Working with Property Management Firms
For students who want more options in their housing search, and dislike the decentralized nature of using online listing resources, property management firms are a second useful tool. Property management firms are businesses that run all the aspects of a residential facility that either it owns directly, or is managing on behalf of a client. In many cases, the firm also runs the facility’s marketing and outreach efforts.
Working with property management firms offers a number of advantages over using only online listing tools. First, most of the large apartment complexes in Boston (and almost every luxury apartment complex) is managed by a firm, so students who are interested in living in that type of housing will have to consider property management firms in order to reasonably location those options. Second, because property management firms are businesses, they are often more professional than small independent landlords, especially those who rent their property for small supplementary income. Most firms have very clearly stated bylaws, policies, and ways of doing business that can be refreshing for students who have not had success with Boston’s more casual housing market.
Management firms also usually have dedicated maintenance teams to keep their units in reasonable shape.
Things to keep in mind when working with Property Management Firms:
They can only rent the units they actually manage.
- Boston has a number of exceptionally large property management firms that manage thousands of apartments across the city, but even these giant firms cannot rent or lease apartments they do not manage. Unlike realtors, property management firms cannot provide the same sort of searching service for potential tenants. Firms that specialize in one and two bedroom apartments won’t be able to serve the needs of a student who wants a three-bedroom place.
Most big apartment complexes are run by a firm.
- Students who like the idea of living in a large apartment complex, or who are used to living in such places, should keep in mind that most of those types of apartments are managed by a property firm in Boston. Many of these units are also more expensive than the smaller buildings around them.
Firms are businesses with company policies and rules.
- This is both one of their major strengths for potential renters, and also a drawback. Most property management firms are full-on companies with staff, policies, and methods of doing business. It means that when students work with them, they can usually be much more upfront about the exact requirements the firm has for letting a student into a building and renting, and there isn’t as much confusion and ambiguity when working with a firm as there can be with an independent landlord. On the other hand, it also means that most firms can’t be as flexible as smaller landlords. If a small landlord who lives in his or her own building decides to let his or her next tenants bring a cat or dog with them, the only person that landlord has to consult is his or herself. Most property management firms cannot offer (unless there is a promotional deal going on) breaks or rebates in rent, start dates, utilities, or move-in costs.
Firms may generate a waiting list
- Depending on the type of portfolio the firm has, it may start marketing apartments many, many months before any of them will actually open. Larger firms with several hundred or over a thousand units also estimate a rough percentage of their apartments that will turn over each year, even if they have not yet received notice from any particular tenants. These firms may offer waiting lists or some similar type of advertising list to students who get started on their search for housing early.
You may need to be proactive in contact management firms
- Some large firms, especially those that rent property in many different neighborhoods of the city, are very focused on maintaining their facilities and making sure they have a low vacancy rate. This means that, unlike realtors, property management firms are not necessarily geared towards customer service during the housing search process. If you are interested in a building that a particular firm manages, or you are interested in a neighborhood where a particular firm operates a lot of property, most students will see more success in their search if they contact the management firm directly.
Firms may be centralized or decentralized
- Centralized management firms have one office or department that handles the rental process for most of their properties. Decentralized firms have separate rental offices for each of their properties, or for segments of their portfolio. When working with decentralized management firms, students may need to do a little more research about individual properties or buildings.
