What makes a good property manager - from a pm's perspective and as a landlord.
The role of a PM:-
1. protect your property.
2. protect the income on your property.
3. provide professional advice backed up with facts to assist your decision making on all matters pertaining to your property.
4. provide you with transparent processes to ensure you know where you stand at all times.
A lot of bad pm's are out there but there are a lot of good ones too.
Interview the property manager who will be looking after your property as well as the business development manager or someone who will be willing to take the responsibility if something goes wrong. A common complaint is when property managers blame the previous manager - that doesn't help you when your problem hasn't gone away yet. Recommend you speak with the owner of the business - if the owner of the business doesn't want to talk to you or can't make time to talk to you - you need to consider if you want to use their services.
Find some synergy with your property manager - every owner is different when it comes to their interaction with their property investments. You may want to be more involved or less involved, but you still want to know that the property manager and you will be on the same page if something happens. So ask them the questions and be more specific e.g. if _____ happens, what would you do for me?
It's really hard to judge a company or pm simply by the promises they make in a brochure or their website - you need to be comfortable to leave your investment in their hands. And if you feel uncomfortable or things go wrong - find someone else.
Find out what experience your pm has. By taking an interest in what they have done - you can draw on their experience. Don't be afraid to get personal because you are interviewing an "employee" (agent is same thing - you are the boss, you will be paying the wages)
For example: I have a degree in Economics - it means I know more than a high school leaver in Economics and I have a much stronger understanding of matters that affect investing and the economy +others. I'm a fully licensed agent - as opposed to a certificate holder in real estate (there are two levels certificate holders (most pm's) and license holders) The obligations of license holders are far greater - from ongoing training to legal obligations. I'm a qualified traniner and workplace assessor - able to understand processes to reach desired outcomes. I am trained in Interior Design - helps with ugly duckling properties
but applied using my experience as an investors and renovator - personally flipped a number of properties over the years, so can pass on this experience and also evidence of one of my interests.
What does this mean to you as an owner looking for a property manager - your property will be handled by someone else - you have invested hundreds of thousands - you have the right to interview the pm as you would for an employee. For example, you buy a cafe for $200,000 - and you have staff working in it - you interview them thoroughly. So it's no different when you have invested $400,000 into a property!
It's true you still need to know what office processes are in place for tenant selection etc etc - but many lessors are not fully aware of their full rights - it's all out there but it is like a huge jigsaw puzzle and if you are new to the game, it's not easy to piece them all together without headaches!
I have collated some questions you can ask prospective property managers - if you need any help let me know.
