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BetterWho

Staffing

Grow the Portfolio Without Breaking the People Who Run It for Community Association Management Companies

We design the support role, recruit a Remote Team Member (RTM) directly into your company, and put in writing what they own, and what your portfolio manager never gives up.

See the RolesRun your numbers in the Portfolio Playbook
Remote Team Members who work with BetterWho clients

The problem

You Already Did the Hard Part

You’ve written the coordinator and assistant roles. You’ve filled them locally, at full market rate. Your org chart isn’t the problem. Where the work ends up is. When nobody writes down who owns what, repeatable work drifts back to the portfolio manager, and the manager stops managing the queue and becomes it. All of it lands on the one person who also has to decide, approve and face the board.

  • Homeowner Email and Calls

  • Board Packets and Follow-Up

  • Violations and ARC Submissions

  • Assessments and Collections

  • Work Orders, COIs and Vendor Chasing

  • Resale and Transfer Packages

A community association manager on the phone at her desk, an open board binder and paperwork in front of her

The industry's own research

Pay Isn’t Why Your Managers Leave

That’s why a support role is a client-retention decision, not a payroll one.

“Support staff is no longer tied to the same geographic area as the management or association office. In the age of work from home, outsourcing to another state or country has become much more commonplace and offers cost-effective solutions.” Foundation for Community Association Research, 2021.

  • 59%

    Named unreasonable homeowner demands as a reason for leaving. Pay came in at 21%.

  • 74%

    Report moderate-to-severe burnout. 84% face difficult homeowner interactions several times a week.

  • 54%

    Say lack of admin support is a major source of dissatisfaction. 74% of CEOs named more support staff as the fix.

Sources: Foundation for Community Association Research, Attracting Talent to the Community Management Profession, January 2026 (n=201); Emotional Intelligence, Burnout & Workforce Sustainability, July 2026 (n=287); Attracting Talent to the Community Association Management Industry, 2021.

What's at stake

Retention Sets What Your Company Is Worth

Most independent management companies sell for 3–8× EBITDA. Firms holding 90%+ gross and 105%+ net retention reach 10× and up.

Your agreements carry 30–60 day cancellation rights, so every client decides again each year. When a manager leaves and takes the board relationships with them, the cost isn’t the replacement salary. It’s your multiple.

  • $5M

    Average Retention at 5×

    The same company, $1M EBITDA.

  • $10M

    90%+ Gross and 105%+ Net Retention at 10×

    The same company, $1M EBITDA.

When a Portfolio Manager Quits, How Many of Your Associations Are at Risk?

There’s no published industry figure. You can work it out from your own book in about ten minutes, and it’s the first thing we do together.

Work It Out in the Portfolio Playbook

Illustrative, using the midpoint and premium multiples above. Valuation ranges, retention thresholds and contract terms: published M&A advisory material from Parkland Capital Partners and CAM Advisors, 2025–2026. Advisory benchmarks, not a survey.

Why it hasn't happened yet

It Isn’t Cost. It’s Where the Line Falls.

We looked at 22 community association management companies before entering this market. Every one had split up the manager role. Every support posting we found was on-site and domestic.

The work sits close to licensed judgment, association records and client money, and nobody had written down where the line falls. So we start there, with a document, per role.

  • Owns

    Preparation, tracking, documentation and routing. Written so you could hand it to a board president as-is.

  • Doesn’t Own

    Judgment, approval, fund release, licensed decisions and the board relationship. The list most companies never write.

  • Escalates

    A written rule for the edge case, so the RTM raises a hand instead of resolving something they shouldn’t touch.

The roles

Community Association RTM Roles

Published in full, using the industry’s own titles. What each role takes off the manager’s desk, what the manager keeps, and the number it’s measured on. Most companies start with one role and add more as the portfolio grows.

Use different titles internally, such as Client Experience Associate or Covenants Administrator? Keep yours. Not sure which role comes first? That’s the first 30 minutes.

  • Role
    Assistant Community Manager
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Board packets, minutes, resident correspondence, follow-up
    The manager keeps
    What gets said, and to whom
    Measured on
    Packets out on time, follow-ups closed
  • Role
    Customer Service Representative
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Inbound calls and the homeowner inbox
    The manager keeps
    Escalations and anything sensitive
    Measured on
    First-response time, resolved without escalation
  • Role
    Association Bookkeeper
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Coding, reconciliation prep, financial packages
    The manager keeps
    Approval and fund release
    Measured on
    Month-end close date, reconciliation exceptions
  • Role
    Accounts Payable Clerk
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Invoice intake, routing, vendor payment records
    The manager keeps
    Every approval in the chain
    Measured on
    Invoice cycle time, late fees incurred
  • Role
    Collections & AR Coordinator
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Assessment posting, aging reports, payment plan tracking
    The manager keeps
    Waivers, liens, legal referral
    Measured on
    Delinquency rate, balances over 90 days
  • Role
    Compliance & Violations Coordinator
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Violation logging, notice sequencing, inspection records
    The manager keeps
    Whether it is a violation at all
    Measured on
    Notices sent on schedule, open violation age
  • Role
    Architectural Review (ARC) Coordinator
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Application intake, completeness checks, committee packets
    The manager keeps
    Approve, deny, condition
    Measured on
    Days to complete packet, resubmission rate
  • Role
    Maintenance & Work Order Coordinator
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Work order routing, vendor chasing, COI tracking
    The manager keeps
    Vendor selection and spend
    Measured on
    Open work order age, COIs current
  • Role
    Resale & Transfer Coordinator
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Package assembly, document requests, new owner setup
    The manager keeps
    Certification and signature
    Measured on
    Turnaround vs. statutory deadline
  • Role
    Administrative Assistant
    Comes off the manager’s desk
    Records, mailings, meeting logistics, data hygiene
    The manager keeps
    Nothing client-facing without review
    Measured on
    Mailing deadlines met, records current
Book a discovery call 

Three models

Three Models. Only One Is a Direct Hire.

  • Takes tasks

    A Virtual Assistant

    Your manager still owns the queue, still delegates every morning, and still carries the miss.

  • Takes a function

    A BPO or Staffing Agency

    You rent back a seat. The vendor owns the employment, the role design and the scorecard, the part you can’t afford to outsource.

  • Owns a queue

    RTM Direct

    A named owner, hired directly into your company, with a written line and a scorecard. We design and recruit. You employ. The documentation stays with you.

How it works

Design First. Then Hire.

Most companies skip step one. It’s why most remote hiring in this industry has disappointed.

  1. Design the Role

    We find the constraint before writing a job post: what’s repeatable, what’s judgment, what your licensing or agreements restrict.

    You get the owns and doesn’t-own lists, the escalation rule and the scorecard in writing.

  2. Recruit Into Your Company

    A custom headhunt against that spec. We screen for people who’ve owned similar workflows and know preparation from approval.

    You interview. You hire.

  3. Integrate and Measure

    Manager adoption is where most attempts fail, so that’s what we manage.

    30 days: your systems, terms and line. 60 days: supervised queue ownership. 90 days: scorecard performance.

Where we are

New to Community Associations. Not New to This.

We place Remote Team Members into property management companies, recruiting from 30+ countries. In community association management we’re early: two informal placements, no packaged case studies yet.

What we bring instead is on this page: the roles, the line and the hiring process, published rather than promised. Weigh both.

Jay Berube and Matthew Tringali

Testimonials

From Property Management Clients

I love the BetterWho RTM Direct model and will never hire from any other company. We have hired three people through the Remote Team Member program, and they have all been the perfect fit. All the candidates are qualified for the job and align with our core values and company culture.

Casey HoweHowzer Property Management

  • Hired three people
  • All the perfect fit
  • Align with our core values
  • We have a spot for them as needed in our annual budget. Have 4 RTMS all through Betterwho and our first is now the assistant PM. Have we had ones not work? Yep- but that's not on them or their process and they replaced them. They literally changed the entire way we do business.

    Steve PardonJMAX

  • … we trusted the BetterWho process and hired 4 RTMS. … I love how they are always happy to hop on a call with a resident and solve a situation. As for that "small town, customer service" concern, all that I can say is that we currently have a remote team member that receives 5-star Google reviews on a weekly basis! …

    Kayla SharpAll 3 Realty

  • Nearly every member of our remote team has been sourced through Better Who over the past five-plus years. Beyond simply finding great people, Better Who has helped us develop them. One of our team members started in an administrative role, has grown into an Operations Specialist, and we're now seriously considering her to lead our entire operations department. …

    Jim ShontsPMI Elevation

Read Casey Howe’s case study 

Engagement options

Pick by Where You’re Starting

It depends on whether the roles already exist in your company or need building first. Placement fees depend on the role’s requirements; your RTM’s pay is separate.

  • Placement

    Price
    From $2,500 one time for each placement
    • Tier 1$2,500
    • Tier 2$3,000
    • Tier 3$3,500
    Frequency and terms
    Paid upfront. 90-day guarantee under the placement agreement. Moving a search to a higher tier costs $1,000 for one tier (1 to 2, or 2 to 3) or $2,000 for two tiers (1 to 3).
    What it includes
    The role designed in writing, a custom headhunt against the spec, your interviews and your hire, and a 90-day guarantee.
    Best for
    You already know which queue is breaking.
    Talk About a Placement 

  • Performance

    Price
    $150 a month for each RTM
    plus placement fee from $1,000
    Frequency and terms
    12-month minimum for each RTM, then month-to-month; after the minimum, you can cancel with 30 days’ notice. Billing for each plan starts when that RTM starts work with you and stops if the RTM leaves; a replacement RTM starts a new 12-month minimum.
    What it includes
    Everything in Placement, plus onboarding in your systems and documents, ongoing coaching for your RTM, quarterly scorecard reviews, and a replacement guarantee for as long as the plan runs.
    Best for
    A first remote hire, or a last one that failed on adoption, not on the person.
    Talk About Performance 

  • Partner

    Price
    $1,000 a month for all placements
    plus placement fee from $500
    Frequency and terms
    12-month minimum, then month-to-month; after the minimum, you can cancel with 30 days’ notice. Billing starts on enrollment.
    What it includes
    Unlimited headhunts at preferred fees, monthly sessions on structure and scorecards, and coaching for support staff you didn’t hire through us.
    Best for
    Building the whole support layer across offices, over a year or more.
    Talk About a Partnership 

FAQ

Ask Us These. Ask Everyone Else Too.

Each one has a straight answer. Most firms selling this don’t publish theirs.

  1. Our management agreements or boards restrict offshore access.

    Then that restriction shapes the design. We identify restricted data and decisions first and build the role around what’s left. Sometimes that’s a narrower role. Sometimes it’s no role, and we’d rather tell you on the first call than the fourth. If a board asks, the owns and doesn’t-own list is already written.

  2. Which of this does my state’s licensing permit?

    It depends on your states, your agreements and the work. Licensed judgment stays with your licensed people. Anyone who answers this before asking where you operate hasn’t thought about it.

  3. We already hired coordinators locally.

    Then the hard part’s done. The question is what it costs to keep filling those seats at local rates, and what your board would need to see for you to fill one differently. Which role is hardest to keep filled?

  4. We tried a virtual assistant and it failed.

    That usually points to role design, selection, onboarding or authority, not location. The common failure: nobody wrote down what the person owned before they started. What broke?

  5. Can they touch resident data or money?

    Only inside documented permissions. Preparation and tracking sit apart from approval, bank authority and fund release. Least-privilege access, a named approver, no shared credentials, logged offboarding.

  6. What security standard do you follow?

    We walk you through the controls we use and map them to your requirements. We don’t hold SOC 2, ISO, PCI or HIPAA certification. If a certification is a hard requirement, say so early and we’ll tell you whether we fit.

  7. Are your people CAM-certified?

    No. Onboarding covers your platform, your governing documents and your escalation rules. When a firm says its people are certified, ask for the syllabus and the accrediting body. An internal course isn’t a credential, and a board will know the difference.

  8. Who employs and pays the person?

    You do. It’s a direct hire, not a managed seat. We confirm the delivery entity and the worker’s jurisdiction before getting into tax and employment specifics.

  9. What happens when the person leaves?

    The documentation and the scorecard stay with you, and the replacement guarantee applies. When a queue has a documented owner, a resignation becomes a staffing event instead of a client event.

  10. We’re solving this with AI.

    Good. AI removes work and speeds it up. It doesn’t own a queue, resolve an exception or carry accountability for follow-through. The question is what still needs an owner.

Find Out What Comes Off Your Managers’ Desks, and What It Costs

30 minutes. Which work your agreements and licensing let you move, what we’d build, and the price. If your constraint is process or software rather than a person, we’ll tell you.

No prep needed. Bring your community count and your manager count.