How do I know whether my quality tenant is being taken care of by my PM?

Question

Let's assume:1) I have a quality tenant who pays rent on time2) PM responds promptly to my emails/calls3) I live far from property so cannot drive by for first-hand look at property myself4) I do not gather feedback directly from tenant regarding PM (e.g. survey, etc.)5) the tenant does not have my contact informationHow would I KNOW that the tenant's needs are being addressed by the PM?

On the surface, the property is performing well. I collect timely rent and I receive prompt communication from the PM. That's perhaps enough for many property owners. But for me, I'd also like the the reassurance that my tenant is satisfied.

But how would I ever know if the tenant happens to be dissatisfied with the PM (e.g. perhaps the tenant's maintenance requests aren't responded to promptly)?

How would I ever know if the PM is taking shortcuts instead of working hard to make sure that the tenant's needs are being addressed (e.g. perhaps the tenant has some other issue that they wish to have communicated to me but instead of passing along the message, the PM simply tells the tenant that the owner hasn't yet responded)?

Or all of these questions irrelevant, as long as rent is being paid and PM communicates great with me? (Obviously, I find this viewpoint unsatisfactory, but feel free to try to convince me to think otherwise.)

Steve Rozenberg · Answer

You have to look at your rentals as a business and the PM as your operations of your business, I can certainly understand you wanting to make sure that your PM is handling your business operations correctly. But if you did a good job vetting the company then you should trust what they are doing.

In the end there can only be one PM either it should be the company you hire or you yourself, not both. Getting involved can very quickly muddy the waters and create communication issues where the tenant starts to go to the owner directly when there is an issue. And sometimes it can be a where the owner is thinking they are doing the right thing stepping in and helping out the tenant but could unknowingly be violating a fair housing or discrimination law.

I just feel that if you feel you did the right job hiring the company and there are no red flags then I would not upset their system of operation.

Account Closed · Answer

your best to let your pm handle it staring a personal relationship  with a tenant is only going to cost you money.

The tenant is happy if they are living there and you don't see to many service requests and you are happy  collecting the rent and not spending extra money on needless request. Drive by the property if it looks taken care of it probably is

Jason L. · Answer

Account Closed  I generally share your viewpoint. "Trust, but verify," as the saying goes. Just needed to see if I could be convinced otherwise, as I shore up my rationale.Thanks all!

Dawn Brenengen · Answer

@Jason Leong As a PM I would suggest not contacting the tenants while they are living in the home.  If you want to do an exit interview, that would be ok, but making yourself available to the tenant now muddies the waters.  In my experience, tenants who have contact with the owners, end up calling the owners when they need things because the owners are ALWAYS softer than the PMs.  If your PM is responsive to you, you really have no reason to think they won't be to your tenants.  I would say trust until you really have a reason not to.

Colleen F. · Answer

I deal with a lot of vendors in my day job and periodically get calls about their performance from groups they hire to evaluate their services.  You can do a survey monkey survey very anonymously.   It keeps you out of the personal loop. Tell your PM you are doing this.

I would not call the tenant up.   Just write up a couple of questions.  Don't make it all about the PM, make it about the property too. 7 points scales are nice to use on a couple of questions.  I would also throw out how satisfied are you with the house, the PM,  and specific evaluations about service calls.  You might throw in a question about anything they want in terms of upgrades but don't make it specific, more like is there something we can do better.  I would also present it as a  periodic survey (annual).   Very short though , maybe 10 questions.  Just a thought.  (if they are a technophob you made need to use paper though)

You can also go with if its not broke don't fix it but I sense you want to verify it is going as well as you think.

Eva Salas · Answer

@Jason Leong  My tenants' perspectives and satisfaction are definitely a concern of mine. Therefore I have done many exit interviews with tenants to make sure they weren't leaving because of problems of management unresponsiveness, or issues with neighbors. I like to do them as it doesn't interfere with my managers. Upon receiving 30 day notice you could call your soon-to-be X tenant and let them know you hope all was well while they were living there, and that you valued them as a resident, etc.  They will definitely let you know if they are leaving because of management issues!

Michael Noto · Answer

So it sounds like you have a tenant who pays on time and a property manager who you have a good working relationship with.  What is the problem?

It doesn't seem like you have to much of a problem here unless I am missing something.  Have you ever managed a rental property yourself?  If you have, I think you would agree you have a pretty good situation going from what it sounds like.

Don't over think this.  You hired a property manager to do a job, let them do it.  If you were having problems with the PM this would be an entirely different story.

Sam T. · Answer

Jason,

I think its a nice idea to think about the tenant because turnover cost and rent loss can eat you up if the PM isn't doing his job. I think you will get varying opinions on this I think its a good idea to make sure your PM is doing what you expect I would. Maybe sending tennants a survey would work? you could pick random tenants quarterly and maybe give them a $10 Starbucks gift card if they complete the survey just a thought.

Account Closed · Answer

i'd use the most recent service request / work order the tenant initiated (if any) as reason to follow up (via visit or in ur long distance situation, phone) with principal

afterall, PM is only an agent between u 2, not a wall.

Jason L. · Answer

Account Closed Thank you all for weighing in. Maybe it is as simple as you all say -- reach out to and touch base with my tenant. My instinct tells me to do the same thing.

My only hesitation with that approach, and the reason for this post, is the strong owner sentiment I've detected from previous posts that owners hired PMs to do a job and thus should not be reaching out to the tenant him or herself. So I'd be curious to hear from owners who feel strongly about not reaching out to tenants directly. How do you ensure that their needs are being met by the PM? Or is the tenant's perspective simply not a concern of yours?

How do I know whether my quality tenant is being taken care of by my PM?

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