Joe DownsCEO & Co-Founder, Belrose Storage Group. Founder, Storage Moguls.

Assessing Your Manager in the First Week

2 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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In your first week managing a property, assess your manager before deciding to keep them. Review move-ins, late fees, and maintenance processes, identify problem tenants, and you'll know within days whether the manager can do the job.

Chapters

In week 1, you need to assess the existing staff before you make any rash decisions. Your first meeting with the manager should be immediate, establishing your authority while opening lines of communication. You need to review their processes by asking how they handle move-ins, late fees, and maintenance. This will quickly identify any operational gaps. Ask them to identify problem tenants. Who's always late? Who complains? Who's storing maybe questionable prohibited items? You have a— you have one week to decide, keep or replace them. Don't fire them on day one unless you absolutely have to. Don't wait longer than a week though to make the final call on competence and attitude.