PMI VP Randall Henderson on The Pandemic’s Effect on Commercial Real Estate

Despite all signs pointing toward a decimated rental market, a recent article in Franchising.com shows that, across the board, it is only down 3–5% compared to last year. Randall Henderson, Vice President of Commercial and Residential at Property Management Inc.

, explained in the article that landlords have been extra communicative with their tenants to assess who is struggling and needs additional aid to make their payments. Henderson says he has noticed an increase in properties in need of management due to the pandemic and several independent landlords have consulted PMI to take over and handle management.

Landlords at commercial properties have taken a bigger hit. While 95% of residential renters have been able to make their payments, only 75% of commercial renters have been able to make payments. Henderson suggests many brick-and-mortar businesses may be in trouble and will face closures if they’re unable to adapt to a crisis that has no end in sight.

“As we discovered at the beginning of the pandemic, the future of real estate and property management is uncertain and will likely be tied to Covid-19 case projections and breakouts,” Henderson told Franchising.com. “As it stands, 30% of the commercial market is out of business and unemployment is stagnant. Without more significant intervention and government assistance to banks and renters it is difficult to say how long a residential recession will be postponed.”

To combat this crisis internally, Henderson says PMI is allowing property managers the option to take on multiple pillars of management.