What We Find When We Take Over a Professionally Managed Property

Most people assume that when we take over a property, it's because the owner was self-managing and got in over their head. That happens plenty. But just as often, we take over properties that were already being professionally managed — by another company.

Why does that happen? Usually because the previous manager just wasn't doing a good job.

We're not the cheapest option out there, and that's by design. It means we don't win every deal on price. But it also means the clients who do come to us are often coming from a place of frustration — and the onboarding process is where we get a front-row seat to exactly what went wrong.

Here's what we typically find.

Communication Breaks Down First

By the time an owner is ready to switch managers, communication has usually already fallen apart. And when we step in to coordinate the transfer? It rarely goes smoothly. We regularly get pushback from the outgoing manager — because, from their perspective, we're "stealing" their client. That attitude alone tells you a lot about why the client wanted to leave.

The Paperwork Is a Mess

Leases, ledgers, tenant contact information, keys, security deposits — during a transfer, all of it tends to show up incomplete, outdated, or missing entirely.

A big part of the problem is that most property management companies are still running on hardcopy paperwork. Leases, addendums, even rent receipts — all on paper. We run paperless from top to bottom, so when we compare our process to what we're inheriting, the gap is obvious immediately.

It's also surprisingly common to find that the outgoing manager doesn't even know where the keys are for units they're supposed to be managing. And more than once, we've discovered units that have been rented out with no lease in place at all.

Inspections Are the First Reality Check

One of the first things we do with any new property is a full unit inspection. Most tenants are caught off guard by this — not because it's unusual, but because it hasn't happened in a long time, if ever.

That first inspection tends to surface a backlog of deferred maintenance. It's not unusual for tenants to hand us a list of repair requests on the spot — things they'd already reported to the previous manager, sometimes more than once, that were simply never addressed.

Safety Compliance Is Often Ignored

Smoke detectors. Carbon monoxide detectors. Basic, non-negotiable safety equipment — and yet we end up buying them by the case, because most of the units we take over aren't compliant.

Furnace filters? Changed regularly? In our experience, rarely.

Lease Enforcement Has Been Neglected

It's also common to walk into a situation that requires immediate action — tenants who haven't paid rent in months with no follow-up, units that have sustained real damage, or tenants sitting on a dozen documented lease violations who were simply never held accountable.

The Bottom Line

None of this is meant as a knock on property management as an industry — there are plenty of managers doing this well. But the bar, in practice, is often lower than owners expect. If your current manager can't tell you where your keys are, whether your units are compliant, or when your leases actually expire, it might be time for a second opinion.

If your current management situation sounds a little too familiar, let's talk. Blair Allen Property Management serves owners across South Dakota, Montana, and Arizona.

Chris Twiggs
President, Blair Allen Property Management
📞 605-545-1218
✉️ chris@blairallen.com