How To Identify A Bad Property Manager

Here are some tell-tale signs of poor property managers… you don’t want this to happen to you if you need someone to manage your investment properties.

Inspection

Properties are always vulnerable to damage of some kind or the other. Only regular inspections can bring such damages to the table. A property manager, one who knows his game, is never shy of conducting such inspections (annually or semi-annually) and showing concrete proof/proofs (photograph, for instance) of the damage/damages to the owner.

It also falls on the manager to figure out the maintenance or the repair work needed and work out the expenses the owner may have to fork out for the purpose.

Collecting arrears

Smart property managers never let tenants off the hook. While they keep a beautiful rapport established, they also turn stoic while collecting arrears. One can understand if a tenant defaults once but a deft property manager never lets it become a habit. In case of a really delinquent tenant, he also figures out the best way of terminating the contract and collecting the arrears.

Background verification

A dutiful manager never gets a tenant on board without verifying his background and finding out all there is about his past. Such verification may include, but is not restricted to, his employment status, his salary, the number of earning members in the family, records of past defaults, and criminal history (if any).

Rental rates

Lackadaisical or ill-informed property managers also fall short on finding out the rent for a given neighbourhood. The really good ones learn about the rental rates and accordingly offer lease incentives (after talking to the landlord) in the form of a rent-free period or fit-out expenses.

The difference between a good and a bad property manager can……well turn out to be the difference between a successful investment portfolio and otherwise.

Have you hired an individual property manger or an agency?