As property management companies go through budget season, a familiar pattern emerges. Finance teams finalize maintenance budgets knowing that 10-20% of expenses will go unspent because open positions are too difficult to fill. There’s an industry-wide acknowledgment that the current model for maintenance team structure is broken. 

The problem runs deeper than hiring challenges. Property managers routinely budget using the same flawed assumptions year after year: flat-line demand and 100% staff capacity. Meanwhile, site-level turnover can reach 40%, and maintenance demand fluctuates based on seasons, unit turns, and unexpected emergencies. 

Now is the time to break away from this cycle. Through maintenance automation and strategic organizational realignment, property management companies can create sustainable staffing models that actually work. The solution requires restructuring maintenance teams to align budget authority with operational accountability. 

The Maintenance Team Structure Problem: When Budget Authority Doesn’t Match Operational Reality 

Industry professionals report that most maintenance technicians report to maintenance leaders, but the budget for their positions typically sits with property managers. This creates what’s known as the “golden rule problem” – whoever has the gold makes the rules. 

Consider this scenario: A maintenance leader designs a comprehensive training program to improve triage skills across five properties. They plan to pull three technicians from each building for a two-hour session that could dramatically improve service delivery. But suddenly, they’re operating in “permission mode,” asking five different property managers to release staff. 

When emergencies hit buildings one and three, the training gets gutted. The maintenance leader ends up running sessions for half the team, constantly playing catch-up. Unfortunately, “multiple bosses” creates organizational limbo. 

The impact on technician career path development is significant. When your career advancement depends on one person but your paycheck comes from another, you’re caught in a system that lacks clarity. For maintenance technicians seeking long-term career growth, this ambiguity creates unnecessary risk and uncertainty. 

Budget season offers the perfect opportunity to address this misalignment. Property management companies can consider restructuring budget authority to match operational accountability. When maintenance leaders hold budget responsibility that aligns with their team development goals, everyone benefits. 

The Big Rocks Philosophy: Why Current Budget Models Miss the Mark 

Stephen Covey’s jar analogy applies perfectly to maintenance budgeting. Fill the jar with sand first (small operational tasks), and there’s no room for rocks (strategic priorities). Start with big rocks – preventative maintenance, capital projects, resident service speed – and everything else finds its place. 

In property management, the big rocks are asset preservation and resident satisfaction. These priorities drive long-term value creation, whether you’re focused on increasing asset value for long-term holds or preparing properties for sale. But when understaffing forces reactive maintenance, you’re constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul. 

Here’s how the cycle works: A water leak in one unit becomes a two-unit flood because response time was slow. Hotel bills get pulled from the capital budget. The maintenance team scrambles to address the emergency while other work orders pile up. Asset preservation suffers, residents get frustrated, and you’re stuck in an expensive reactive loop. 

The irony is that when maintenance positions sit vacant, net operating income actually improves because payroll expenses drop. The profit and loss statement looks better, so the staffing problem doesn’t surface as a priority. But in reality, you’re sacrificing strategic priorities for short-term financial metrics. 

Maintenance automation offers a solution by enabling fewer staff to handle more requests more effectively. Technology can bridge the gap between ideal staffing and budget actuals, allowing teams to prioritize the big rocks while still managing day-to-day operations. 

The question of which budget funds this technology investment highlights exactly why budget authority alignment matters. When maintenance leaders control their budgets, they can make these strategic technology investments without seeking permission from multiple property managers. 

Why the Traditional Maintenance Team Structure Creates Budget Chaos 

The industry standard “1-to-100” ratio assumes one maintenance technician for every 100 units, based on flat-line demand and 100% staff capacity. In reality, neither assumption holds up under scrutiny. 

Maintenance demand fluctuates significantly based on seasonal changes, unit turnover cycles, and unexpected equipment failures. A staffing model where the number of maintenance technicians remains constant is inherently suboptimal. You’re either overstaffed during quiet periods or underwater during peak demand. 

The capacity assumption is equally problematic. With site-level turnover at 40%, according to the NAAHQ, properties rarely operate at full staffing capacity. Any property manager knows that maintenance is harder to staff than any other property role. Companies routinely finalize budgets accepting that significant portions of maintenance expenses will go unspent. 

This creates a dangerous feedback loop. When positions stay vacant, budget performance appears strong because payroll costs are lower. Management sees improved NOI and doesn’t prioritize filling the roles. Meanwhile, the asset deteriorates, residents become dissatisfied, and the remaining maintenance staff burns out from being constantly overwhelmed. 

Remote maintenance technology offers a path forward. By enabling technicians to safely troubleshoot issues without physical presence, property management companies can maintain service levels even with reduced on-site staffing. This doesn’t eliminate the need for skilled technicians; it amplifies their effectiveness through technology. 

Centralized Maintenance: Learning From Single-Family Rental Success 

Single-family rental operators have successfully run centralized maintenance with proven team structure models for years. In SFR, there’s no concept of “on-premise” maintenance staff, so operators manage maintenance centrally by default. The key insight is that SFR companies blend internal and external resources to deliver maintenance efficiently. 

The model works because SFR operators typically handle fewer “small” work orders than multifamily properties. Tasks like changing lightbulbs aren’t usually part of the SFR service offering. Multifamily residents, by contrast, expect more comprehensive concierge-style service. 

But this service expectation doesn’t preclude centralization. It simply requires different tools and approaches. Technology can enable centralized teams to provide the high-touch service multifamily residents expect while gaining the efficiency benefits of scale. 

Property management has already proven that centralization works. Finance, HR, and leasing functions operate as shared services across most portfolios. These functions achieve better consistency, lower costs, and clearer career advancement opportunities through centralization. 

Maintenance presents unique challenges because of geographic constraints. Technicians need to be relatively close to the communities they serve, which is why successful centralized maintenance operations typically include properties within a 10-mile radius. But within those geographic boundaries, centralization can deliver significant operational improvements. 

Building Effective Maintenance Team Structure for Career Development

 The current organizational structure creates career development challenges for maintenance technicians. When you report to a maintenance leader but your budget comes from a property manager, career advancement becomes complicated. If those two people don’t align on priorities or don’t communicate effectively, your professional growth suffers. 

Maintenance leaders find it especially difficult to drive meaningful change without budget authority. They can design training programs, identify skill development opportunities, and create advancement pathways, but they lack the financial control to execute consistently. 

Budget authority enables maintenance leaders to become true partners with property managers rather than subordinates seeking permission. When maintenance leaders can allocate resources, schedule training, and make staffing decisions, they can create the kind of world-class organizations that attract and retain talent. 

Technology plays a crucial role in expanding career opportunities. Maintenance automation changes jobs, to be sure, but it won’t eliminate them. Experienced technicians who may have physical limitations from years of hands-on work can transition to remote diagnostic roles, training positions, or quality assurance functions. 

This creates a more inclusive workforce while preserving institutional knowledge. Every encounter with 50-year-old HVAC unit lodged in an experienced technician’s memory becomes digitized knowledge that can train junior staff. Rather than losing expertise when technicians age out of physical roles, companies can capture and scale that knowledge through technology. 

Budget Season Action Plan: Practical Steps for 2025 

As property management companies build 2025 budgets, several concrete steps can address maintenance staffing challenges: 

• Make a realistic plan for resources: Account for actual turnover rates and demand fluctuations rather than assuming perfect staffing and flat demand. Build contingency into maintenance budgets that acknowledges the variable nature of the work. 
• Align the budget authority: Consider moving maintenance technician budgets to maintenance leaders or creating shared budget authority between maintenance leaders and property managers. The goal is clarity about who makes staffing decisions and who’s accountable for results. This is very common in shared services, internal billing or value exchange models.  
• Invest in technology: Prioritize maintenance automation tools that provide immediate return on investment. Remote diagnostic capabilities, automated work order generation, and visual inspection tools can amplify existing staff effectiveness while reducing recruitment pressure. 
• Allocate resources at the pod level: Explore pooling maintenance resources across multiple properties within geographic clusters. This enables more efficient staff utilization while maintaining the local presence residents expect. 
• Realign KPIs: Adjust performance metrics to emphasize resident satisfaction and asset preservation alongside traditional financial measures. This ensures that understaffing doesn’t create short-term NOI improvements at the expense of long-term value. 

The implementation doesn’t have to happen overnight. Smart operators can identify quick wins (like remote diagnostic tools) that provide immediate relief while planning longer-term team structure optimization for future budget cycles. 

Rethinking Who Holds the Maintenance Gold 

The golden rule problem states that whoever has the gold makes the rules. In property management, this means that budget authority determines real decision-making power. When maintenance budgets sit with property managers who have multiple competing priorities, maintenance becomes just one item on a long list rather than a strategic priority. 

Matching budget authority with operational accountability creates clarity and alignment. When that happens, maintenance leaders can develop their teams effectively, property managers can focus on their core competencies, and technicians get clear career paths. 

The maintenance staffing crisis won’t solve itself through traditional hiring approaches. The solution requires acknowledging that the current model is flawed and building something better. Companies that restructure maintenance teams during budget season 2025 will create better outcomes for maintenance leaders, property managers, technicians, and residents.