𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁

When people talk about risks in multifamily housing, the same culprits always rise to the top: market conditions, compliance shifts, maintenance backlogs, rising insurance. And all of those matter. But in over two decades of leading operations across hundreds of properties, I’ve seen a quieter, more dangerous threat take down portfolios that looked rock solid on paper.

It’s the blank space in your succession plan.

Succession gaps don’t grab headlines, but they create ripple effects that devastate teams, residents, and bottom lines. And unlike market downturns or regulatory changes, this is one crisis we can actually prevent if we take it seriously.

The Numbers Behind the Problem

The statistics paint a sobering picture. Property management experiences a 33 percent annual turnover rate among managers 11 percent higher than the national average across all industries. That means one in three properties faces leadership disruption every single year.

Think about what that really means. Every time a property manager or regional leader walks out the door without a prepared successor, portfolios lose months of traction. Resident satisfaction slips. Staff turnover accelerates. Key performance indicators drop. And the institutional knowledge that held the portfolio together vanishes overnight.

I’ve seen it happen too many times.

A Leadership Vacuum in Real Time

Years ago, I watched a high-performing regional manager depart suddenly, leaving a portfolio of strong properties adrift. On the surface, the systems were solid. Reporting structures were in place. Compliance was current. But within 60 days, resident satisfaction plummeted. Staff turnover began to spike across multiple sites. Decision-making slowed, creating bottlenecks that delayed everything from budget approvals to maintenance orders.

One client, after losing their operations director, called me in a panic: “We have great properties, but no one who understands how they all work together.” Three months later, they were still struggling to rebuild occupancy and repair morale. The cost wasn’t just financial. It was cultural. The vacuum left by one leader disrupted the entire ecosystem.

And yet, many organizations continue to operate with the dangerous assumption that they’ll “figure it out when the time comes.”

The Cost of Being Reactive

This reactive approach comes with a heavy price tag. Industry research suggests that each key leadership transition costs three to six months of disrupted operations. In practical terms, that means a quarter to half a year of missed opportunities, delayed initiatives, and weakened resident experience.

Owners rarely see this risk until it’s too late. From their perspective, the numbers look acceptable until occupancy starts slipping, delinquency creeps up, or turnover spikes. But by the time those indicators show up, the damage is already done.

Succession planning isn’t about predicting departures. It’s about ensuring that when not if a leader leaves, the organization doesn’t stall.

Building Succession as a Strategic Advantage

The strongest organizations I’ve worked with don’t treat succession planning as an HR formality. They treat it as an operational strategy, every bit as critical as budgeting or compliance.

Here’s how they do it:

1. Map critical roles. They identify which positions carry the most impact on site level performance, not just by title but by function. Losing a property manager at a 300-unit affordable community is different from losing a maintenance tech at a 40-unit LIHTC property, and the plan reflects those nuances.

2. Identify high-potential talent. Using tools like DISC behavioral assessments, they match natural strengths with future roles. For example, a high-C assistant manager with an eye for compliance detail might be groomed for regional reporting, while a high-I leasing manager with natural relationship skills might be a future community director.

3. Create intentional development paths. They don’t just wait for talent to rise. They build clear milestones stretch assignments, mentorship pairings, leadership training that prepare staff before vacancies occur.

4. Document operational knowledge. Too often, crucial processes live only in a leader’s head. The best organizations standardize and store those practices budget templates, escalation protocols, compliance calendars so continuity doesn’t depend on one person’s memory.

5. Practice transitions. Planned absences become opportunities to test the system. When a regional manager takes a vacation, their backup steps in. When an executive attends a conference, a deputy runs the meeting. These moments expose gaps before they become crises.

Succession Is About Resilience

The real truth of succession planning is this: it isn’t about preparing for someone’s departure. It’s about building organizational resilience. It’s about ensuring that the resident experience is consistent, regardless of who holds which office or carries which title.

I’ve come to see succession planning as the ultimate test of leadership. It forces us to ask: are we building systems and cultures that survive beyond us, or are we building operations that collapse the moment one leader steps away?

In affordable housing especially, the stakes are high. Residents depend on stability. Teams depend on clarity. Owners depend on performance. Without a succession plan, all three hang in the balance.

The Call to Leaders

If you’re leading in this industry, here’s the challenge: has your organization identified its next generation of leaders? Do you know, with confidence, who could step in tomorrow if a key manager resigned?

If the answer is no or if you’re unsure it’s time to take action. Start by mapping your critical roles. Then identify one step you can take this quarter to strengthen your leadership pipeline. Maybe it’s pairing a rising star with a mentor. Maybe it’s documenting a process that only one person knows. Maybe it’s testing your system with a planned absence.

Succession gaps are preventable. The only question is whether we choose to prevent them.

The silent killer in multifamily leadership isn’t market volatility or maintenance backlogs. It’s assuming the people you rely on most will always be there. They won’t. The question is whether your organization will still thrive when they aren’t.