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No smaller affordable property management company (PMC) operator needs to read an article online about how the bigger companies enjoy a host of advantages. Major companies get more headcount, larger operating budgets, and wider access to technology—including key innovations like big data and AI, right. It turns out the most important of these advantages, AI, is no longer a luxury reserved for big operators with deep pockets. New tools, including ...

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We ripped out 2 bath cabinets, cut out mildew, did mold remidiation, replaced, repainted and cleaned the area in 2 adjacent apartments and THAT was $6k.
How is a wet vac and fans $6.7k and what recourse do we have? I'm ready to raise hell over this.

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Monique

Guest Insider Yes. The most expensive option. I only use them when we are dealing with with things like bodily fluids or extreme issues/hazards... and then only when an estimate has been approved.

Antonio Leon I'll keep that in mind for using them when dealing with these hazards. Thanks!

Guest Insider That company is known to be overprice. I'd suggest getting your own equipment next time. If it was just running a wet vac and dehumidifiers for 7 days.

Guest Insider I think everyone has been caught off guard once or twice by Servpro. As others have stated, an estimator should have given you a minimum cost for water extraction, but additional charges for equipment use depends on how long so rates would vary. Simpler to find a local company with more reasonable rates, however, with their larger workforce they are available for after hours emergencies and during holidays, but I would advise using them for small living areas unless we're talking about a pipe burst, sprinkler head, fire damage, bodily fluids,and even mold remediation. Any idea what caused the water damage?

Robert Edwards ServPro is a large National Franchise & often one of the 1st call emergency Remediation Companies, because they operate 24/7. There are at least (6) different Franchise destinations, just in the Indianapolis, Indiana area...maybe even more.
Unfortunately, they charge hefty prices because of this, but they even send Techs from as far as Chicago to attend IIRC classes here in Indy.
They follow the Remediation 101 playbook verbatim & will execute the demolition & dry-out protocol by the book!
Most of the time they do execute a professional Remediation plan & will respond immediately, but the price is based on insurance estimates, & doesn't typically meet Multifamily self insured budgets. Most of the time, there really isn't anyway to accurately quote emergency water Remediation, because that's not the nature of water damage.
With that said...Yes, they charge a lot. Sometimes more than the restoration portion of the job.
Around Thanksgiving, they demolished at least 200-sheets of drywall, a...ServPro is a large National Franchise & often one of the 1st call emergency Remediation Companies, because they operate 24/7. There are at least (6) different Franchise destinations, just in the Indianapolis, Indiana area...maybe even more.
Unfortunately, they charge hefty prices because of this, but they even send Techs from as far as Chicago to attend IIRC classes here in Indy.
They follow the Remediation 101 playbook verbatim & will execute the demolition & dry-out protocol by the book!
Most of the time they do execute a professional Remediation plan & will respond immediately, but the price is based on insurance estimates, & doesn't typically meet Multifamily self insured budgets. Most of the time, there really isn't anyway to accurately quote emergency water Remediation, because that's not the nature of water damage.
With that said...Yes, they charge a lot. Sometimes more than the restoration portion of the job.
Around Thanksgiving, they demolished at least 200-sheets of drywall, a proportionate amount of insulation, trim & select cabinetry, plus provided dry-out equipment. I think they charged that community somewhere around 150K & took 2-1/2 weeks to complete the service. We charged them about 89K L/M to replace everything, but could have easily charged double if we wanted too. We finished our Restoration piece in 2-weeks, and had everyone returned to their units before Christmas.
We have followed behind their Remediation services on numerous occasions, all over the country, and that is about what they charge. You should see their restoration bill, if you decide to go in that direction. They usually contract that part out, and it's about double of what I mentioned above.
Even though we own a substantial amount of that same Remediation equipment that any of their Franchises own, most of our Clients don't know that, because there is no way we are going to slide down a pole at 2am over Christmas to address a frozen water or fire system line flood, like they would.
No thanks, we'll just wait on the Restoration after they tell you how much they'll charge! Just facts! Show more

ServPro is a large National Franchise & often one of the 1st call emergency Remediation Companies, because they operate 24/7. There are at least (6) different Franchise destinations, just in the Indianapolis, Indiana area...maybe even more.
Unfortunately, they charge hefty prices because of this, but they even send Techs from as far as Chicago to attend IIRC classes here in Indy.
They follow the Remediation 101 playbook verbatim & will execute the demolition & dry-out protocol by the book!
Most of the time they do execute a professional Remediation plan & will respond immediately, but the price is based on insurance estimates, & doesn't typically meet Multifamily self insured budgets. Most of the time, there really isn't anyway to accurately quote emergency water Remediation, because that's not the nature of water damage.
With that said...Yes, they charge a lot. Sometimes more than the restoration portion of the job.
Around Thanksgiving, they demolished at least 200-sheets of drywall, a proportionate amount of insulation, trim & select cabinetry, plus provided dry-out equipment. I think they charged that community somewhere around 150K & took 2-1/2 weeks to complete the service. We charged them about 89K L/M to replace everything, but could have easily charged double if we wanted too. We finished our Restoration piece in 2-weeks, and had everyone returned to their units before Christmas.
We have followed behind their Remediation services on numerous occasions, all over the country, and that is about what they charge. You should see their restoration bill, if you decide to go in that direction. They usually contract that part out, and it's about double of what I mentioned above.
Even though we own a substantial amount of that same Remediation equipment that any of their Franchises own, most of our Clients don't know that, because there is no way we are going to slide down a pole at 2am over Christmas to address a frozen water or fire system line flood, like they would.
No thanks, we'll just wait on the Restoration after they tell you how much they'll charge! Just facts!

Robert Edwards We have them in SC too. I never use them because they’re a rip off.

Anonymous member Was pricing not discussed prior to having the work done?

Guest Insider They are an insurance fire/water restoration company. Do not call them unless you have an extremely large claim.

John cox Yes they are expensive. They are expensive because they are on call 24/7 and they do it right the first time. You have 24 hours to get carpet and walls dried out before mold starts to form. You are paying for the equipment, the people and the expertise. That bill is nothing compared to litigation 1-2 years down the road because you have unaddressed mold issues in your walls. My previous company made it policy to call remediation for all serious floods because we dealt with the litigation.

Guest Insider ServPro are amazing at what they do, but they’re notoriously known for doing the most AKA being the most expensive option. However, you do get the peace of mind with knowing it was remediated the right way. I think they know that when they get called out, an insurance claim is typically involved so they can charge whatever and get away with it.

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In recent discussions, I've noticed a surge of investment-related posts in this group. Many of us may not yet be at that level in terms of experience or current roles within multifamily management. While investment insights are valuable, it's essential to remember the diverse aspects of multifamily management and real estate.

I'd like to shift our focus back to operations for a moment. For those of us navigating the daily challenges that come with the... Show more

Monique

Brent Williams Cara, Mathew is looking to grow into a regional role. Any advice you can give him here in the group?

Cara Laisure Brent Williams Matthew, If your goal is to be a Regional within a year, start operating like one now. Master your P&L. Think portfolio, not property. Volunteer for tough assignments. Develop people, not just processes. And learn to translate operations into ownership language. The title follows the competency. Happy to share more one-on-one if you wish 🤩

Brent Williams Cara, thank you!

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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

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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?

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Monique

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

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Reduce risk! 🤣

Monique

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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

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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 and Monique

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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 ...

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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

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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...

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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?

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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

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🔥 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

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Great post!

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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...

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Guest Insider Love having this kind of understanding. Thanks

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