Does your property manager suck?

Question

I'm a property manager and I want to take my service to an elite level.  Tell me why your property manager sucks.

Bonus, if you were my client, how I could serve you better?  What do you want out of a property manager?

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@Ted Ferik I have tried using property managers a couple times, but they fail on two major fronts:

1. There isn't sense of urgency like an owner has. I have had people call me on a Saturday morning telling me they are in town looking for a house to rent. They tell me the property management companies didn't return their call because it was a weekend. By Sunday afternoon, I have a place rented to them. I understand it may not be practical for a PM to be responsive like this in scale.

2. Most PM put very little effort into trouble shooting problems before dispatching service personnel. I will spent 10-15 minutes trouble shooting problems over the phone, which has helped me avoid dispatching service personnel. I have saved thousands in service calls over the years. From a PM's perspective, it is billable to the owner. Sometimes they even make money on service calls.

Overall, I think it is most important for a property manager to be responsive. When we were looking for a PM to handle leasing on one of our properties, we called several companies. It was amazing how many went to voice mail and didn't return calls for hours or even ever in some cases. Answering phones and emails seems basic, but so many people get busy and neglect it. My though is if the PM doesn't answer my call, they won't answer a call when someone wants to rent my place or a tenant has problems.

Dan Thomas · Answer

@Ted Ferik

1. Pick up the phone when I call you, I probably pay you well so I don't care if it is after your "business hours"

2. If you are charging me for a maintenance / repair items you better be able to tell me off the top of your head why I was charged. If you have to look into it how am I supposed to feel confident you did your due diligence before just passing through an uneeded or over inflated cost to me. I don't care about the number of clients you have, if you don't know this you don't have the right systems in place for the number of your clients.

3. Own real estate investments, how do I trust that you have my best interests in mind if you don't understand my interests? This goes for anyone that I talk to, not just the owner of the PM company. Of you are pushing me to an account Manager or cs rep I expect the same out of them.

4. Attitude- PMs that act like they are doing me a favor don't last long. They provide me a service and I pay them for it. This is a business relationship and I am the customer so I expect to be treated like it.

After re-reading this it seems like a rant but I have a really good PM and have had a couple bad ones and these are the reasons I moved my business.

Josue Vargas · Answer

1. Lack of communication with me, their client.  But I didn't hear from the tenant itself until when they were moving out and some issues, so I guess their communication with the tenant was good.  I'm guessing they wanted to delay communication therefore the problems became "urgent" and then they wanted to use their contractors.  They charged 10% fee of the total sub invoice.

2. Misuse of the $500 allowance for maintenance.  They needed to notify me of anything over $300, otherwise they communicated whatever they feel and most of the time they even didn't bother to call me or email me of anything less than $300 expense.  Then I saw the monthly statement and was overwhelming.

3. Communication with the HOA was a big issue.  I had no help from them on any of the tenant's issues with the HOA.  In fact, I had developed good relationship with the HOA management company because of this.  So at least something positive.

4. Poor walk-in and "as is" documentation notes/report.  Tenant at moved out took all curtain rods and drapes (valued at over $350), they never followed up.  Explanation was "we have no evidence there were curtains in your property".  But yeah, they charged me $100 for an in-moving condition report...

5. Lack of putting notes in their system for things I know about the property.  Like for example that GFCI outlet that goes off.  I explained to them the situation so they can communicate that to the Tenant.  They obviously overlooked, resulting on an extra expense, which they replaced and charged me, and the problem persists.  Electrician invoiced them with a new GFCI outlet, their time and everything, and with all that, the problem persists.

I can keep going, it is maybe my luck and experienced with PMs I guess.

I hope you do a better job.  If not, you will have a lot of unhappy clients like me and a lot of turnover.

Good luck.

Brandon Goldsmith · Answer

In simple terms, it seems like most PM companies don't utilize enough software and technology to be able to keep owners up to date for items they should be able to automate. @Ted Ferik

Craig Janet · Answer

I only have experience with one really horrible PM. Now I self manage 14 units. Although I hate collecting late rent and showing the rentals, things are running a lot better. I'm also making more money.

1. Communication. I want to know what's going on with my properties when it happens. Previous PM didn't notify me that someone moved out. It was empty for a whole month and the only way I found out is because I didn't get a check. I also had potential renters call the PM to schedule a viewing and they wouldn't get a response. Empty homes would go days or weeks without being reposted.

2. Maintenance. They have no incentive to save you money or work with the tenant to solve the problem. The lights didn't work so they called a handyman for $100. All they needed was a light bulb.

3.Payments. Rent is late on the 5. They should call the tenant everyday for the back rent but they would only harass the tenant unless I called. Also I didn't get rent checks until the end of the month.

Irene Navasca · Answer

@Ted Ferik

1. Had a long time tenant and just found out he moved out when I didn’t receive a check

2. Property manager claimed she was showing my property and it would get filled in less than a month.

3. Hitting 3 months without a tenant and I get a bill of all the work being done it was $8200! And I didn’t have appliances?! Why would anyone want to move into a property without a stove or refrigerator?

4. I wired 10k and PM is asking what my budget is for appliances…ummmm use whatever u have left from the money

5. While my tenant was there I was getting 2 months of rent that seemed lower than usual when I brought it up my PM said her employee referred to the old lease.

A lot of this is my fault. I wanted this to be a passive investment and I didn’t want to be a mean landlord. I think as the landlord it’s our job to really manage properties to some extent and anyone involved, my PM likely took advantage since I was so hands off. Luckily it’s my first rental and I am taking this as a learning experience.

Bud Gaffney · Answer

Most PM's suck, just like most Realtors suck. References, Reviews, Repeat!

Ted Ferik · Answer

@Justin Kurpius I am in Connecticut

Laura Marks · Answer

I'd been a PM for 7 years before I started on my own, just passing my broker's course last week. Communication is key and I'm often frustrated by others who can't seem to manage this. In my interim, I was helping my investor find a PM and NO ONE passed my initial contact. My goal is to provide every aspect of PM for my oos investors. This includes lending, purchase, PM and having the best boots on the ground in the KC area. We have amazing cash flow opportunities here and I take great pride in my city. Customer service is lacking with so many businesses, but it should never be when clients are trusting you with one of their biggest financial interests. EXPECT BETTER!

Justin Kurpius · Answer

Ted - where do u provide your service?

Does your property manager suck?

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