How to find the right property manager

Your investment property is more than just a house, it’s a major part of your financial future. So, it is important that you have the right people managing it. Your property manager will be the single most important person managing your property. They will find you tenants, manage repairs and maintenance, manage tenant relationships, chase up unpaid rent, and much more.

Because this role is so important to the long-term health of your investment property it is vital that you find a property manager you can trust. There are a lot of different agencies out there, some far better than others, so it can be hard to pick through them and find the right person. Here is your guide to make this process easier.  

What you need to keep an eye out for

Check their fee structure

It’s easy to find an agent that charges 3-4% less than someone else, and low to no marketing fees. But remember this is your long-term investment we are talking about, is cheap the right choice?

This type of property manager will ‘save’ you $15 – $20/week in management fees and $400 – $500 in marketing/advertising fees. But, for an agency to only charge 4%, the property manager needs to look after at least 150 – 180 properties to cover their wages, insurance, subscription costs, and overheads for the company.

Because of that, you end up with a property manager who:

• Misses routine inspections
• Is too busy to return phone calls/emails
• Delivers poor quality tenants, who cause damage to property or, miss rent payments
• Results in your property being vacant for weeks due to poorly marketed property and low PM availability for inspections. Meaning you miss potential tenants as the PM is not able to process applications quickly and effectively
• Is mismanaging the property
• Is burnt out and stressed
• Has low pay, and quits due to pay and stress

A cheap property manager is potentially taking tens of thousands of dollars out of your pocket. This loss could be easily felt within the first 12 – 24 months. Don’t hunt for the cheapest property manager, focus on who provides the best service and the best return on investment.

Read the Google reviews

Google reviews are an extremely powerful tool for gauging whether a property manager is right for you. Here you will see the direct opinion from both landlords and tenants. They will let you know what was great and what was less than stellar when working with this property manager.

A good property manager should have a mix of reviews from happy tenants and landlords. Happy tenants mean that they stay in the property for longer, reducing advertising and letting fees for you.

Learn more about their service offerings

It is important that you understand what services your property manager is offering. There may be things that one property manager will do that another won’t. This is especially relevant to the previous point about cheap property managers, many won’t perform anything but the most basic services, leaving you on your own to handle maintenance requests or more.

Check with each property manager you screen on the services they offer and how they complete them. Look at:

• How they select and screen tenants. Do they have a tenant database? Do they have a screening checklist?
• The process behind conducting inspections. How often are inspections? Do they take photos or videos? What will the inspection report look like?
• How are repair and maintenance requests handled? Are requests handled quickly? Do they have good relationships with a variety of tradespeople? Are small requests handled by the PM or passed onto the landlord?

A good property manager should have no problem answering these questions in detail. They will have systems in place that they are well versed in, having deployed them on every property they manage.

As well as this, when you first meet a property manager there are a lot of questions you should raise.

When you meet a property manager you should ask them these questions:

• How many properties does each property manager look after?
  If they seem to manage a disproportionate number of properties to their team size then the property managers could be quite overwhelmed, potentially leading to poor service.
• How long has your property manager been in the industry?
  The average time is 9 -12 months for their whole career as the high stress tends to many leaving. If they have been in the industry for a long time, then it could be a good sign that the agency is not overloading their property managers.
• Is property management their principal’s/owners main focus?
  Not the BDM or PMs focus, the principal or owner of the company’s focus. This will tell you whether they value having rental properties or not. With a focus on rental properties, they will have put time and energy into having the best systems and processes for their PMs to do their jobs.
• What can your company do for me that no other company can?
  You should expect to hear the usual answers of “Zero tolerance on rent arrears, achieve higher rents, proactively manage your property, and great communication.” But then everyone says that not many can actually deliver on that. So, ask what they can do outside of that.
• How many times have they had to take tenants to tribunal? What’s their success rate?
  In the unfortunate chance that this needs to happen, it is important that you have a property manager who has some experience in dealing with tribunals and understands how they work.
• How do they manage maintenance requests?
  Knowing this process can allow you to screen for some major red flags. A shaky or unclear process here means that requests will likely take a long time to deal with or will get missed.
• How many routine inspections are carried out each year and do they do them themselves or outsource them to another company?
  It is important to know all the details of the routine inspection process to ensure you are comfortable with it. If they outsource their routine inspections to another company it’s a good idea to ask why. This could be a sign that they are taking on too many properties, and can’t dedicate time to your property.
• Is there a direct phone number or email to talk to them or a voicemail option and what’s the average time it takes for that voicemail/message to be returned?
  It is important to have a property manager who is on top of things and can respond to your voicemail or message as fast as they respond to your sales inquiry.

Conclusion

A good property manager can transform your investment. With good tenants, experienced management, and excellent rental returns, you can relax knowing your investment is in the best of hands. If you are looking for a property manager, reach out to us at Link Living for a quick chat.