First time property manager shopping (long term rental)

[Jonathan Buelow]

I am buying my first rental property and am looking into hiring a property manager. The property is a 4-units, 2bed-1bath multifamily, located in a more depressed area of the town, so many of the owners in that area self-manage and does month-to-month with relatively bad tenants. I am looking at doing year leases only. 

Here's the kicker though, the property manager I found (not connected to any company, but is a realtor) has some odd fees that don't seem great to me. He says he charges 10%, half of the first month's rent, and an extra fee if we use his maintenance teams.

This doesn't make me feel very comfortable because, in my opinion, this would incentivize him to find bad tenants on purpose so he can receive more commission.

What are your thoughts? are these pretty normal fees, should I come to him with a counter offer (if so, what are your thoughts) or should I drop him and look for someone else?

[Drew Sygit]

In our experience, the #1 mistake landlords make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.

It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Landlords mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator.

So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.

This also leads them to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!

We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊