Is PM company overcharging for repairs? Any honest PM out there

[Balu Natarajan]

Hi, This is my first post. Been a passive member for a while. I have 7 units, 4 buildings in Milwaukee managed by a reputed Property Management company. These are some of the repairs charges they have charged me over the last year or so. I have asked for transparency on the repairs. Company refused to provide any kind of transparency to these charges. I have asked for all these in these past only to be refused by the company>

• Details of work order/repair request submitted by tenants
• Details of before and after pictures for certain major repairs such as drywall
• Details of invoice breakdown such as parts, labor or hours

The company would not consult with me on any repairs except once they checked with me for a $1700 water heater change out.

These are some of the recent ledger entrees: Do these seem reasonable for Milwaukee area. To me they are not. I managed my own properties for 3 years before becoming long distance invester.

1. Door lock change out - $245
2. Adjusted supply air to move towards the room - $246
3. Garage service door repair - $245 (no details of what repair)
4. Bagged and hauled away wood from trees - $175 (on a property with no tree or wood around)
5. Gas oven, gas leak adjusted and tightened line - $248

In addition routinely charging me for grass cutting and snow cleaning when leases clearly say tenants are responsible. I have been shopping around but afraid that I will switch our one bad actor for another.

Any advice? Are there any honest PM companies. I need someone who can be upfront about their upcharges, 10% or whatever and be willing to be transparent with invoices, repair details with photos as applicable.

[Marcus Auerbach]

This does seem excessive, especially for labor only jobs. Maybe the cost can be justified, but you should expect transparancy on what exactly was done etc.

Being a PM is not easy, owners expect work to be done by a skilled and licensed contractor, who of course gets a salary, also benefits and work truck, not to mention a mark up for the PM to actually make a profit. 

He has to go to the job, find out what the issue is, then drive to HD, to get the necessary materials, stand in line at the check out, then drive back and actually do the work. It's easy to burn up half a day on a seemingly small job. Oh and the guy also gets paid where there is no work to do... Owners often look at this and think I could have done this myself for and the parts were only $25 and now they charge me X.

We self manage and have an internal team, but if I would hire a PM it would be Welcome Home Milwaukee. They have a flat fee model, check with @Ed Riggenbach. The only issue is that they are selevtive and wil not take on units in the hood; they know better.