Hiring 3rd Party Management

[Joshua Christensen]

What are some of the biggest things you look for when hiring a 3rd party management company out of state.  Consider that the property will not support onsite management or maintenance.  

What some pitfalls you've experienced that now you are diligent in your hiring process?  

Thank you. 

[Matthew Irish-Jones]

Quote from @Joshua Christensen:

What are some of the biggest things you look for when hiring a 3rd party management company out of state.  Consider that the property will not support onsite management or maintenance.  

What some pitfalls you've experienced that now you are diligent in your hiring process?  

Thank you. 

 Understand that it is a two way street.  No one wants to subsidize your property, however, people would gladly manage it for a profit.  If you do not want them to make a profit you will go through a lot of companies.

I set our company up to make an 8% net... we have yet to hit that goal and normally fall in the 3-5% range.  We pay our people well, but not crazy amounts.

Our goal is to provide real value.  That value comes with dedicated professionals, well trained maintenance, and reliable staff.  We do not have a lot of turnover, and we have fully developed business systems.  Some of the things that we do that I would absolutely want to know a PM company does if I am investing.

1. Tenant screening process - what credit score, how do you verify income?  Is this information saved

2. Credit reporting - do they report on credit for missed payments 

3. Maintenance - Do they have in house maintenance?  Outsourcing everything is expensive. 

4. General Staff - do they have staff that is full time and well trained?  There are a LOT of pm companies that are one guy and a website.

5. Systems - Do they have quality systems for tenants, owner portal, billing, maintenance, etc... You do not want to be the guinea pig for them to figure it out.

Like anything in life you will get what you pay for.  There are times when investors need the cheapest service, we are not that company.  

Decide what you value, then compare and contrast companies.  My personal opinion is TRUST needs to be valued at #1.  Even if that means you will pay more.