If you happen to be an owner of rental property, the last thing you want on a regular basis is one hassle after another. Whether it's trying to collect rent from tenants who are consistently late, being called at midnight to repair a leaking pipe, or always having vacant properties, these and other problems may be an indication you are in need of a new property manager. Yet time after time, when we see situations such as this, many property owners are hesitant to make the move they know is necessary. Rather than continue to let your rental properties spiral out of control, here are a few signs we can point to that guarantee it's time to get a new property manager as fast as possible.
Your Property Manager is Too Hard to Reach
If your property manager always seems to be out of the office or is too busy to return your calls or texts, we know from experience it's time to part ways and find a new property manager. Always a sign of trouble, this usually indicates the management firm you hired is more interested in collecting their monthly salary than doing much work. As a general rule, we've come to embrace, and chances are if you can't communicate with the property manager, neither can your tenants.
Your Calls are Not Returned in a Timely Manner
Like we said previously, if your phone calls are not returned in a timely manner, you've got a severe
property manager
problem. While at first, you may think this means your manager is working their fingers to the bone, we have discovered this usually means they are taking long lunches or simply sitting around with their feet propped up, basking in the glow of thinking they have a sucker who hasn't caught on to their act. Therefore, if your calls are not getting returned, pay an unexpected visit to your property manager's office. In doing so, you may be surprised at what you find.
Little or No Feedback or Reports
Since rental properties are always in need of some repairs, we have found it is vital you, as the property owner, receive monthly reports on a regular basis. However, with many owners we have dealt with over the years, one of their biggest issues with previous property managers has been receiving little or no feedback or reports for various services, repair requests, or other related issues. If you're experiencing this same problem, don't sit back and assume everything is running smoothly. More than likely, it's anything but smooth for your properties. Most of the time, little or no feedback means little or nothing is getting done in terms of repairs and other services. By letting this continue, you'll have one run-down property after another.
Where are the Good Tenants?
When we work with property owners, they often wonder aloud why their properties seem always to be filled with
bad tenants. Whether it's tenants who skip out without paying their rent, regularly damage properties, or seem to have an incredible talent for always attracting police to the property, these and other problems are almost always the result of poor property management. In most cases, these problems happen because a property manager makes little or no effort to check such minor details as income, credit scores, personal and job references, and prior rental histories. In our experiences, we've found that if you want to guarantee you'll have some of the worst properties in your area, let this trend continue.
Facebook and Twitter? Never Heard of 'em
If you've got a property manager who still thinks properties can be marketed and good tenants found simply by word-of-mouth or with newspaper ads, we guarantee you've got a big problem on your hands. Should your property manager still think, the internet is simply a fad or has little if any understanding of social media sites such as
Facebook
or
Twitter, it's time to pull out the time machine from your closet and send them packing back to the 19th-century. In today's modern world of rental properties, online marketing is everything, especially regarding social media. Therefore, we highly recommend that before you sign up a new property manager, make sure they have plenty of experience using social media sites to make properties look outstanding and attract the best possible tenants.
Since you'd like to make as much money as possible while having few if any hassles along the way, we suggest you take plenty of time when selecting a new property manager. Rather than stick your head in the sand like an ostrich and hope the problem goes away, be proactive. If something doesn't feel right, find out what is going on, and make the necessary changes. Once you do, good tenants will reappear, and problems will disappear.
