Starting a PM Company

[Mark Koontz]

Hello all!

I am currently building a property management company. I have several rentals of my own and have self managed for 2 years. I decided to offer this service to others since a lot of the systems and processes are built out already. I am looking for advice from other PM Companies experience on what customers like/don't like, do's and don'ts, etc. A few specific questions I have are listed below:

1. SHOWINGS - I currently do showings in person, but would not be able to do this if I scaled. Through my research, it seems that most other PM companies do self-showings. Does anyone have recommendations on self-showing programs/lock boxes? Ideally one with insurance to cover any issues. 

2. PAYMENT DISBURSEMENTS - Incoming rents would come into a general rent account, replenish the maintenance fund for any expenses incurred through the month, take the PM fee, and then disburse the rest into the owners account. Does anyone recommend doing this a different way? I use Innago as a management program which allows different taxable entities for the rents, which would assist when it comes tax season. I would then issue a 1099 to each owner for the amount of rent payed to them. 

3. MARKETING - Not too worried about this one yet. Most of my marketing will start as word of mouth. Reviews would be my main priority in growth. What are the best forms of marketing for a PMC? 

4. VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE - I will have to onboard a virtual assistant and train them to handle a lot of the aspects (posting properties, signing leases, managing maintenance tickets, etc). Does anyone recommend a certain website to look for real estate VA's? I have used Upwork in the past and had a good experience.

5. MANAGEMENT CONTRACT - Are there any must-have clauses in a PM contract? I have one that I have been adding to periodically when I think of something. 

If anyone has any general advice they would like to add or would like to hop on a phone call, I would really appreciate it. 

Thanks!