Property Managers Seem to Forget Who They're Working For

[Ben Stout]

It's funny, but it seems over time that property managers seem to forget who hired them. It's as if they feel that the tenant is paying them. While maybe they are--albeit indirectly... I've found that some managers' visions become very myopic when it comes to what are reasonable requests and what are not. Their only goal becomes pacifying tenants.

I recently had to fire a property manager and hire a new one after I began getting so many absurd emails and queries that I had to stop it. First a manager informed me that I needed to purchase a larger refrigerator or the tenant was sure to move out. Then it was that if I had a property appraisal conducted without 5 days' notice, a tenant would get upset and move out. They seem to begin walking on eggshells with tenants over time... which, in my experience, almost always leads to 1.) absurd requests and 2.) decreased leverage on the part of the landlord (which can often be disastrous and costly.)

After the manager (who manages 500+ units) told me that my tenants had more rights than I in terms of my property, I had to hire someone else. I couldn't deal with it anymore... I'm sure next I would have gotten a frantic email demanding that I buy new clothes and/or provide Wal-Mart gift cards for tenants because I failed to provide a washer and dryer. The next tenant would clog the toilet and then demand that I be on the hook to repair the plumbing because of my failure to provide housing within close proximity to healthy food.

Have you ever had something similar happen with your manager(s)?

[Richard C.]

Part of their job is to tell you what the tenants are thinking, and part of their job is to save you from yourself.

Don't you want to know that all that it will take to avoid a vacancy and turnover costs is a larger fridge? Or would you rather just have the place empty and never know why?

And sometimes landlards dig in their heels over what they think is reasonable, and property managers have to tell you what the market realities are.