2018 Rancho Who's Who

Rancho Management Services featured in “Who’s Who of Canadian Property Management” 

Metro Vancouver, BC – Every spring, Canadian Property Management Magazine publishes the results from its annual survey, Who’s Who in Canadian Property Management. Rancho Management Services was once again ranked 5^th in the country based on the total square footage of condos managed (34.519 million sq. ft.) - no small feat considering the multi-national competition with greater reach across all of Canada and portfolios even more diverse than Rancho's.  

Rancho Management Services started out as a small family-owned property management business in 1958 headed up by Qualico's co-founder Katherine Friesen, and over the course of 60 years, it has expanded its reach from Winnipeg to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Rancho currently manages over 40 million sq. ft. of office, condo, apartment, industrial and retail space, including an impressive 38,000 condominium units. Overall, Rancho is classified as the 17^th largest property management company in Canada.

Between 2010 and 2015, Rancho has increased its total portfolio size by 65 per cent, competing with the likes of RioCan REIT and sweeping past Canadian retail giant, Cadillac Fairview with its 29.948 million sq. ft. of managed space. The scale of property management only increases when comparing Rancho in the condo market, with a 78 per cent increase in portfolio size during that same five year period. 

Rancho is battling with giants like FirstService Residential Management Canada, the second largest property management company in Canada and a division of FirstService Residential - with $1.5 billion US in annual revenues and more than 17,000 employees across North America. 

Rancho’s expansive growth has left a clear footprint on the terrain of Canadian property ownership, particularly within the Vancouver condominium market under the leadership of Vice President and General Manager, Chris Sargent. The third largest condo management company in Vancouver, Rancho Management Services (B.C.) Ltd. has nearly doubled its condo portfolio size in Vancouver from 17,374 units in 2014 to 32,101 units in 2018, and it's still growing. 

Despite cooling real-estate prices across Canada, along with attempts by the BC government to slow down the real-estate market, condominiums are still selling strong, particularly the pre-sell market. 

“West Coast real estate is pricey, and in many cases, condos are all people can afford,” said Chris. 

The expense of land is notoriously steep, and condominiums are simply the most economical option for many young families who are trying to break into the market. The demand is significant and perceptible. 

Freshly relocated to a larger office space on 1125 Howe Street in downtown Vancouver, Rancho has an accounting department of roughly 35 people responsible for producing 280  financial statements each month. With a total staff of roughly 120 employees, Rancho Vancouver is ready to once again expand as new projects come online, including a new 700 unit building complete with an outside movie theatre.

"Some condo buildings are little cities on their own,” said Chris. These high-rises are run by an experienced agent and their team, often requiring flexible work schedules and a high level of care.

Without a doubt, Rancho’s steady growth and remarkable success can also be attributed to the high level of service that it provides to its customers, creating the “Rancho difference.” Rancho goes the extra mile, continuously seeking out innovative ways to engage with all property owners.

An important part of Rancho Vancouver's service is technology-based. MyRancho, an integration with NEWSTAR, is a transactional system that allows owners to submit fees, access minutes and view bylaws. A new online service portal for tenants, RService, will be launched this fall, allowing  residents to book elevators, request amenities, and coordinate package delivery, right at their fingertips. For one of the more unique buildings Rancho manages, this can include booking time at the on-site bowling alley.

Overall, as Rancho continues to expand and thrive within the Canadian market, future growth targets remain high. In the past three years alone, the company has increased its total portfolio size (residential, commercial, etc.) by 26.55 per cent.

“We are very excited about the future growth opportunities for our condo portfolio, particularly in Vancouver and Calgary. We also anticipate more rapid growth in our commercial portfolio in the next five years as Qualico Commercial may complete an additional 3 million sq. ft. over the next several years," said Dennis Hildebrandt, Vice President and CFO of Rancho Management Services.

Rancho’s mission is to work with the owners of each condo corporation to maintain the highest standard of living possible and maintain the investment projects it manages in a manner that will maximize the projects' return on investment according to its clients' priorities. With its many years of exceptional service as proof, Rancho will inevitably continue to foster that mission and climb the ranks of CPM’s “Who’s Who List,” for years to come.