Finding a Property Manager

[Daniel B Bennett]

I have always been interested in owning rental property but I got into it accidentally when I sold my old office building. My lawyer advised me to do a 1031 Exchange and buy single family houses to rent. He introduced me to a very good property manager and so far things have gone well. I decided to try to build my RE business by buying more rentals and getting into multi-family/apartments but there is not much available where I live. My lawyer tells me I have to stay local or I will lose anything I invest. He tells me that my property manager (his friend) is the only one I know I can trust so don't buy anything he can't manage and don't buy anything out of town. I have heard of property managers cheating landlords and stealing from tenants and landlords before so his advice doesn't sound that crazy but if I don't look elsewhere I will have only two single family rentals for the next 5 to 10 years. How do you find a trustworthy property manager where you don't live?