Top 20 Questions to Ask When Finding a Property Manager
November 28, 2008 – 1:30 pmWe are seeing many rental properties hit the market due to the economy. Some first time real estate investors or ‘forced’ real estate investors don’t want to do the managing of their property themselves and are looking for property managers to help them. Here are the top 20 questions in no particular order to ask when finding a property manager:
- How many properties to you currently manage?
- How many of your properties are currently vacant?
- How do you advertise the rental property?
- Do you pay for advertising?
- What is your average days on market?
- What is the monthly management fee?
- Do you take any part of the first months rent as a fee?
- How long have you been in business?
- How many rental sites do you advertise my listing to?
- What is the percentage of tenants you have evicted?
- Do you have any property management certifications?
- What is your tenant screening process?
- What is your average email and phone response rate for potential tenants?
- What is your average response rate for tenants?
- What accounting software do you use?
- How many employees do you have?
- Who do you use for plumbing, contractor work, etc and are they insured and bonded?
- How do you collect rent? Online, offline, etc.
- Can I see a copy of your lease agreement?
- What other management companies in this area do you recommend?
The best answers and reponses to these questions coming soon.
4 Responses to “Top 20 Questions to Ask When Finding a Property Manager”
Good list of questions. We manage about 400 units today - mostly single family. It is fair to say when asking about eviction rates consider the area whre the units are listed. Our intercity rentals tend to have a much large eviction rate than some of our more rural properties.
I would think on that question the response should be compare to where your units are at.
By Glenn Lehman on Dec 14, 2008
Question 12 is very important!
You would be surprised on how many Property Managers never even meet the tenant until they are signing the lease!!!
By Tony Sena on Jul 4, 2009
It is not advised to place a tenant in a property having never met them before (unfurnished rentals), however in the furnished rental market this maybe more common because potential tenants could be coming to your place of origin from across the globe. Furnished renters are usually short term 3 - 6 months and they are looking for a hotel alternative, therefore the property manager should do sufficient background checks, employment, credit (if possible), call references etc. before placing the tenant having never met them. Fully licensed and trained property managers should be well versed in placing qualified tenants and they will be able to make a decision on tenant placement based upon their professional knowledge and experience.
Alarm bells will ring if a person who lives “local” wants to rent a property from a management company and rent it without ever meeting the property manager or a licensed company representative - these people surely have something to hide therefore they wouldn’t stand a chance of being accepted for tenancy.
By Yaletown on Sep 10, 2009
Ask them how many properties they are currently managing that are close to yours or in the same subdivision and what type of rent are they getting.
Also ask if they currently have inventory similar to yours and how long they have been on the market.
In this economy your property manager has to be diligent and aggressive in finding tenants. Tenants have way to many choices and you need to get your property to stand out.
By Karen McDaniel on Oct 7, 2009