Questions to ask a property manager

I put this together last year and found that I needed to share it with someone recently, so I decided to post it here;

1. Monthly cost – what is the monthly cost to use their services to manager your property
2. Vacancies & leasing fees – what is the finders fee for finding you a tenant
3. Service terms – will the property manager manage a property when you find the tenant? will the property manager help you find a tenant and then let you manage the property?
4. Termination policy – what terms for terminating your relationship with the property manager?
5. Contact info – what contact methods does the property manager prefer, will they use your preferred contact method? (email, phone, fax)
6. Accounting – State laws dictate the rules of procedure for mailing checks to you and how security deposits are handled. Verify that the company is licensed and fully compliant with your state association of Realtors. Check with reporting bureau’s, such as the BBB, to see if any compliants have been filed against the management company and the status of resolution. Get a committment in writing about the mailing schedule for rent checks and monthly expense statements before you sign.
7. Repairs & maintenance – determine who handles maintenance and what is the limit on repairs before the property manager must contact you? (i.e., don’t contact you for less than 100$ repairs, etc.) Do they have existing relationship with maintenance vendors or will they use your relationships?
8. Reserves – what is the required cash reserve for anything that comes up, including maintenance. Most managers require a reserve (as they cannot take money out of the tenant deposit for incidental costs and repairs)
9. Statements – monthly or quarter statements? year end statements?
10. Yard work – will they take over existing yard service agreements? will they handle all necessary yard work?
11. Advertising – how do they advertise? Make sure a property manager gives you at least an overview of their advertising methods.
12. Showing your property – does the property manager give out keys to your property or do they attend property inspections with prospective tenants?
13. Evictions – how do they handle evictions?
14. Section 8 – will you accept section 8 tenants? will they manage a property for a section 8 tenant?
15. Experience – how long has the property manager been in the business?
16. Professional – do they appear professional when they meet you or are they cavalier? are they prepared for each meeting with you or are they always having to get back to you because they don’t know the answer to some question?
17. Scope – how many properties do they manage? what is the upper/lower limit for their property management services? (some specialize in high priced properties, other specialize in low priced… some run a gamut in between.) do they limit their property management to a certain geographical area?
18. Availability – are they available full-time or part-time? how prompt are they on getting back to you and at what hours? when they commit to talking to you, do they meet that commitment or are they always needing to reschedule? how many employees do they have working for them? have they had any significant turn over in those employees
19. Certified – if they claim they are certified, check to see if their certification exists. any property manager that claims that they are licensed by the city or state to do property management is lying, beyond a business license, there is no city/state licensing for property management or qualifications needed to file said business license.
20. Personality – a bad manager can lead to high tenant turnover and may cost you money
21. Get everything in writing – this includes applicant information, personal contact information for the property manager beyond their business number and always give yourself a 30-60 day out on any contract with the property manager
22. References – always ask for references. if you were hiring an employee (and you know this being a manager yourself) you always get references. they cannot always be trusted to be 100% authentic, but you can usually tell something about the prospect by the type of references as well as what those references say.