Warning signs that your property manager has hit their expiration

[Bob Barrie]

We all know we should be careful when the expiration date comes close on a gallon of milk. We might take a small of it before drinking or look for some lumps. If we don’t, we may have an unpleasant surprise. Well property managers can also give us an unpleasant surprise that will cost us time and money.

Here is a list of some of the warning signs that your property manager is close or even past their expiration date. When it happens, it is time to move into action and find a new property manager.

1. The office move. Did your property manager just move their office 15 miles farther away from your property? So now they are 27 miles away instead of only 12. When it comes to renting the property will they be trying too hard to minimize the amount of driving to show the property? Will they tell prospective tenants to drive by first before showing? Even though the property is in a good neighbor and does not need to really have this drive by. Will they schedule appointments all on a Tuesday afternoon and no other day? So prospective tenants just move on to the next one.

2. The “We changed banks and your ACH will be a little late until we get it straighten out.” This is a stall tactic that will usually give the property manager an extra week to “fix” While they are using your money to cover a shortage elsewhere. Banks do make mistakes, but they can be fixed in a day or they can pay you directly with some other method.

3. The late ACH (automatic clearing house). Every month it seems to get later and later. A voice mail or text is needed to get it sent. Of course, after it is sent there never is a call back to say why it was late. Then one day the voice mail doesn’t work.

4. Very high turnover. If tenants are staying less than 6 months, something is broken. The property manager is either not screening new tenants well or the property manager is not treating the tenants well. Tenants rarely will contact you directly, but they will post to Yelp a review of the property manager and how they were treated by your property manager. Be sure to look at the reviews even after you hired your property manager.

5. Going dark. This usually happens after one of the warnings happen. The property manager stops returning calls. Worst yet the voice mail is full, and there is no response from email or text. If your properties are 2,000 miles away this is when it can be extremely frustrating.

Watch for the warning signs and never let your property manager get past one months rent owed to you. This is the way to control your loss if they steal the current rent and deposits. The 30-day notice in most contracts can be waved or forfeited if your property manager is not doing the job that they are supposed to be doing. The earlier you recognize the warning signs the more you will save yourself.