Property Management in a Changing Rental Market: Adaptation and Innovation

If you’re not already working with a property manager, now is the time to start. 

The rental market is shifting dramatically, especially in California. Not only are you navigating all the resident protections as an owner, you’re also working around shifting rental values, high demand, and changing demographics. 

As professional property managers, we’ve been required to adapt and innovate our systems, our processes, and our entire approach to how we lease, manage and maintain rental homes. The new market factors and forces have required us to invest in ongoing education and training. We have updated our own procedures on everything from screening to showings to turnovers. 

We are utilizing new technologies, seeking out innovative best practices, and talking to other property management professionals who are also working their way through the changes in local rental markets and the entire industry.

Here’s a look at how we’re making it work.

Managing Consolidation in the Property Management Industry

As you may have noticed, a lot of large, corporate companies are diving full into the rental market. Whether you’re renting out properties in Santa Rosa or Tampa, there’s a huge presence of large, consolidating companies that are buying up properties and renting them out to residents. There are also large companies interested in buying up smaller management companies for their portfolios. 

This has been an especially popular trend during the hot sales market, when investors and homeowners were eagerly selling their homes for higher prices than they would have imagined. Large property management corporations had the means to buy these homes and turn them into rentals. 

Property management is still a very local business, and it still requires communication and relationships. 

Increasing Laws and Regulations 

In the last three years, California property managers have had to adapt to:

• An eviction moratorium during the worst of the COVID pandemic.
• Statewide rent control.
• Just cause eviction laws. 
• New screening requirements affecting income verification and Section 8 residents. 

We know what kind of language a lease agreement needs. We understand the requirements involved in returning a security deposit, and we know the eviction process. More importantly, we know how to avoid evictions. 

With laws growing more complex, property managers have been providing invaluable expertise on how to operate profitably and in compliance with all the new regulations that seem to show up year after year.

Resident Relationships are Center Stage

According to The 2022 Property Management Industry Report, nearly half of all rental property owners decided to hire a property manager because of issues they were having with their residents. 

Managing these relationships is an important part of what we do. We see residents as a valuable part of our property management process. We cannot deliver rent and profit to our owners without our residents. So, part of the way we adapt and innovate is to provide a more welcoming and responsive resident experience. Attracting and retaining great residents is a priority for us. 

These are just a handful of the ways we’re being more responsive to our owners, investors, residents, and properties while the rental market continues to shift and settle. 

Interested in hearing how we can help you, specifically? Contact us at PURE Property Management.