Chris Finetto Or when they take photos of the pool, through the iron fencing. It’s like the view from inside of a jail cell. Or the Hoopty Car in the oil stained parking lot. And for hell’s sake, organize the damned pool furniture before taking photos.

Anonymous member Huge pet peeve! In person and in your media. Please put them down!

Guest Insider Omg I have been putting the lids down in every apt for 30+ years.

Anonymous member Thank you for validating my feelings on this 🤣
Also, what’s up with the blind strings being all knotted up and looking janky as hell. Can’t anyone un-twist them and make them look presentable? 🤦🏾‍♀️

Monica Windham IT DRIVES ME INSANE IN MARKETING PHOTOS! I had someone actually say “so they know it’s clean!”
I’m like uhhhh, yes. Inside the toilet is the first place I look when I go EVERYWHERE! 🤣

Guest Insider While we're at it...maybe we could leave the dishwasher open too?

Kate Good There is no excuse! Close them!!!!

Guest Insider Kate Good agree. I tell all my teams this. When I come to your property and walk. I don’t want to see a lid up! Lol

Guest Insider My pet peeve also, I was always putting the lid down-It was not me or my staff it was the prospects lifting it and pulling open the shower curtains……….when it clearly was a tub/toilet bowl….never knew what they were looking for

Barbara Savona Or in listing photos 🤦‍♀️

Guest Insider I asked this once, why the cleaning lady left it up…. Had something to do with showing it was clean or something

Guest Insider My manager always said "No talking toilets"

Gerry Hunt Big pet peeve!

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Jesse, Great point. Chargebacks only influence behavior if residents believe the charges will actually be enforced and collected. Consistent follow-through is what makes the policy meaningful.That’s also why we emphasized addressing damage during the

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Let’s talk about it.
Is it just me, or have bonus programs become… underwhelming?
More work. Higher expectations. Smaller rewards.
Anyone else feeling this shift?

Read More...

Guest Insider Base salaries have gone through the roof the last few years. I think higher guaranteed base versus Lower base and bonus is a much better situation

Guest Insider Anonymous the only ones who say that is the ones who want to do their 8 and skate. Deadlines timelines. And goals are the business. Meet them and make more- under perform and they save money. Pick a different field.

Guest Insider We don’t even get commissions anymore 😭 and the bonus structure for my position specifically is TERRIBLE. The hourly is “competitive” but not “COMPETITIVE” lol so I stick with the structure at the moment

Jonathan Weatherford My company moved from a combination of metric and discretionary to 100% discretionary.

Jaymz Yates Jonathan Weatherford good idea

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Reduce risk! 🤣

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

A decade ago, family offices operated quietly in the background of global finance.Today, they are central allocators of private capital.Governments compete to attract them.Private equity firms structure around them.Real estate sponsors build capitalization stacks with them in mind.Understanding how they operate is no longer niche knowledge, it is strategic intelligence.What Is a Family Office?A family office is a private organization built to man ...

Brent Williams

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Explanation of a current site bug: Currently, when a member logs in to the site, they may see posts that are credited to themselves. But don't worry - Nobody else sees your name there. For example, when I am logged in and look at the page, the post shows me as the author. When Mya looks at the page, she sees herself as the author. In other words, nobody is seeing your name as the author except for yourself.

We are working on the bug and will... Show more

Manh

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Employee Appreciation Day comes around every year on the first Friday in March — and this year, that's Friday, March 6, 2026. It's the perfect chance to pause, say "thank you," and remind your team how much they mean to you and your organization. Recognition doesn't just make people smile — it reenergizes teams and strengthens their connection to your mission.Building a culture of appreciation also brings powerful ripple effects: Employee r ...

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Industry Resources

More Industry Resources

Industry Resources

More Industry Resources

As an owner, I can say chargebacks only work if you actually collect them. We used to write off a lot of damage charges at move-out. Once we began sending unpaid balances to American Rent Bureau, recovery rates improved and word definitely spread tha

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

If owners are not with an operating/management partner that does not have a strong and experienced facilities/capital improvement offering as part of their management services, they are with the wrong partner. Owners hire the management companies to manage all facets of the asset, owners spend 10's...

Read More...

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Hello! We currently have 550 market rate units spread between 5 properties all within a 5-10 mile radius. How many office team members do management companies typically have for that many apartments and what are their job titles? And just curious, how many maintenance technicians for that many apartments?

Read More...

Anonymous member The industry standard is usually 1:100. It is absolutely not enough, especially when you consider safety of employees in your offices. I think it should be more like 2:100 or even 3:100.
Your leasing staff should not be alone with a resident, your leasing office should not be closed because your agent is on lunch or tour, the property manager should not be alone, not your leasing agent or maintenance either.
I have been in situations with creepy or aggressive prospects/residents. My Maintenance have been assaulted, threatened and accused of SH or theft. Then it becomes our word against the resident or prospects word. I think it’s a liability issue and want the industry standard to change.
Not to mention having a property manager, assistant, two full time leasing and a maintenance supervisor and a maintenance tech would significantly reduce the stress on your team. Managers are constantly in meetings. Leasing agents are constantly doing tours or on the phone with prospects—who’s taking... Show more

The industry standard is usually 1:100. It is absolutely not enough, especially when you consider safety of employees in your offices. I think it should be more like 2:100 or even 3:100.
Your leasing staff should not be alone with a resident, your leasing office should not be closed because your agent is on lunch or tour, the property manager should not be alone, not your leasing agent or maintenance either.
I have been in situations with creepy or aggressive prospects/residents. My Maintenance have been assaulted, threatened and accused of SH or theft. Then it becomes our word against the resident or prospects word. I think it’s a liability issue and want the industry standard to change.
Not to mention having a property manager, assistant, two full time leasing and a maintenance supervisor and a maintenance tech would significantly reduce the stress on your team. Managers are constantly in meetings. Leasing agents are constantly doing tours or on the phone with prospects—who’s taking care of your residents? Who’s accepting deliveries? For maintenance, who’s handling the maintenance emergency and tending to the non-emergency work orders?
I also HIGHLY recommend a porter. Our porter would tidy the tour paths, tidy and replenish our coffee bar and lounge, the gym, the pool area and after a make ready had been toured it can get a bit dusty, she’d go in and do the spiff rather than the leasing team. She’d tidy the trash chute rooms and miscellaneous things that would otherwise take up our teams time.
So do with that what you will but your property will run smoother. Because my property at 197 units, we only had one manager, one leasing, and one maintenance supervisor. No porter, and we were all so stressed all the time and we all felt unsupported.

Anonymous member Anonymous member while I realize our industry is tough, this is unsustainable. And we aren’t that different than many other industries where employees work solo or on a “skeleton crew”. No one can afford to staff for things that have occasionally happened or could happen potentially. We have to be smart about our safety but overstaffing is not the answer long term.

Anonymous member Anonymous member I hear what you’re saying, but property management isn’t comparable to most “skeleton crew” environments. We deal with a constant, unpredictable flow of strangers, prospects, residents, vendors, delivery drivers and yes sometimes homeless or thief’s who shouldn’t be on the property at all. That alone changes the risk profile. Which the 1:100 ratio maybe worked 20 years ago but that model doesn’t work anymore.
This isn’t about staffing for rare, hypothetical events. In this industry, threats, confrontations, false accusations and unsafe situations are not theoretical, they really happen.
I’ve personally experienced aggressive residents, threats to staff, maintenance entering units under PTE and being confronted and situations that escalated to armed security on site. Many of us have similar stories. That tells me this is a KNOWN operational risk, not some super rare hypothetical case. Which is not to say that we don’t have our boring and slow days as well...Anonymous member I hear what you’re saying, but property management isn’t comparable to most “skeleton crew” environments. We deal with a constant, unpredictable flow of strangers, prospects, residents, vendors, delivery drivers and yes sometimes homeless or thief’s who shouldn’t be on the property at all. That alone changes the risk profile. Which the 1:100 ratio maybe worked 20 years ago but that model doesn’t work anymore.
This isn’t about staffing for rare, hypothetical events. In this industry, threats, confrontations, false accusations and unsafe situations are not theoretical, they really happen.
I’ve personally experienced aggressive residents, threats to staff, maintenance entering units under PTE and being confronted and situations that escalated to armed security on site. Many of us have similar stories. That tells me this is a KNOWN operational risk, not some super rare hypothetical case. Which is not to say that we don’t have our boring and slow days as well.
Overstaffing isn’t the goal. Risk management is. Two people on site instead of one: Reduces liability (witnesses do matter), improves response to emergencies and resident issues, reduces burnout and turnover (which is also very expensive), protects both staff and residents, keeps the office operational instead of shutting down for tours, lunches or meetings as I said before.
From a business standpoint, the math is pretty straightforward because one lawsuit, one serious incident or one major claim will cost far more than an additional $35–40k/year in payroll. And that’s before you factor in turnover, workers comp, legal fees or reputation damage.
I’m not saying “staff endlessly”, I’m saying staff REALISTICALLY for the environment we actually work in. One that involves high public access, conflict resolution, cash handling, home entry and emotionally charged situations.
Owners and management companies have a duty of care. If the business model only works by running properties at the bare minimum headcount regardless of risk, that’s not efficiency, it’s gambling with people’s safety and the company’s liability.
And beyond safety and liability, there’s just the operational reality we’re all watching play out. This chronic understaffing creates burnout, burnout creates apathy and apathy shows up as disengaged leasing teams, falling standards and properties that are permanently behind. We see constant turnover, a revolving door of management companies and sites that never quite recover because they’re always trying to catch up with too few people.
This isn’t a people problem, it’s a staffing model problem. The lack of staffing is what’s unsustainable. If we want stable teams, better resident experiences and assets that actually improve instead of just surviving, staffing HAS to be part of the solution, not the first thing we cut to save a buck. Show more

Anonymous member I hear what you’re saying, but property management isn’t comparable to most “skeleton crew” environments. We deal with a constant, unpredictable flow of strangers, prospects, residents, vendors, delivery drivers and yes sometimes homeless or thief’s who shouldn’t be on the property at all. That alone changes the risk profile. Which the 1:100 ratio maybe worked 20 years ago but that model doesn’t work anymore.
This isn’t about staffing for rare, hypothetical events. In this industry, threats, confrontations, false accusations and unsafe situations are not theoretical, they really happen.
I’ve personally experienced aggressive residents, threats to staff, maintenance entering units under PTE and being confronted and situations that escalated to armed security on site. Many of us have similar stories. That tells me this is a KNOWN operational risk, not some super rare hypothetical case. Which is not to say that we don’t have our boring and slow days as well.
Overstaffing isn’t the goal. Risk management is. Two people on site instead of one: Reduces liability (witnesses do matter), improves response to emergencies and resident issues, reduces burnout and turnover (which is also very expensive), protects both staff and residents, keeps the office operational instead of shutting down for tours, lunches or meetings as I said before.
From a business standpoint, the math is pretty straightforward because one lawsuit, one serious incident or one major claim will cost far more than an additional $35–40k/year in payroll. And that’s before you factor in turnover, workers comp, legal fees or reputation damage.
I’m not saying “staff endlessly”, I’m saying staff REALISTICALLY for the environment we actually work in. One that involves high public access, conflict resolution, cash handling, home entry and emotionally charged situations.
Owners and management companies have a duty of care. If the business model only works by running properties at the bare minimum headcount regardless of risk, that’s not efficiency, it’s gambling with people’s safety and the company’s liability.
And beyond safety and liability, there’s just the operational reality we’re all watching play out. This chronic understaffing creates burnout, burnout creates apathy and apathy shows up as disengaged leasing teams, falling standards and properties that are permanently behind. We see constant turnover, a revolving door of management companies and sites that never quite recover because they’re always trying to catch up with too few people.
This isn’t a people problem, it’s a staffing model problem. The lack of staffing is what’s unsustainable. If we want stable teams, better resident experiences and assets that actually improve instead of just surviving, staffing HAS to be part of the solution, not the first thing we cut to save a buck.

Guest Insider From my understanding it’s 1 office member and 1 maintenance person per 100 units. We have closer to 300 units and we have 3 office staff and 3 maintenance people. Has always been this way in my area. My sister manages a community with nearly 600 units, she has a PM, APM, LM, and 3 LCs. And 6 maintenance

Guest Insider I manage over 300 doors and I’m a one woman show- we do have a leasing and Maintenace department so that helps my load a bunch

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Industry Resources

More Industry Resources

Industry Resources

More Industry Resources

🔥 I’m here at the Best Ever Commercial Real Estate Conference with my favorite business partner, Beckie Lambert… and I’m reminded why events like this are absolutely critical.

Yes, the workshops are great. You pick up new tactics, sharpen strategy, and learn what’s working right now in the market.

But honestly? The biggest shift isn’t tactical — it’s mental.

When you’re trying to do bigger deals, it can feel intimidating. You don’t even know how... Show more

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Great post!

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Recent court challenges to the Trump Administration’s proposed tariff expansion have introduced a familiar variable into the market: policy uncertainty.

While the tariffs were framed around a balance-of-payments emergency, most macro indicators do not reflect systemic distress. The U.S. dollar...

Read More...

Guest Insider Love having this kind of understanding. Thanks

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Posts like this make me wonder if people projecting the value of AI are missing critical pieces.

Just like Steve is alluding to, we can get tons of data that get us very close to the ultimate truth, but we often miss elements that direct observation can provide.

I've seen plenty of scenarios, both within business and outside of it, where all the pieces seem to be there, and yet it doesn't "feel" right, and you really can't understand that until you experience it.

I think we underestimate how many data points a human brain actually digests, and we will likely find out that automating or leveraging AI misses a lot of what we see with our own eyes.

---

Steve Furst

Multifamily Asset Management Data vs Drive Time...

In the world of high-stakes multifamily ownership, data is the baseline. I spend a significant portion of my life submerged in it… market reports, rent growth projections, and financial analysis for our portfolio at CVG PROPERTIES. But there is a massive difference between being "informed" and having "conviction."

The most undervalued superpower in asset management isn't a proprietary algorithm or a better spreadsheet – as hard as that is for a self-proclaimed Excel junky to admit.

Rather, it’s the willingness to get out from behind the desk and beat the streets.

Spending this week touring our Dallas assets with our new Portfolio Ops Manager, James Voelker, and our operations team at Magnolia Property Company, reaffirmed a fundamental truth: Hitting the pavement provides a better pound-for-pound ‘return’ than the same time spent in front of a spreadsheet. Data gives you the "what," but physical immersion solidifies the "how" and "why". This week, I traded the dashboard for the drive-by to solidify our market thesis in a way that simply cannot be done from 1,000 miles away.

For owners who want to move from passive observers to market authorities, it’s important to recognize what the data alone won't show you:

👋The Resident Pulse: Shaking hands with prospects and residents, and listening to their needs, wants, and friction points. You can’t model the sentiment of a submarket tenant base in a spreadsheet.

🔭The Power of Observation: Driving the neighborhood block-by-block. What businesses are opening/closing? Who is actually walking around at 8:00 AM? What is the quality of that new construction three blocks over?

💪The Competitor Edge: I’ve found that on-site competitors who may refuse to complete a market survey over the phone will often go so far as to hand you a rent roll (yes, really) if you simply walk in, smile, and hand them a business card. Face-to-face rapport beats a cold call every time.

🍽️The "Chuy’s" Factor: Serendipity is a strategy. Said another way, fortune favors the bold. While at lunch with our management team at Chuy’s, I sat next to a developer wrapping up a 70-unit deal in a submarket we’re bullish on. We got to talking and traded cards. His deal is off-market. Who knows what happens next? That connection doesn't happen in a BI platform or Excel.

It’s easy to manage a portfolio from a dashboard in Scottsdale. It’s significantly harder, but infinitely more valuable, to immerse yourself in your markets.

We expect our on-site managers to get out from behind their desks every day. That strategy is equally as effective for owners.

In the multifamily world, curiosity isn’t just a soft skill; it’s a competitive advantage.

Get on the plane. Drive the neighborhood. Talk to the people.

The best data isn’t always on your screen...It’s on the sidewalk.

Posts like this make me wonder if people projecting the value of AI are missing critical pieces.

Just like Steve is alluding to, we can get tons of data that get us very close to the ultimate truth, but we often miss elements that direct observation can provide.

I've seen plenty of scenarios, both within business and outside of it, where all the pieces seem to be there, and yet it doesn't "feel" right, and you really can't understand that until... Show more

Guest Insider It is all about balance. I know easier said than done. They should both go hand in hand. Often times, CM's, RPM's, AM's, etc. get so bogged down with paperwork, spreadsheets, and reporting the property and the people suffer which will ultimately reflect in the price be it income or expenses. Let's work smart and stop the reporting redundancy. Using AI or automation should not mean taking your hands off the wheel. From reporting to walking property you have inspect what you expect. Use the technology to help create the time to put "boots to the ground" because boots are made for walking and that's just what they should do 🎵 (all pun intended).

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Often times n the corporate world, the fear of conflict often looms large. Yet, there is something far more insidious than a heated debate: silence.The greatest threat to any organization is when its most passionate employees become quiet. In my world these individuals are the heartbeat of innovation; they are the ones who challenge the status quo & push boundaries because they care deeply about the mission & vision of the company. T ...

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Prior to each event that we cover at Multifamily Insiders, I try to narrow my focus to a handful of sessions that effectively strike at today's current challenges or are tackling a topic in a new and unique way. As we lead up to RETCON, that process was especially difficult, as there were an astounding number of elements that I could easily categorize as "can't miss". Here are a few I r ...

Can't comment or like? Make sure to log in or register for a free account!

Event starts in:

Latest Surveys

New Insiders