News

Most owners evaluate a property management company once, at the point of hiring, then move on to other priorities. The owners who consistently outperform the market are the ones who keep evaluating and benchmarking their manager well past that first year.

In a two-part episode of IMG Insights, Investors Management Group’s educational video series, Karlin Conklin, Principal, Co-President and COO at IMG-Parktown Living, joins Dave Mikkelsen, Director of Investor Relations at IMG, to walk through what owners should expect from a property management company and what it looks like when a manager actually delivers on it.

The Slow Bleed

Operations are where NOI grows or erodes. Your manager makes decisions on leasing, maintenance, collections, and vendors every day. When their attention drifts, the consequences might not show up right away. Vacancy is the symptom owners often notice first, but poor management can cost you so much more than that: deferred maintenance that turns small repairs into capital projects, vendor relationships that serve the manager’s convenience instead of the owner’s budget, slow unit turns, and loose accountability on staffing and expenses. The bleed is slow, so by the time it shows up clearly, months of value are gone.

Five Qualities Owners Should Expect

In Part 1, Karlin and Dave set their ownership standards.

1. Proactive communication with no surprises and no chasing
2. Forward-thinking tactics from a manager that innovates rather than follows
3. Alignment, meaning the manager thinks like an owner instead of a vendor collecting a fee
4. Risk management and asset preservation handled before problems surface
5. Performance benchmarks backed by real numbers and real-time reporting

What Delivery Looks Like in Practice

Part 2 moves from theory to application through a San Antonio takeover. A walkthrough of every unit, file, and vendor contract confirmed the pattern: lease expiration notices had not gone out for months, unit turns were sloppy, residents were frustrated, and the property carried a D rating on ApartmentRatings.com, the largest source of verified apartment reviews.

Within the first year under new management, physical occupancy improved from 87% to 94%, and vacancy loss dropped from $260,000 to $71,000. Payroll expenses fell 11%. Marketing costs dropped 72% while leasing improved. NOI gained more than 10% in a soft market, owner distributions resumed, and the resident rating climbed to a B+. The previous manager had the same opportunity to catch these issues and either missed them or chose not to act.

The Questions to Ask Today

Is your occupancy and rent performance benchmarked against comparable properties? How long are your unit turns taking against the market? Does your manager think about NOI the way an owner would? Are you getting real-time financial data or month-old reports? Is your manager hiring and training quality people?
If the answer to any of those is no, that is a signal to act.

To watch both episodes, click here.

Learn More About Parktown Living Property Management and IMG Advisory Services

Parktown Living is an affiliate of IMG, which allows our clients to benefit from both best-in-class property management and institutional-grade asset management advisory services. If you are a multifamily owner looking for a partner who protects performance today and positions your assets for value recovery tomorrow, send us a message below and our team will be in touch.