How Do You Find a Good Property Manager?
First choice, look in the mirror. I find no one cares as much about my property as I do, so no one does as good a job managing. If that’s not an option, then you have no choice but to look for referrals or simply vet them yourself. I didn’t know any other landlords in the area I bought in, so I vetted most of my managers myself. The results have been somewhat spotty. I have two great managers, and two mediocre ones. Along the way, I have hired and fired four who didn’t make the grade. I wish I could tell you there’s a simple way to tell which ones will be good and which ones won’t, but there isn’t. The problem is the ones I hired who didn’t work out sounded like intelligent, responsible, take-charge people when I first talked to them. Ultimately, I found the key difference between the good ones and the bad ones wasn’t a matter of competence v. incompetence (I can usually detect incompetence), it’s a matter of whether they think they’re working for you or you’re working for them. The good ones let you know what’s going on, and send your check out around the same time every month. The bad ones don’t tell you things you need to know and are often late getting your check out to you. They act like you’re pestering them when all’s you’re really doing is trying to get them to do their job. The good ones I have, well, I never talk to them because there’s nothing to talk about. There’ s no surprises and things run smoothly.
EARLY WARNING SIGNS
I can tell you a couple of things I consider warning signs, though, that may help you head off a bad manager before they get entrenched… (1) Ask them who gets the late fee if a tenant doesn’t pay by the deadline. If they say they do, find another manager; (2) Ask them what day checks go out. It should be by the 15th at the latest. If they say something like “generally by the 12th” or “we get them out by the end of the month”, find another manager. Good managers don’t hang onto your money. (3) Ask them for referrals. If they act like this is an unusual request, or it takes them several days to produce them, move on. (4) Call them. If they’re hard to get a hold of, or don’t call you back within 24 hours, move on. If all’s you get is voicemail whenever you call, move on. Professional property managers always have someone answer the phone.
Also, I haven’t had good luck with property managers who also do sales. I think it’s a business that requires specialization, and anyone who does sales as well as rentals isn’t truly a professional property manager in my opinion. If they tell you that your tenant is paying late chronically, it’s the sign of a bad manager. A good manager will make good on a threat to file notice to vacate if a tenant keeps paying late, and usually the tenant knows this and starts paying on time. If your property goes vacant for three months or more, you’ve got a bad manager. I don’t care how slow a market is, no property should be vacant for that long. If YOU were managing, it wouldn’t.
