We’re off to Florida to handle the transition of property management companies in our short term rentals.
Even though we manage most of our rentals ourselves, we see value in having a good property manager if the circumstances warrant it. Out of state properties, large properties or portfolios, and specialized properties like self storage can benefit from a good manager.
How do you know your manager is a good one? Here’s some areas to watch for that we learned through experience with some not so great managers:
1) Are they pricing your properties correctly?
One of the reasons we’re ditching our old company is because their pricing was too high for the market. As a result, our bookings were lower than similar properties in the area. If your manager doesn’t know rents in the area, your property could sit on the market, which costs you money.
2) What sort of fees (especially hidden fees) are they charging you?
Most property managers charge a monthly fee for their services. But some will have multiple fees on top of it. Things like fees for coordinating repairs, filing vacancies, cleaning fees, etc. A lot of these fees are worthwhile, but many are junk. We once had a “cleaning fee” followed immediately by a “deep cleaning fee” on the same month’s invoice. Keep on top of your monthly invoice and challenge fees you don’t recognize or didn’t agree to.
3) How responsive are they to your tenants, guests, and to you?
One of the main reasons you have property managers is to assist you when issues arise at your rental. So if you have to step in and handle something because your manager doesn’t answer, or if you can never get in touch with them, what good are they? Our new property manager has a 24 hour service line. And 24 hours really means 24 hours. I tested it.
4) What kind of experience and reviews do they have?
When choosing a property managers, experience matters. So how many properties do they manage (more is not necessarily better)? Where are they located? What do other people say about them? We found our current property managers through referral from other owners in our community.
Hope this helps! Now time for Disney World!