Mike Pratt – Property Manager for Greene Realty Streamlines Rental Process

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When Mike Pratt moved from Yakima to Olympia nearly twelve years ago, he didn’t just change locations. He also switched careers, entering the real estate field and eventually joining the Greene Realty team where he oversees the property management division.

The move was a wise one. “I enjoy working with people and that’s why I got into this,” he says. “There’s always something new and I enjoy the day to day challenges, whether it’s smoothing over a communication issue between an owner and a tenant or dealing with late night maintenance calls. Every day is different.”

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Mike Pratt offers Property Management services at Greene Realty, facilitating the rental process for owners and tenants. Photo courtesy: Greene Realty.

Coordinating communication is a huge part of his role. “Things always come up,” he says. “Our clients are the property owners but we have a working relationship with the tenants and owners alike. We’re here to take care of all parties and streamline the process.”

Typically, patterns occur in cycles. “Every month we deal with renewing leases, lease extensions, people moving out, and new residents,” he says. “With new homes, we deal with preparing them to be rented as well as marketing.”

Going through a property manager benefits both sides. In particular, having a property manager eliminates the need to deal with some of the more uncomfortable aspects of landlord/tenant relations.

For owners, there’s the confidence and convenience of having their property professionally managed. “We take care of everything, from collection of rents, late night calls, dealing with late rent, and thoroughly screening potential tenants,” he says. “Owners can be skeptical about letting go of their property knowing it’s going to be arm’s length, but after a little bit of time’s gone by they develop a level of trust.”

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Mike Pratt and his family moved from Eastern Washington in 2004 and appreciate the Olympia community. Photo courtesy: Mike Pratt.

Having a property manager results in a higher quality of tenants due to the screening process and fewer legal problems, shorter vacancy cycles, better tenant retention, and a tighter rent collection process. Perhaps the biggest benefit is less overall stress for owners.

On the other side of the equation, many tenants have had negative experiences with private owners, he says. “They may have dealt with poor communication and a lack of follow-through or not having issues taken care of in a timely manner. We pride ourselves on excellent communication, follow-through and attention to detail.” Tenants can rest easy knowing that the property they rent is being tended to. In Pratt’s experience, many prefer to rent from owners who use a professional management company.

Both parties also benefit from the third-party vendors that Pratt brings in to handle screening, lease documents, and evictions should matters get to that point. He hand-picked each vendor with quality as the top criteria. For lease documents, he uses Rental Housing Association of Seattle. “They have an attorney who specializes in landlord issues on their staff,” he says. That means that owners reap the benefit of having someone on call who is up to date with state and federal landlord/tenant laws and are therefore less vulnerable to a lawsuit.

“In general, we’ve implemented best practices and systems from colleagues across the nation,” says Pratt, who belongs to the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM).

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Mike Pratt says the Olympia area includes both great diversity and a small-town feeling, despite its size. Photo courtesy: Mike Pratt.

He originally began working as a commercial sales and leasing agent after the move from Eastern Washington, eventually doing commercial appraisal work for Kidder Mathews. Meanwhile, Jim Greene started Greene Realty as a residential sales company in 2005 and began to diversify. Pratt and Greene were introduced by a mutual friend and in February 2012, Pratt joined the Greene Team as a property manager.

Over the years, he’s seen perceptions about owning versus renting undergo a sea of change. “It used to be the American Dream to own your own home,” he says. “With the downturn in the economy, there’s been a paradigm shift.” As the market has rebounded, owners have begun selling more properties.  “It’s affecting all of us regionally. There have been more sales due to property values increasing.”

Since moving to Olympia, Pratt says he hasn’t looked back. “What I really enjoyed about moving here was being in a community with a lot of diversity,” he says. “The Olympia area still has a small-town feel and a sense of community and the people are really friendly. It’s been a breath of fresh air.”

For more information about Mike Pratt and property management at Greene Realty, click here.  To contact Mike, call 360-528-4166 or email mikepratt@greenerealty.com.

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