Buying a property on the south side of Chicago often seems like a no-brainer on paper, especially to an out-of-town investor. The rental properties are far cheaper than the rentals on the north side, and the rental income percent of purchase price is usually higher than the south side counterpart of the north side of Chicago. But what real estate investors who have years of experience with investment properties on the south side of Chicago know is that the property management services that you hire to take care of your rental properties make the difference between success and losing money. Below, we are going to compare the best property management companies that service the south side of Chicago. We are using both their Google rating, and our own experience, to rate these companies.
Chicago Style Management: rating on Google as of publishing this article, 4.5 stars: Obviously, we are a bit biased, but our team members grew up on the south side of Chicago and have years of experience managing older C and D class buildings in C and D class areas. Chicago Style Management is a full-service property management company that services its clients on both the south side of Chicago and the south suburbs of Chicago. Chicago Style Management has expertise in affordable housing, Section 8 housing, rehabbing properties, leasing, and financial reports. Their tenants love them for their ability to quickly solve any maintenance issues that come up, and owners love them because they are able to handle everything from accounting, to helping save on taxes, to getting the city of Chicago building violations resolved. Not only do we have 4.5 stars on Google, but we are also an A+ BBB accredited business.
HomeRiver Group/ Pure Property Management Chicago: Google rating 3.7 stars and 4.4; it looks like they have a few different pages on Google. This is by far the largest 3rd-party property management firm to enter the Chicago market. The biggest issue is that this company, formerly two companies now merged, lacks a true understanding of the south side of Chicago and the issues that arise from the unique homes and tenants in those areas. Also, when upper management lives multiple states away, the local team members are often able to hide deficiencies. We have seen homes go unrented for over a year, and worse yet, we have heard from owners that a turn they paid for was never done. The ability to manage across the country allows them to offer lower prices; however, property management firms without a strong grasp of the local market are ill-equipped to address the unique challenges on the south side of Chicago.
Marblestone Property Group: 4.9 star rating on Google. They are another premier management option for a small portion of the city on the southeast side. Their rental property owners love the team of professionals who manage their investments. Their in-house maintenance team is a premier group on Chicago's South Side, with some of the shortest turnaround times for requests. They find good tenants for their clients' investment property. The only caveat to their service is that they can offer such a quick turnaround by limiting their service area to a very specific part of town.
PIP Realty: 3.6 stars on Google. This property manager specializes in boutique multifamily properties. From their google reviews, it appears that their tenants have some valuable insights into how they handle maintenance requests in a timely manner. They often look to blame the owners though, meaning that they care more about saving an owner a few dollars by not doing a repair than keeping a building in top condition to keep its value up. This Chicago property manager may manage a large number of properties; however, their star ratings show a huge difference in satisfaction based on which manager a building is assigned to.
Medallion Property Management LLC: 3.7 stars on Google. I have never personally spoken with or dealt with this company, so this review is more about their Google ranking than anything else. The latest reviews show a lack of concern for completing maintenance requests and poor communication with both owners and tenants.
When looking for top-rated property managers, you need to look beyond the monthly management fee and consider their local market expertise as well as their ability to keep maintenance costs down while keeping up with your property maintenance. Some of the largest property management companies have started to enter the Chicago market but do not have real boots on the ground when it comes to management. This can be a huge disadvantage compared to working with a local company like Chicago Style Management, which has native Chicago south-siders as both team members on the ground and in management roles.
The property management industry has come a long way over the years. When we started managing on the south side of Chicago using accounting software with an owner's portal just 5 years ago, many of our competitors were still recording rent by hand. Whether you own single-family homes, residential, commercial properties, or commercial spaces like storefronts, hiring the best property manager to do the day-to-day operations while you work your 9-5 or live your best life can be the difference between a stress-free retirement and filing bankruptcy.
Here are some questions you should be asking when interviewing for a new Chicago property manager:
1) How do you do tenant screening? Fraud is at an all-time high. If your property management company does not have the latest tools to keep up with the newest fraud, the odds that a potential tenant will become a potential eviction are much greater. At Chicago Style Management, we use state-of-the-art AI to scan a tenant's bank account and review their pay stubs to verify they are legitimate. We also use the old-school method of reviewing tenants with their past landlords to ensure they are not a problem for the current landlord.
2) Maintenance response time: How fast can a maintenance team respond to an emergency? How long does it take them to deal with non-emergencies, and are they capable of dealing with major projects? Chicago Style Management is a licensed general contractor and pest control company, meaning we have the team and capacity to take on small handyman jobs all the way up to full gut rehabs for our clients.
3) Financial reporting: How often does the management company give you financial reports? Our software at Chicago Style Management allows you, as an owner, to see all of your reports from cash flow to delinquency in real time, whenever you want to look at them. Make sure your management company isn't hiding the details of your finances because by the time you get access, it may be too late to solve the problem.
4. Property Management Fee and Leasing Fee: This really should only be used as a tie breaker, because here is the deal: if we charge you twice as much as the other guy, but the other guy costs you thousands of dollars in maintenance and value to your building for lack of maintenance, then did you really save any money or did you just lose a lot? There is a reason a Mercedes costs more than a Honda. Good service can be costly up front, but it will save you and make you more money in the long run.
Thinking about buying a new property or changing management for your current property? Get a free rental analysis from Chicago Style Management and see if you are leaving money on the table by keeping your rents too low.
Want to learn more about Chicago's best property management company? Give us a call 224-601-5415.
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