Property managers are feeling the pressure from every direction: labor costs are climbing, insurance premiums are surging and rent growth isn’t keeping pace. For 2026 IREM president-elect Kim Collins, CPM and COO of Bradley Company, staying competitive means thinking creatively about cost control.
Labor is one of the biggest pressure points. Finding and keeping qualified maintenance and operations staff has become increasingly difficult, and those who are available know their leverage and are commanding higher wages and more generous benefits.
Insurance is equally bruising. Carriers are withdrawing from entire states to reduce their exposure to climate-related losses, leaving fewer options and driving premiums higher. “We’re seeing some property insurance renewals jumping 20% to 50%,” she says.
Know your leases and your vendors
The response, Collins argues, is operational discipline. That means auditing vendor contracts for scope creep, ensuring that billing is accurate and pricing remains competitive and benchmarking expenses against comparable properties.
Most critically, she urges managers to know their leases inside and out. “Don’t forget your lease language,” Collins says.
Every lease spells out which repairs fall to the tenant and which are the landlord’s responsibility. When managers aren’t clear on those distinctions or don’t enforce them consistently, they end up absorbing costs that aren’t theirs. “It’s rarely the big ticket items that get you — it’s the repairs nobody questioned,” Collins says. “A clogged drain line here, a filter replacement there, a thermostat swap that should have been the tenant’s call. Multiply that across a portfolio and you’re looking at real money that was never yours to spend.”
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Finding efficiency without big capital outlays
Energy costs are another area to look for savings. Auditing utility invoices can turn up billing errors and unannounced rate changes. Smart thermostats, occupancy sensors and recalibrated building controls can all deliver meaningful savings without major capital outlays.
Collins also points to IREM’s Certified Sustainable Property certification as a way for managers to access efficiency best practices. State and local rebate programs for LED retrofits or new HVAC systems are worth exploring as well. They can help close the payback period on upgrades.
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