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What a manager is, and isn'tLesson 4 of 24

Academy/Community Management Companies

Portfolio vs onsite management

Two very different ways a management company staffs your community, and why the difference shows up in your fee and your response time.

Portfolio management assigns one manager to several communities at once, dividing that manager's time and focus. Onsite management dedicates one manager full time to a single community, allowing faster response to daily issues. Portfolio management tends to cost less and suit smaller associations; onsite management is more common in larger, amenity-heavy communities.

01

What each term actually means

These are two different staffing models a management company can offer, and they are not interchangeable. In portfolio management, "a dedicated manager oversees multiple community associations," working out of the company's office and splitting time among all of them. In onsite management, the manager "works primarily within one community," based on site at that community alone.

"Portfolio management is a management approach in which a dedicated manager oversees multiple community associations."

Source: HOA Portfolio Management: What Boards Should Expect, FirstService Residential / CondoManagement

If your proposal or contract does not say which model you are getting, that is the first question to ask before you sign, not after your first emergency.

02

The real tradeoff: cost versus attention

Portfolio managers "divide their time and focus" across every community they serve. That is not a criticism, it is the arithmetic of the model: the more communities on a manager's list, the less of their week belongs to yours. In exchange, portfolio management "is cost-effective and works perfectly for communities on a tight budget while still requiring full services."

Onsite management flips that trade. A manager based at your property "can respond more quickly to daily issues or concerns as they come up," because your community is the only thing on their desk. Exactly how many communities a single portfolio manager typically carries varies widely by company, anywhere from roughly five to twenty or more, so ask your specific candidate for their current caseload rather than assuming an industry norm.

03

Which model actually fits your community

Portfolio management tends to suit "smaller associations" and communities with fewer amenities, where full daily coverage would be more than the community needs or can afford. Onsite management is "more common in" large master-planned communities, high-rise condominiums, and luxury communities, where the volume of daily activity, staff supervision, or amenity operations justifies a manager who is there every day.

Neither model changes what a manager is allowed to do; it only changes how much of their attention your community gets for the fee you pay. Confirm which model a proposal is actually offering, and compare that against what your community's size and amenities actually require.

Check yourself

Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.

A 40-unit community with a slim budget and no shared amenities is choosing a management model. Which one fits the profile the research describes?

A luxury high rise wants someone who can respond quickly to daily on site issues. Which arrangement does the research favor?

Your community's portfolio manager also handles nine other communities this month. What does the research say this arrangement generally means for your community?

Sources

Community Management Companies

Comparing proposals from different companies? Write your own RFP so you can see exactly which model each one is actually offering.

Exact caseloads per portfolio manager, and what response time an onsite manager promises, are not standardized figures; both vary by company and by contract. Ask any candidate for their current numbers rather than assuming an industry average.