Looking For a Property Manager? Here Are The Questions You Should Ask First

If you own a rental property, you will know that finding a good property manager is critical to your business as well as to the day-to-day maintenance of the property. A good manager can help you maximize rental income while relieving you of the stress from managing the property’s everyday issues. However, finding the right person for the job can be a difficult task, as even though everyone will give you big promises, it’s hard to tell who can deliver results. 

If you are unsure about how to look for a property manager, here are some questions you should first ask to find out if they are a good fit for the job: 

1. What are Their Professional Licenses and Certifications?

One of the first questions you should ask is whether the property management company has the proper licenses and certifications for its operations. The experts from Phillips Edison & Company explain that it’s always safer to hand your property over to a management company that has an active license. Next, you should also check if the property manager holds any certificates, whether it’s a Residential Management Professional Certificate for residential properties and single-family homes, or a certificate from the National Association of Residential Property Managers or the Institute of Real Estate Management. 

You can also do a search online to find out which company or manager holds these licenses and official certificates. It’s always better to make sure you are giving your property to people who have received adequate training and know exactly what they are doing. A good property management company will have a solid reputation and track record. Checking real estate websites and the Better Business Bureau website will allow you to find out a company’s ratings and review, thus giving you insights about the business’ past performance.

2. What is Their Experience with Your Kind of Property?

The next question you should be concerned about is whether the management company or manager has relevant specialized experience for your properties? Many companies only focus on handling commercial properties, while others focus on residential homes. Depending on what properties you own, you should look for a manager that has past experience in managing similar kinds of properties and a similar number of units. If a management company is used to handling very few property units, it is unlikely that they will have the capacity to manage a large number of properties at once. Hence, you should look into their former experience and expertise to see if they have the right experience and capacity for your properties.  

3. Are They Willing to do an Interview?

A property manager needs to have certain skills in order to effectively do this job. First of all, they should have good communication skills and people skills. Secondly, they should be calm and patient at all times. It is therefore absolutely vital to conduct an interview with the manager to get a feel of who they are. In the interview, you should prepare questions to get to know about their personality and way of working. You can create scenarios in which the manager answers how they will handle certain situations, such as what they would do if a tenant repeatedly fails to pay rent on time. This will give you a better idea about their work method.

Also, don’t be hesitant to ask about the management company’s policies and systems, such as their process for screening tenants, whether they have a 24/7 customer support line, or what services they offer and how they carry them out. Their answers will directly translate into how your properties will be managed. At the same time, you should interview several candidates to see who is the best fit for the job. Even a person with an excellent presentation may not be the right contender if you feel something is off about them. 

4. How do Ensure Customer Satisfaction?

Your properties’ success depends a lot on customer satisfaction. It is important to ask the property managers if they have in place any program to measure customer satisfaction, or if customer satisfaction is part of their performance review rating or will be part of the management contract with you. It’s also good to find out their vacancy rate because good property managers can keep customers happy and that’s why customers choose to come back to them or stay long-term. 

Hopefully, the above tips have helped you figure out some of the most important things to check when looking for a good property manager. Good property managers will help maximize your income while minimizing your hassle in dealing with the property and its everyday issues. So take your time, ask a lot of questions, choose carefully, and you will realize who is the best fit for your properties.