What to Look For In a Property Management Company

When you own a valuable piece of real estate, and decide to rent it out, you want the best property management company taking care of your property as you would.

You will find that most property management companies will claim to do an excellent job of screening your tenants, collecting that rent and generally keeping the property attractive and well maintained. It is vitally important to select the right property management company, which is critical to insure that the property is properly maintained and continually rented, as well as increasing the value of your investment. So, naturally it is important to choose the right property manager for your investment property.

In order to make an informed choice, you need to take into consideration how much experience the management company has, checking their references, and evaluating exactly what you are getting for your money.
Valid License

First, you should make sure that the property management company holds a valid license of the state they are located in. You want to make sure the company is legitimate.

Keep it Local

Next you should try to find a local company rather than one that is out of the area. It is important for the property manager to be close to property (for showing or possible problems), as well as knowing the local market trends. Your property manager needs to be able to recommend ideas for improvements and renting tips to keep your property drawing tenants. Your property manager should also be able to keep you informed of the local activities in the neighborhood, town or city.
Plan

You should ask your property management company for a plan. Choosing a progressive property manager who has unique ideas on how to draw tenants to the property, as well as take reasonably good care as well as maintain it, will leave less for you to do and less headaches.

Experience

This is a definite must. Ideally, the property manager will have sufficient experience in working with properties that are similar to what you have. You should always ask your potential candidates for property management what type of property they feel most comfortable working with. Some places are excellent at managing large apartment complexes, while others prefer working with single family home instead.

References

The potential property management company should definitely be able to give you at least 3 references recent clients they worked with. You need to get a hold of the previous clients ask how well the manager did their job when working with them. You really should discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of the property manager you are thinking of hiring. Additionally, you always want to ask how successful the properties were while under their management. To get the best feedback you want to keep your inquiries confidential.

Good Customer Service

If you find yourself having to leave multiple messages and no one returns your call, you may wish to reconsider hiring this property manager. You want a manager who will be conscientious about treating people with respect and being able to communicate well with not only the tenants, and vendors, but also prospective tenants and applicants. If your manager lets the phone go to voice mail too often, the prospective applicants/tenants will look elsewhere for renting, and you lose money.

Maintenance

It is important to have some solid ground rules when discussing maintenance of the property. Many places have a limit of $250, where the property manager will take care of all maintenance issues up to that amount. When the repairs or maintenance issues go over that amount, then they will contact the owner to let them know what the problem is, and get permission to go ahead or wait for the owner’s decision.

There are always other concerns when renting your property, but this should offer guideline as to where to start when looking for a reputable property management company.

 

Contact Best Property Management, Inc. if you have any questions or if you are in need of professional property management services in the Fremont, Livermore, or Brentwood, CA areas.

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