on property managers

[Kate Szeto]

I have a property manager whom I have some doubts and wanted to ask for opinions on this forum. My property manager is a company who charges a fixed percentage every month. With my last one-year lease tenant managed by this PM, there were way too many breaks/fixes reported by this tenant through the PM - more breaks/fixes than my previous five tenants combined. Once this tenant is gone, the PM pushed for a lot of improvements costing me a five digit number dollar figure. PM is also my broker, so they obviously want a higher rental price with money from me to improve my property the way they think would get them a good price. Their ultimate goal is to get a good rental price, not to save me money. That is understandable. But they are driving what I should do with my property, which I feel is crossing the line. Is this the norm of property managers, that they can have so much power in your property? Where should their responsibilities be?

[Aaron Poling]

Their responsibilities should be whatever is agreed upon. In general your property manager's job should be to help you meet your goals. If those goals are to have top end properties to get the highest rents possible, or middle of the road properties that get middle of the road rents. It is within the property managers rights to only accept properties that fit the critiertia that they want to manage. I suggest having a conversation with your property manager to make sure your goals align with each other. It may be worth speaking with all the property managers in your space, to find the one that lines up with your goals the best. 

Good Luck! Aaron