Midway through last year, Gittleman Management changed its name to FirstService Residential to recognize its 2011 affiliation with an international homeowners association management company based in Toronto.
Recently, the company said that it's opening a new Twin Cities-based corporate division that will manage individual rental units, mostly condominiums and townhouses owned by "accidental landlords" who don't have the experience, nor often the interest, in dealing with the day-to-day management of their property.
The division is one of several new property management companies that have sprung up in the Twin Cities and beyond to satisfy this new niche, which is being fueled by an ever-expanding rental market and a growing number of renters-by-choice. Andy Gittleman, the FirstService executive vice president and the second-generation Gittleman to run the company, shared his thoughts about the new venture.
Q: Several companies, including Cities Management and Renter's Warehouse, are already offering similar services. Why now?
A: Our company manages about 28,000 units in the five-county area, and about 7,000 of those units are non-owner-occupied. There is a huge demand for someone to manage individual condo unit for the guy who gets transferred to Texas, for example, but doesn't want to sell the condo he owns. The demand is there. People are scrambling to find people to manage their units.
Q: Massive institutional investors now own hundreds of individual rental properties. Are "accidental landlords" likely to be your biggest group of customers?
A: Yes.
Q: What's the biggest problem/issue that these inexperienced accidental landlords face when trying to manage their property?