How Progressive Urban Property Management Started

In 2019, Progressive Urban Real Estate President (PURE), David Sharkey, recognized the need for property management after having many clients ask for property management referrals and noticing an increase in investors buying income properties. In addition to investors, he also saw an increase in homeowners that were ready to move but did not want to sell their homes right away and instead were interested in renting their home to a tenant. 

In November of 2019, David joined forces with PURE realtor, George Rofail, and the two began to work together to start up a new division under PURE specifically for property management called Progressive Urban Property Management (PUPM). The new division works out of the same building as Progressive Urban Real Estate located at 4001 Detroit Avenue in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood.

Progressive Urban Property Management serves both single-family and multi-family rental properties in Cuyahoga County. PUPM was developed with the needs of the property owner in mind. The following is what makes Progressive Urban Property Management different than industry competitors:

• Focus is on keeping the tenants in their rental unit as long as possible. This is done by thorough applicant screening, fair market rental pricing, high tenant satisfaction, and an open line of communication at all times.
• There is no upcharge on repair materials for rental property owners.
• Vendor-negotiated rates to give owners low cost repairs.
• Competitive management prices.
• Thoughtful maintenance plans that are the best for owner profitability versus property manager revenue.

About PUPM's George Rofail

George grew up on the west side of Cleveland in Lakewood where he attended St. Ignatius High School in Ohio City. He later received his mechanical engineering degree from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland and his MBA from Penn State University. George's family had acquired a total of 24 rental units in both Lakewood and Cleveland. For many years, he helped with the family rental business starting in 1993 and took on the role as full time property manager in 2006. Outside of the family business, George owns a number of rental properties himself and is a licensed realtor with Progressive Urban Real Estate.

What to look for in a Property Management Company

Hiring a professional property management can eliminate a lot of headaches for rental property owners and can help maximize rental revenues.

With any vendor, it is important to select the right property management company. Here is how you should evaluate different property management companies:

• Responsiveness. Did the company pick up the phone when you called or answered quickly to your email? Did they call you back when they said they would? This says a lot about the responsiveness that you could expect.
• Service Knowledge.  Ask general questions on their services and how they do it.  How many people do they employ? What areas do they service?  What types of properties do they have experience with? How are repairs handled? How are owners charged?
• Fee Structure. Ask how their fees work. Do they charge a management fee if the unit is vacant?  Do they have a setup fee? What are the other fees associated?  What do they charge when doing a lease up?
• Ask about their systems.  Does the company have a website? Is it easy to follow and descriptive on their services? Do they use a system to manage their properties? Does the system have a tenant portal and an owners portal?
• How do they evaluate a rental unit's rental rate. Ask them to walk through their process on how they evaluate market rents. 
• Ask how many units they manage. It's wonderful if they manage thousands of rental units but how will you be serviced? Will they treat you as another owner? Be sure to find a property management company with the right balance.
• Licensed Realtors. In Ohio it is required that property managers are licensed realtors and that the company is owned by a broker.

For more information on Progressive Urban Property Management, click here to visit their website.