Determining a suitable property manager

[Shanice Stewart]

Hi, I'm just starting off in my BP journey and for my 1st property I've decided to go OOS/Out Of Province.

I've decided to use a property manager for this. What sort of things do I need to be cognizant of when choosing a company or individual? 

What sort of questions can I ask to filter out a good manager from a not so good manager?

Thanks!

[Erin Church]

@Shanice Stewart

Awesome that you're taking the first big step! Ask about:

• - Their average tenant turnover time
• - Fees - For placing a tenant, monthly fee/percentage, fee for renewing a tenant, eviction, repairs (repairs are the biggest moneymaker for MANY PM companies).
• - Find out what they require for their contractors (insurance, experience, etc).
• - Make sure you're the one making the final decision on the tenant(s) and the one setting the criteria
• - What they do to market the property
• - How often they're inspecting the property, what they look for, and how they document.
• - How they will communicate with you and what they will communicate with you about (find a happy medium so you know what's happening with your property, but you aren't spending the same amount of energy as you would if you self-managed). 
• - What happens if their "go-to"/assigned property manager for your property is sick or quits.

There's probably more besides what I have and the great points that @Charles Carillo mentioned, but this is a good start. :)