Houston PM Experiences - Recommendations

[Lisa T.]

We've been with our PM for 5 years and we're seeing a decline in their services so I think it's past time to get out in the market and see what our options are for a new PM. Do you have a solid PM in the Houston area you could name? I, of course, would need to do my own due diligence but it's nice to have somewhere to start my research.

Examples:
I'm finding their recommended rental rates to be very low when I go out and search online, rentometer, Zillow, etc. We can't afford to not be pricing right with the significant double-digit increases in insurance and property taxes, especially in Houston.

Decentralized Service -- I realize this is done to be more efficient/cost effective but it's more than quadrupled the time it requires me to "manage" them/PM.  Lots of staff turnover, I go over something on one property and 2 months later have to revisit the same issue on an exact property sometimes because different people have been assigned, sometimes because the person is brand new.  (We built the same plan within 2-3 blocks of each other so often we address similar issues that come up.)

They now charge a $200 non-refundable application fee.  This seems very high to me. I have noticed since my PM implemented this our days on market have significantly increased. Coincidence? What is the typical application fee in the Houston area? The best I could do is look at individual listings to the general public and $200 is high. In the other markets we are in it's in the $75-125 range. 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to comment/make suggestions.  (I did post the $200 application fee on a different forum here today.  Probably shouldn't conflate the topics but wanted to make sure I had the right audience, apologize if this is a re-read for some.)