08/09/2023

Will a Condo/HOA Manager Shortage Affect Your Community?

It may shock you to learn that people entering the workforce today aren't crazy about jobs that require them to attend evening meetings and deal with angry people. Who could have predicted that?

Many experts say that's true. Here's what you need to know to ensure you don't run into an unexpected and prolonged search for a manager.

Management Industry Shifts

In Southwest Florida specifically, management companies are seeing somewhat of a shortage in finding candidates. Whether it's salary driven or something else, it's becoming very competitive there. And management companies are seeing staffing shortages everywhere. With the competitive nature of the employee market and the more communities that are built, the more competitive it becomes.

Also, if a community is looking for a lifestyle manager, it's looking for a manager skilled at higher levels with leadership and project management skills. And those candidates are looking for more money. They're saying, 'Pay me what I'm worth.' That's one side of the issue.

On the flip side, with condos and the challenges that have arisen after the condo collapsed in Surfside, a lot of managers are looking for jobs outside the industry. They're saying, 'I'd like to work remotely rather than dealing with the everyday property management environment.'

Finding managers, especially portfolio managers, meaning those who manage many communities at once, is always a big challenge. That's especially true in big cities like San Francisco where it's very expensive.

When you have a general manager who works on site, it seems the search process is taking longer. For some of the bigger projects and the luxury projects, they're bringing managers in from out of state. For high-end or bigger communities where managers aren't from California, salaries are above $200,000. Those types of communities may have to pay more to get a qualified manager.

If you're a community in a smaller city, such as Omaha, your manager's fee or salary won't be that much. But if you're in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York, if you want to have a pool of candidates, you're going to have to pay for it.

It's Hard to be a Manager

The squeeze also exists on the east coast. Clients and property management companies are both struggling to find qualified people. Young people aren't interested in killing themselves, working day and night at night meetings, not for the money they get paid.

Evening work gives potential managers pause. It doesn’t help for quality of life. Would it be good for communities to schedule meetings during the day? Sure. But is that a practical approach? No. Most Associations have working board members, and evenings are when those people have to have meetings.

Some property managers are pivoting to deal with the challenge. The larger property managers are trying to compartmentalize the business, where the property manager deals with operational issues, and the administration and finance is handled by someone else. Property managers are also putting into contracts that board meetings have to be by Zoom. And they've reduced the number of meetings they'll attend to two a year. Also, retired property managers are coming back on a part-time basis.

How You Can Keep a Good Manager

If Associations are increasingly going to be competing for the most qualified managers, what can you do to be an Association that managers want to manage? Here are four suggestions:

1. Let your manager do their job. Higher-level decision making is for the board, and day-to-day operations are for your management team. So allow your management team to be empowered to execute with things like approved spending amounts and templates managers can use.
   Don't micromanage managers because you'll end up with a manager who's afraid to make the smallest decisions because they're waiting for your board to give the OK.
2. Seek common ground. This is the biggest hurdle. Board members need to work together. Too often, with board politics, board members make management their casualty of war. That's a huge one. Boards need to stand united when they make decisions—and they need to make decisions. Often there's paralysis when it comes to decisions and that hurts the manager. Then there's the hero syndrome, where all the board members have 100 items they want to tackle, and they all think their ideas are important. They don't prioritize. You can't start everything and finish nothing.
3. Be patient. Boards' expectations have to be adjusted. Some boards are constantly emailing their manager. Sure, if it's an emergency. But perhaps your board can come up with a way to identify issues as tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3, with tier 2 and 3 issues able to be handled at a later time. If a manager is managing, say, five properties, they might have one day a week total for each community. Contact with the manager can't be constant because they're getting that from five different boards. If you find a property manager you like, you shouldn't burn them out. Try to be respectful. Or if you want that constant-contact ability, be ready to pay more.
4. Remember that you get what you pay for. A firehose of emails and requests can be overwhelming and isn't helpful in building a good relationship with your manager. Some boards complain all the time that they're not getting the service they want from their manager. But, you're paying for a portfolio manager who manages five other properties. You're getting one-fifth of their time. You can get more, but you'll have to pay more. What it boils down to is that you're going to have to pay more to get a good manager or to have your manager stay with you.

This got me to thinking. What’s your experience been? Are you having a hard time finding property managers? Have the rates gone up? Let me know. I think everybody would like to hear from different Associations talking about their experiences.

And this might be a good forum to talk about the quality of work that different property managers provide. Don’t be shy.