The Top 7 Issues in Property Management Today

Well managed properties produce the highest financial return to owners and offer the best service to the community.

As an apartment owner, you have unique knowledge of and experience with your properties. You found them, you bought them, and you can run them. Why entrust their - and your - success to Downing Property Management (DPM)?

This “Top 7” list describes problem areas that our existing clients regularly describe to us - and that we regularly help them manage. Do any of these sound familiar?

Today’s rapidly changing markets have made it difficult to set apartment pricing, and to “price to market” to achieve the best returns.
How can you determine the ideal pricing range for your apartments?

Time Management
Several apartments in your holding have vacated, and you need to spend time marketing them, showing them, qualifying prospective tenants and processing paperwork.

You’d like to visit all your apartments regularly -
regular inspections are a cornerstone of preventative maintenance, which can be a critical area in managing costs.
How can you ensure that your apartments are maintained regularly, consistently and predictably?

Cost Containment
Your insurance payments have increased significantly over the past few years. Fewer carriers are offering to insure apartments buildings, and the one who do may charge a hefty premium.
How can you acquire coverage at better rates?

Vendor Management
Your handyman left. Now you’re looking for a reliable replacement, in the middle of normal turnovers and ongoing day-to-day maintenance. You’ve gotten an emergency call in the middle of the night. You call your regular service, but they’re tied up on other jobs.
How can you make sure that you get quality assistance when you need it?

Tenant Payments
Ongoing late payments can take up management time and impact your bottom line with both early turnover and potential litigation or constant management of specific tenants.
What’s the best way to effectively manage late payments?

Booking and Tracking Issues
You need to track such things as repairs, rent collection, tenant correspondence and upcoming events such as inspections and lease renewals. As your holding grow, this can take more and more time and this record keeping is itself subject to various regulatory requirements.
What’s the most effective way to track and analyze your operational data?

Managing Regulatory Requirements
Today’s increased regulation can make compliance even more time consuming. For example, the new Red Flag rule can add an additional layer of complexity to your tenant record-keeping.

If you own property in Seattle, do you know the key to managing Seattle Public Utilities and City Light’s new FACT act-driven requirements? The requirements add additional complexity to managing utility accounts, whether you sign the tenant up for hem or have the tenant sign themselves up. But they also offer an opportunity that you shouldn’t pass up.

If you pull credit and consumer reports on prospective tenants, do you know your specific obligations as a landlord under local, state and federal credit reporting acts?
How can you best manage the thicket of regulation that surrounds today’s apartment building operations?

Why Downing?
Trustworthy management that Gets Results and Builds Profitability for Owners

Earning Your Trust
When you choose a property management firm, you entrust them with the care of some of your most valuable assets.

We believe that no matter what service we provide, without creating trust, we will not be able to help you maximize your potential returns as effectively. Earning our clients’ trust is the bedrock on which our wide array of services rest.

Downing Property Management earns your trust by:

•Listening carefully to understand your specific needs
•Communicating clearly and consistently with you, with vendors, and with tenants.
•Managing your property in the same manner that we manage our own properties
•Offering a unique degree of principal involvement in managing your properties. At Downing, our officers are involved directly in managing client apartments. The result? Experienced, effective management you can count on from people who - as owners themselves - understand your needs.
•Delivering clear, consistent, easy to understand reports that keep you abreast of all activities.

Understanding Your Specific Needs
We apartment building owners - we understand the unique issues and opportunities that owning apartment building offers. We also understand that a cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work unless you’re baking cookies. We take the time to listen to your specific needs and concerns and ensure that our programs can meet them.

Communicating Clearly and Consistently
Downing works to earn your trust by creating positive and effective communications with residents, resident managers and owners. Effective communication and timely follow through on actionable items helps us ensure the best possible returns over time.

Directly Managing Your Properties
Better management means more trouble-free maintenance, regular rent reviews to ensure optimal rents are being charged, marketing that attracts good tenants - and tenant application reviews that help you avoid bad tenants.

Direct, personal management by Downing’s principals includes:

•Personal inspection of every “turnover” monthly, creating an outline of necessary repairs
•Direct management of the contractors we choose to make those repairs
•Regular review of rents, and determination of new rents based on Market Rate Comparable, demographic reports and specific analysis of your market area.
•Proven marketing techniques that include street signs, newspaper advertisements and internet sites to attract a broad range of potential residents. We do not depend on resident managers or others to make these critical decisions

“...The Downings have managed my building since 1987 and Mr. Downing has done an excellent job. I trust him completely to maintain my investment...” - Leah R. Green

We are one of the only management firms in Seattle offering this level of direct, personal management. Downing understands that neglect costs property owners money! We also understand that acquiring good tenants is a cornerstone of successful property management. While a resident manager may show vacant units, only we approve your prospective resident after a complete and full background investigation, including:

•Credit Checks
•Follow up with job references and landlord references.
•A criminal background check, including a civil lawsuit check.

As part of successfully managing our building, we go to great lengths to ensure that you have excellent tenants.

Passing through Economies of Scale - Insurance
Our large portfolio of managed properties enables us to secure insurance at substantially discounted Group Rates, saving our management clients twenty-five to thirty percent on their property insurance, with better coverage.

One client recently remarked that:
“Having Downing Property Management manage my building after the insurance discount is one of the best deals I have ever made”

Efficient, Timely Maintenance and Preventative Maintenance
It’s important to fix problems quickly when they occur. It’s also critical to have a regular inspection and maintenance program to ensure cost-effective management. Downing maintains our client buildings by:

•Using a short list of reasonably priced, reliable and skilled maintenance personnel. We only use private contractors, and do not have to keep a maintenance “staff” busy with work, making this a more cost-effective service.
•Running a “Tight Ship” and keeping expenses down. It’s critical to make the right repairs in a timely fashion. When we do need to make a repair, we do it right the first time. Shoddy or incomplete repairs will cost more to repair later

We pass on to our clients our economies in such commodities as carpets, blinds or vinyl. We do not believe that making addition profits by marking up maintenance supplies and materials is in our clients’ or our own best interest. Accordingly, we do not participate in those activities.

Downing Property Management Group - By the Numbers
Properties Managed: 40
Units under Management: 728
Value of Managed Properties: Over $100 Million
In Business Since: 1976