Property management involves a lot of work. It’s a good thing we live in an age of advanced technology which provides the tools and resources to help make managing investment properties a lot simpler and easier. Among these, hiring a property manager or property management company is the most popular option.
While property management firms take a significant chunk of the monthly rent as professional fees (8% to 12% on average), investment property owners still choose to work with them due to their proficiency and expertise in the field. In fact, there has been a significant increase in the level of competition in this particular real estate field due to the increasing demand for rental spaces.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest property management companies in the U.S. and find out just how massive their operations are.
Greystar
Greystar was founded in 1993, with a clear vision of where it wanted to go. It knew that pursuing desirable real estate markets, staying on top of trends and hiring knowledgeable professionals would catapult it into the success it is experiencing these days.
Greystar started with managing 9,000 residences, but has increased that number to over 700,000 units and beds globally in 2022. These are primarily apartment homes, with a total portfolio of over $39.8 billion of assets under management, including over $18 billion of assets under development.
The founder, Bob Faith, is also the current CEO and Chairman. He is focused on raising new leaders and managers within the company to help them continue Greystar’s success.
In 2014, Greystar acquired the second-largest property management company, Riverstone Residential. This acquisition is what put Greystar head and shoulders above the competition in terms of size, giving it more than twice as many units as its largest competitor, Lincoln Property Company.
Greystar Real Estate Partners has been ranked the biggest apartment manager by the NMHC for the last 12 consecutive years.
Lincoln Property Company
Lincoln has a more diverse range of offerings for customers. Even though it started with just residential apartments, it has since expanded to include military, student, commercial, office and hotel buildings.
One of the older property management companies on the list, Lincoln was started in 1965. Within just 7 years of starting, it expanded from the United States into Europe and the Middle East. Its locations became well-known for their beautiful architecture and great locations.
As of 2019, Lincoln was the second largest multifamily manager in the country with over 204,000 units under management. This includes a great deal of military housing, as Lincoln Military Housing is now one of the largest military housing organizations in the country.
Pinnacle Property Management Services
Pinnacle is another one of the larger property management companies with nearly 4,000 employees managing apartment communities in 32 states across the U.S. It was founded in 1980 and now manages has over 170,000 homes.
While that does include residential units, they are not Pinnacle’s focus. Instead, the company takes pride in helping business clients manage their properties. Their clients include pension funds, private partnerships, investors, and insurance companies.
Pinnacle is a subsidiary of leading global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (acquired in 2020), and is one of the nation’s preferred third-party multifamily management companies. Headquartered in Frisco, Texas, Pinnacle has since customized its property management services for all asset types, including upscale, high-rise, new development, mixed-use, and value-added properties.
Pinnacle has 25 offices throughout the country, although they do not have a large presence in the northeast.
Equity Residential
Equity is the only other property management company with over 100,000 units in its portfolio. It focuses primarily on apartment buildings, but has an emphasis on minimizing environment impact that the other companies don’t focus on. Its GreenWorks program is making waves in the industry, encouraging others to get on board with taking actions to help the environment.
Equity also prides itself on extremely fast service times and a friendly environment to meet your neighbors. They try to go the extra mile when it comes to the comfort of their residents, rather than focusing on making a profit or growth.
The Bottom Line
All of the largest property management companies have over 100,000 units, but each company is unique. One thing we’ve learned at RentPost is that whether you’re managing one unit or 400,000, the important thing is to have a clear vision on what you want your company to focus on, keep your clients more than satisfied, and give tenants the best rental experience they can think of!