What Is the Proper Way to Measure Mine, or My Property Management Company’s Management Performance?

Audience: rental property owners who want to understand how to evaluate their own performance as landlords—or their property manager’s performance—using fair, meaningful, and industry-standard metrics.

Owners sometimes judge property management performance based on things that are ultimately outside any manager's control (such as market rent swings, unexpected repairs, or tenant personal behavior).

Here's how to properly measure both your own performance and your property management company's performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the number of repairs an indicator of bad management?
No. Repair frequency is mostly tied to property age, construction quality, and prior maintenance history.

Should I evaluate performance based on how much rent my property collects?
Partially, but only when compared with similar properties and market conditions.

Does a tenant causing problems mean management failed?
Not necessarily. Even excellent screening cannot prevent every issue.

What are the best metrics to determine if management is performing well?
See the list below: vacancy rates, communication, compliance, financial accuracy, and tenant quality are key.

The Right Way to Evaluate Property Management Performance

Below are the metrics that truly show whether your property manager and you as an owner are doing well.

1. Vacancy Rate & Days on Market (Major Performance Indicator)

A well-performing management company should consistently minimize vacancy time, achieve competitive rent, market efficiently, and provide strong listing exposure.

Healthy target: Under 21–30 days in typical markets (seasonal variance applies).

If your home rents quickly at market rate, this is a strong indicator of effective management.

2. Tenant Quality & Placement Screening

High-quality screening leads to longer stays, fewer missed payments, less damage, and smoother communication.

Good screening doesn't eliminate risk, but it significantly reduces it.

To assess this metric, look at payment history, number of lease violations, renewal rates, and turnover frequency.

3. Communication & Responsiveness

Strong performance includes prompt replies, clear explanations, proactive updates, timely responses to owner questions, and transparency about issues or delays.

If communication is consistent and professional, management is performing well.

4. Maintenance Handling & Vendor Coordination

Good management demonstrates quick response to urgent issues, fair and transparent pricing, reliable vendors, preventative maintenance guidance, and accurate diagnosis and repair management.

Judge based on time from request to vendor dispatched, time to complete work, and whether repairs are resolved correctly the first time.

Note: Repair quantity is NOT a performance indicator. Older homes need more repairs.

5. Accounting Accuracy & Financial Transparency

Quality management provides accurate owner statements, on-time disbursements, clear repair invoices, immediate updates for unusual charges, proper trust account handling, and correct security deposit processing.

If accounting is consistent and error-free, that is excellent performance.

6. Compliance With State Laws & Lease Requirements

Your property manager should ensure smoke/CO detector compliance, Fair Housing compliance, proper notice delivery, accurate documentation, and legal procedures followed for move-in, renewal, and move-out.

This is a major liability shield for owners.

7. Renewal Rates & Tenant Retention

High renewal rates can indicate good tenant relations, fast maintenance handling, proper rent pricing, and clear expectations.

Renewals reduce turnover expenses, vacancy periods, and risk.

8. Transparency About Market Conditions

Good managers provide accurate rental value assessments, adjust pricing based on seasonality, share honest feedback about competition, and advise when upgrades will improve performance.

Bad managers simply tell you what you want to hear.

9. Problem Resolution Ability

Evictions, conflicts, and lease violations may occur. Performance should be judged by how quickly issues are addressed, how legally compliant the processes are, how well communication is documented, and whether owner exposure is minimized.

A skilled manager keeps your risk low even in challenging situations.

10. Long-Term Property Health & Maintenance Strategy

Great management companies advise owners on capital improvement needs, aging systems, preventative investment, budget planning for long-term repairs, and best ROI upgrades.

This helps protect the asset, not just collect rent.

The Wrong Ways to Measure Performance

Owners sometimes (understandably) misjudge performance using these factors:

Number of repairs requested - Repairs reflect property condition, age, and tenant behavior, not management quality.

Whether a tenant ever complains - Even perfect homes generate maintenance requests.

How "nice" tenants feel - Good management involves both empathy and enforcement, not just friendliness.

Rental rate alone - Market conditions heavily influence pricing.

Comparing your property to a friend's property - Homes vary drastically in age, quality, location, and layout.

How to Measure Your Own Performance as an Owner

Owners also play a role in successful property management.

Strong owner performance includes:

Approving repairs quickly
Maintaining reasonable expectations
Following Fair Housing rules
Funding reserves for major repairs
Making ROI-friendly upgrades
Keeping insurance updated
Setting market-aligned rent expectations

Good owner performance leads to fewer vacancies and happier tenants.

Summary: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Property Management

Vacancy rate
Tenant quality
Response and resolution time
Accounting accuracy
Legal compliance
Renewal rate
Maintenance efficiency
Communication quality
Long-term asset planning

If your management company is strong in most or all of these, performance is excellent.