When you’re looking for a San Jose property management company, one of the most important things to consider is their capacity. You also need to measure their experience. If you hand your investment properties over to a company that’s understaffed and under qualified, you could find you’re not going to have the best experience. 

Today we’re talking about what a comfortable ratio might look like, and we’re also sharing how we approach this balance of work at Cornerstone Property Management. 

Unit to Staff Ratios in San Jose Property Management 

Generally, a good ratio that’s widely accepted in professional property management circles is that one person can effectively manage between 100 and 200 units. That may seem like a wide range, but you have to consider that if the property manager is very experienced and has an active support team to handle things like tenant phone calls and oversee self-showings, the 200 number is reasonable. If it’s a property manager with less knowledge and experience, the 100 number is a better fit because it will allow for extra attention per unit. 

It’s also important to consider whether all the units are in one building or spread out through the city. San Jose is a large rental market with diverse neighborhoods. We manage single-family homes as well as multi-family properties. If one client has 50 units in a single apartment building, managing all 50 of those is a lot easier than leasing, maintaining, and managing 50 homes in different neighborhoods throughout the Bay area. 

Consider Support Structure and Administrative Staff 

When you ask your potential property manager about unit to staff ratio, ask about other team members and their roles. If there’s someone on staff to answer all phone calls and respond to all inquiries from tenants and owners, that’s going to free up a lot of time for your property manager. When there’s a dedicated accounting staff and someone to oversee maintenance scheduling, your property manager can likely take on more than 100 units. 

Ask about how responsibilities are divided up. Is your property manager responsible for everything that happens at your rental property, or does that professional have some extra support?

Cornerstone Property Management and Staffing

At Cornerstone Property Management, we are very well-staffed. We have a team of highly qualified and experienced property managers, and we also have a support staff that helps out with administrative functions, communication, and taking care of things like accounting statements and lease execution. 

This makes a difference because it means that when you call or send an email, you can expect an immediate response. You won’t have to wait for weeks for your property manager to get back to you. We can keep up with our work load, and we’re always measuring the units we have against the staff we have to manage them.

We also invest heavily in technology, which helps our property managers to automate a lot of the work they need to do on a day-to-day basis. This technology never takes the place of personal service, however. 

Always ask a potential San Jose property management company how many units they manage and how they divide the work up among their staff members. You need to know where you’ll stand and whether you can expect responsive and accessible management. 

Feel free to contact our team with any questions at Cornerstone Property Management.