The Difference Between Residential And Commercial Property Management

The difference between residential and commercial property management boils down to the skill sets required to maintain day-to-day operations. Investing in real estate is an easy way to earn additional monthly income and see a solid ROI over time, but in order to solidify your success, hiring a quality property manager is crucial.

The day-to-day maintenance of a property is the difference between keeping an empty building that bleeds money and keeping a building that’s occupied at full capacity. One must always keep their tenants happy and the building in ship-shape.

Licensure

Most states, barring a handful, have some sort of licensure or educational requirement needed to work as a property manager or to run a property management business. These usually fall into two categories: real estate sales licenses and real estate brokers licenses. In addition to meeting needs as they appear, another key difference between commercial and residential property management is conducting risk assessment. Commercial risk assessment is much more difficult than residential risk assessment because commercial properties have a larger potential for hazards due to the varied nature of business operations.

Tenants

Another factor to consider in the residential vs. commercial property management debate is the people who occupy the property in question. While each residential tenant has different needs, those needs do not necessarily translate into dollar amounts the same way that commercial tenants’ needs do. A business’ success can be affected by the building or space in which they operate.

Take air conditioning, for example. A broken A/C unit will make residential tenants unhappy, uncomfortable, and uncool. But, this uncomfortable heat doesn’t directly lead to a loss of income. In a commercial property, however, broken A/C can affect not only the employees in a workspace but also potential clients that may or may not decide to do business with them.

Other Responsibilities

Commercial properties such as office complexes often need on-site managers to deal with tenant requests, perform maintenance, or take care of other issues. On-site managers should have a clear system to track ongoing tasks while tenants should have a clear idea of when any work can be expected to be completed.

As most commercial properties are only used during daylight hours, managers usually don’t receive midnight calls for broken toilets, leaky pipes, or noise complaints, unlike residential managers. They are also harder to calculate leases for, as residential properties have shorter lease agreements and are easily renewable. Commercial leases are longer, might have difficult extension options, and rent is reviewed annually with prices commonly increased by the CPI or some other fixed index. Commercial lease agreements are harder to break because of many termination clauses.

The SLT Difference

SLT Properties is the leading Greensboro property management firm offering expertise for both commercial and residential properties. We strive to provide quality services for both tenants and landlords, taking care of every detail from rent determination to maintenance requests. Call or click today and let us help you capitalize on your investment!