hi bayside.
In the past I have gotten recommendations from friends/other investors, and then spent a day interviewing.
and by that I mean interviewing as if they were going for a job, I want to see the person in charge of the day to day of my property, I want to know how much they charge and what they DO for me for that money.
What lists they use to reference bad tennants? how do they do payments to me? have they been in the job for more than 5 mins. How many property managers work there, how is the office set up? do I have one person in charge of my house, or do they all take calls as they come in?
How soon will they contact me if the tennant falls in arrears? how do they manage that situation? do they do soppy phone calls, (that never get returned) or do they get off their butt and knock the door?
I'll set aside a day, and interview anywhere from 3-6 prop managers. Now I've never had to go the road of "first to get me a good tennant wins" as finding tennants has never been a problem.
Its like buying a TV or a car, or what not... you have to feel like you connect and like and feel comfortable with your PM, and of course, you need to know that they know what they are doing.
Nothing like a face to face interview to sort the kids from the real ones......
Just my 2c
Luvvit