Got approached by a property management company that wants quarterly audits on their 180 commercial properties. They're offering a decent retainer but I'm wondering about the logistics. How do you handle recurring portfolio audits without it becoming repetitive? Do savings opportunities really exist every quarter?
Property management company wants recurring audits
Joanne, we do monthly reviews for a 200-unit apartment management company. Most months are just monitoring for new errors, but we typically find 2-3 issues per quarter. The key is setting up automated alerts for rate changes and unusual usage spikes. It's steady income and less work than you'd think once you have the systems in place.
That makes sense Floyd. I was worried about running out of things to find but monitoring for new problems is smart. What kind of retainer structure did you work out? Thinking monthly fee plus percentage of new findings?
Exactly - $3,500/month retainer covering routine monitoring, then 30% of any new recoveries. Works well because they get ongoing value and we're incentivized to stay sharp. Just make sure your contract clearly defines what constitutes a 'new' finding versus ongoing monitoring.