them.

One of the most impactful tools to mitigate these issues is the resident manager, when handled thoughtfully.

Over the years, I have learned a few tips and tricks that will take a resident manager from being lackluster “eyes and ears” at your building in exchange for a rent discount, to an invaluable resource in the operation of the asset.

First, identify the right “who” to be your resident manager before you worry too much about the “how” of what it is you want them doing. I recommend offering the on-site managerial responsibilities to all your residents in the building, to adhere to Fair Housing guidelines, and to also garner proactive interest from the residents who it appeals to. The Resident Manager position is a job, and just as with any other job, the candidate must want to do it and be engaged to succeed.

You may choose to conduct an interview process and screen for who you feel will be the best fit. This process will also allow you to clearly delineate between typical tenancy vs. resident manager responsibilities. You should speak to an attorney about compensating this resident manager, how to go about that, and who the resident manager will be employed by. Usually, resident managers are compensated a couple hundred dollars per month, depending on their scope of responsibility, but be thoughtful about how you pay that money out, who pays them, the party responsible for their employment, and so forth.

Once you have identified the “who,” create a checklist for them. As with any other role, for an employee to be successful, they need clear expectations. A clear list of duties, responsibilities, and the cadences of those responsibilities is crucial. First, your resident manager will appreciate having this list, and even perhaps training on how to complete certain duties. For example, perhaps you are asking the resident manager to “water the flower beds at your 20-unit building.” If you do not define how much to water them and how often, you can more than likely expect dead flowers due to vague directions. Moreover, creating the checklist provides for objective, cut and dry expectations to measure against. Should your expectations not be met, you have a clear checklist you can reference if you need to make a change, and that resident manager cannot cite that you were not specific enough with them. In other words, it helps cover your bases a little bit, too, in the case the resident manager is not executing on what you have asked from them.

Finally, build a meaningful relationship with frequent contact. Talk to them over the phone weekly, commend them for work well done, and pass along complements to them from other residents. Typically, resident managers are attracted to the responsibilities of the role not only for income, but also because they care about where they live and they want it to be safe, clean, and enjoyable; your building is home for them, too, remember. When their neighbors recognize and respect their efforts, it may mean more to them than any monetary compensation in the first place. Also, by speaking with your resident manager frequently, they will inevitably report more and mention more in terms of events at the property. As an operator or manager, half the battle is just knowing what is happening at your buildings so you can actually make decisions. The more you speak with your resident manager, the more you will continue to yield the “eyes and ears” benefit of having them there.

A resident manager without a welldefined role, who you don’t interact with frequently, may not be very valuable to your building. However, when approached intentionally and with a framework of what you hope to get from the position, they can serve as a silver bullet in the curb appeal and day-to-day care of scattered site assets.