Just soliciting opinions here… I have a family friend currently renting from me but she’s planning to leave in May. Our deal was I gave her a preferential rate but she has to deal with all maintenance issues herself and it’s worked out pretty well. Since I don’t have the interest or temperament to deal with tenants anymore, finding a property management company is probably the right fit for me. I’ve tentatively put out some feelers to local companies but haven’t heard anything yet.
Any things I should specifically look for or be cautious about?
Get referances both from the management company and go on line and do reserch.
And keep on them. Check up to be sure that they are seeing the tenants needs are being taken care of and in a timely manner. Go over the paper work they send each month. Line by line.
I am not really sure how you find a good one my last one started out good but ended up costing me more money and gave no service.
We used a few when my wife still owned a condo that we were renting. The biggest challenge we had was the monthly invoicing we’d get for alleged repairs, service calls, etc. They were usually incredibly sparse in detail and we always had to challenge them all the time to obtain more information. Any company you choose to contract with, you should definitely have a detailed conversation on how these issues are addressed, costs/liability, rights of owner to review/approve expenses before hand, etc.
My Mom hired a one woman outfit (NPM) 25 years ago to manage the house we grew up in. NPM managed about 20 properties at the time. My sisters and I took over in 2009 and have been happy with NPM. None of us wants to take on their role as property managers. I cannot offer any suggestions about whom to hire, but a property manager has been a blessing.
I will echo Snnipe 70E on the topic of keeping yourself aware of how things are going. One of my sisters talks with NPM once a month or so. Monthly statements are my baliwick. NPM has occasionally crossed the authority line and authorized improvements to the property that we disagreed with. In fairness, NPM told us at the outset (2009) that their philosophy is to attend to tenant issues quickly and in a satisfactory manner. NPM agrees that it costs more but makes for stable tenants. And the fewer turnovers the better the revenue. I concur.
P.S. NPM charges us $150 per month and I think it’s well worth it.