Property Management Issues

[Sharise S.]

I have Recently hired a new property management team and I am becoming very worried about their level of care and communication when it comes to my properties. This is our first month working together and rent still has yet to be collected (as of sept 14) for some of my units under their care. I call almost daily to Find out more information but whenever I call I only get their answering service, to which I’m told to leave a message. This message never gets responded to, neither are the countless emails that I send to my POC at the company. After so many fails attempts to reach out I’m just not sure what do to next, or how to go about getting more answers to my questions. Any advice would be appreciated. 

[Drew Sygit]

How did they communicate when you were interviewing them?

What makes you think they will suddeny improve?

Terminate them NOW!

We have many owners contacting us about bad property management, but they often choose to continue with their suffering in the hopes it gets better. It rarely does and their losses just get worst.

Read our standard script below on selecting a PMC:

In our experience, the #1 mistake landlords make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.

It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Landlords mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact same services and operate the exact same way, so price is the only differentiator.

So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services.

This also leads them to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it.

We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊