OR… Do you want a combination of both?
As a long-time Southern California professional property management company, we at CREM Management get this question all the time! The question provides a topic of lively conversations among multi-family property management companies, commercial real estate property management companies, and residential property management companies.
Considering the size of the property management industry, it’s an important question.
“The US Property Management Market size is estimated at USD 81.52 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 98.88 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 3.94% during the forecast period (2024-2029). The demand is coming from the increased number of apartment buildings, which reached its all-highest level since 1987 with over 439,000 new units being built.” Source: Mordor Intelligence
What About Southern California?
The statistics are great to see. Property Management is a growing industry! But what about you here in Southern California? If you own a home you would like to rent out, an apartment building or two, or a few commercial properties, do you need to pay property managers?
What is the key issue?
Can property management software handle onsite or offsite property management?
Can you manage the property yourself, or are you better off with an organization that handles the “hard” stuff? Maybe you handle some of the “onsite” services and hire a firm to handle the offsite aspects of property management in Southern California.
CREM Management offers both onsite and offsite property management services.
What Is the Key Issue?
The main issue in all real estate ventures is leveraging the return on your investment (ROI) in your properties. If professional property management does that for you, it’s a sound business decision.
We want to define some terms for you to help you decide whether onsite, offsite, or a combination of the two will produce the highest ROI.
ONSITE vs. OFFSITE vs. IN-HOUSE
Many people need clarification on these definitions, and it’s good to know which is which.
ONSITE property management refers to providing services at the property site. For companies like CREM Management, these include repair and maintenance, apartment turnover services, and maybe rent collection, depending on the location.
OFFSITE property management generally denotes services that a Los Angeles area property management company like CREM Management would do “in the background.” We handle rent invoicing and rent collection through software (facilitating the process for both tenants and landlords), marketing the property, financial reporting, and tenant screening. We are adept at finding new investments to enhance your portfolio by determining your cash flow from monthly rental value, optimizing rental value for your property, and gaining insight into current market conditions. Alternately, we may suggest ways to trim your portfolio of deadwood. We can let you see where “stepping back from” (selling) a property might increase your overall ROI as we employ our professional real estate analysis for the Southern California market, including Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
IN-HOUSE property management reminds us of the “super” from the old black-and-white TV series. The building supervisor or “super” wears a gray-white t-shirt with cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. If he isn’t smoking, he has a nonfilter cigarette poked behind his ear, and a tool belt with all manner of keys, screwdrivers, and hammers weighing him down. You don’t have to smoke to be an in-house supervisor, but it's a full-time job if the building is big enough. We only recommend in-house property management these days if it’s your very first time at property management. But we think you’ll change your tune soon enough.
Can You Do the Offsite Portion With Property Management Software?
Yes and no.
Property management software can be specific to a single property type: residential, multi-family, short-term rentals, commercial properties, condo communities, etc. Or they can be an all-in-one. If you have the resources—the know-how, and the time and money to invest in comparing the dozens of programs—these might be an excellent way to go.
It is also wise to remember that property management software solutions are only as good as the people who use them. For a company or person who has done many of the property management tasks manually and is ready to have spreadsheets and cash flows automated and streamlined, the software might save hours of painstaking manual input. Or, it could vacuum hours out of one’s workday and cause ulcers if it’s too much too soon.
Alternatively, hiring a property management company to do your analytical work might still be a better bet. You can learn what they measure and do, and then go about your day with the confidence it is being handled professionally. One choice might be a company like CREM Management, which has been in the Southern California property management business since 2009.
Uniquely positioned with an in-house legal department, a CPA owner, and a sister company—The CREM Group that can facilitate buying and selling properties of all kinds—CREM Management doesn’t ask whether onsite or offsite property management is better. The question is, “What is the best choice for the highest overall ROI?” It might be to sell the property!
CREM Management, its sister company, The CREM Group, and its teams handle “normal” (non-probate and -trust) real estate as well as probate and trust real estate transactions in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in Southern California. For more knowledge about trust real estate alone, click here. For general information about terms and definitions relating to probate and trust see The CREM Group’s glossary.
Can Someone Handle Onsite Property Management with Property Management Software?
Maybe. Probably not.
In our post “What Sets a Great Property Management Company Apart From a Mediocre Management Company?” we discussed what really good property management companies do. And we spoke of renters having 24/7/365 access to your property management team. Your tenants need quick responses, but do they need someone on the property (an in-house person)? Can your tenants rely on you to get the plumbing repaired at 3:00 a.m.?
More importantly, can a property management software program call the plumber? Some can! But wouldn’t you rather have a human being handle that? In the future, our IoT (Internet of Things) homes, offices, apartments, cars, and refrigerators will be so interconnected we won’t need people. Then what?
Bottom Line
CREM Management believes in the human touch with trained, professional, flesh-and-blood people. The team uses software, of course, but we have been engaged in residential property management, commercial property management, and multi-family property management of Southern California real estate for long enough to know the market from outside a computer—where it counts.
We can answer more of your questions about onsite, offsite, and insightful property management and probate and trust homes in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, as well as in Ventura, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties.
My name is Mark Cianciulli. I own CREM Management and The CREM Group. Please contact me here, or feel free to contact us at The CREM Group for your probate and trust questions.
We care about being the best for you because your property is our priority.
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