Seeking Property Manager in San Diego Area

[Donovan Plummer]

Hi Fellow Bigpocketers - I am urgently seeking a property manager for a 3 bedroom 2 bedroom condo located in a San Diego coastal community. The unit is currently vacant, but a new tenant will be moving in on 5/22. I have decided to part ways with my current property manager as the unit has gone from a performing to a non-performing property since I hired this property manager early last year. If you are property manager that sees your clients' success as your success, I would be happy to talk with you. My current management agreement will terminate on 6/20.

Looking forward to speaking with you.

Thanks,

Donovan

[Donovan Plummer]

@Nathan G.

I had already reached out to a a couple property managers who are listed as NARPM members. In addition, I have posted requests for consultation on Yelp and Thumbtack. I am a big data guy, 25 years in Fintech. So I am very data-driven when making decisions. That is why I also wanted to use Biggerpockets as another resource for my property manager search. I have been doing residential rentals for the last 10 years and have learned quite a bit, and still learning about this business. As such, I have 30+ initial screening questions that I always ask interested property managers to respond to in writing before we even get on the phone. I have found this to be very effective in screening out the really bad ones. My take is that if you can't spend a few minutes to answer a few pertinent questions to gain my business, then I can't trust that you will work hard to protect my investment. In addition, it gives the appearance of opacity in the way you conduct business.

Here is my list of current screening questions.

1.      How long have you been in the PM business, and have you ever managed properties of your own?

2.      How many properties do you currently have under management?

3.      How many employees do you have on staff?

4.      Is your staff equipped to handle emergencies on a 24/7 basis?

5.      Have you ever managed any property in Oceanside and for how long?

6.      On average, how long does the relationship last with your clients?

7.      How many evictions have you executed within the last 12-month period?

8.      Does your company policy allow the owner to have a final say in the selection of tenants?  Without sharing non-public information, I like to see information that helps me to assess the credit worthiness of a prospective tenant.  As a result, it may take a little longer to rent, but at the end of the day the tenants end up being relatively great tenants that stay around for a long time?

9.      Do you also operate as a realtor?  After building a relationship of mutual trust and understanding, I would be inclined to use your realtor services if and when I decide to dispose of the property.

10.   What kind of properties represent the lion's share of your portfolio?

11. What process do you have in place for effectively engaging the local HOA of a property under your management?

12.   How often do you perform inspections, what is the cost, and what deliverables are provided to the owner after each inspection event?

13.   How do you advertise your properties?

14.   What specific measures or processes do you have in place to make sure that communication with the owner is timely, accurate, and effective?

15.   Do you have a secure web portal that allows both owner and tenant to communicate with you, submit/track work orders, and do real-time reporting?  I am not inclined to do business with PMs that are not leveraging the power of technology to gain efficiencies.  I have a strong background in IT.  So, I am a little bit biased in this regard.

16.   On average, how long do tenants usually stay in properties under your management?

17.   How do you deal with an owner who may be engaging in questionable practices with regards to the tenant's rights?

18.   How familiar is your company with the regulatory environment for rental properties in California?  This is important to me, as I want to be told (not asking for legal advice) when I am asking you to do something that may not be in compliance with regulatory mandates.

19.   What specific screening methods do you utilize to weed out potential problem tenants?

20.   What are your fees for the following items?

a.      Setup Cost

b.      Lease or Renewal

c.      Monthly Management Fee

21.   How do you handle security deposits from tenants, both during and at the end of the lease term?

22.   How do you allocate late fees?  100% to owner or 50/50?  Unless there is extra effort on the part of the PM to collect the late fee, then I think it should be 100% to the owner.  Since at the end of the day, it is the owner who bears all the risk of a late payment.  The bearer of the risk should get the reward.

23.   Do you allow customers to hire their own contractors to do maintenance work?

24.   Regardless of who does the hiring, do you have a member of your staff do a quality inspection prior to remitting payment for services rendered?  I have had some issues with this in the past where the inspection only focused on aesthetics to the exclusion of compliance with local building code?

25.   Name the top 3 things or qualities that you think uniquely separate you from the pack in the property management business?

26. What affiliations or certifications does your company have with property management organizations?

27. On average, how long does it usually take to fill a vacancy?

28. Please walk me through the process of how you handle transfers from an existing PM in a way that makes the transition smooth for owner and tenant?

29. What kind of insurance or bond does your company carry?

30. Will you have any other income sources from managing my property, including any ownership interest in maintenance or repair companies used to effect repairs?

31. Do you have sample management and lease agreements that I can take a look at?

32.   If you had to name our single biggest mistake as a PM, what would it be?  This is a little bit cliched, but it would be remiss of me not to ask-:)

 Note that some questions may vary to suit the property type location, as I do have a couple out of state rentals in my small portfolio. Although this is my side hustle, it would be investment malpractice not to do my due diligence by leveraging available resources like Biggerpockets. Thanks for your response.