Conflicts of interest with realtors and management companies?

[Catherine Underwood]

I am using a realtor to find me a property that I can rent out. I live out of state and so will need a management company to handle it.

Is it a good idea to ask the realtor for management company recommendations or would it be a conflict of interest?

Also I have seen realtors who also double as management agents. They find a property to buy and then manage it to rent it out. Are using such people a good idea, or does it create a conflict of interest?

[Cassi Justiz]

I'm a Realtor, so other people may have different opinions here. But I think it's great to get recommendations from a Realtor about property management companies. Most Realtors will want to make sure we refer our clients to the best possible vendors, because a crappy referral reflects poorly on us. 

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to use a Realtor that also does property management. Some people will try to sell you a bad house, but an ethical person won't do that regardless of whether they manage property or not. At the end of the day, the property manager is the one that will have to deal with the maintenance calls, tenant issues, etc. So they have a vested interest in making sure your property isn't going to be a pain in the butt for anyone involved.