Today we are talking about what to expect from a professional property management company. In this post we will discuss a few items that a professional property management company should have. You can use this when interviewing or searching for a property management company to manage your investment properties.
Monthly Statements
First of all, this is an absolute must. You need to know where your money is going and what is it being spent on. We send our monthly statements out on the 10th of every month. Some companies issue them on the 1st. Regardless, you need to get a monthly statement. It shows you the livelihood of your investment property. Without monthly statements, how do you know what is going on? You can see an example of what our monthly statement looks like when you download our owner handbook.
Answering Phone and Emails
You need a company that picks up the phone, answers the phone and is available. I’m not saying they should be available 24/7, but they should have an after-hour service. In addition, they should also respond in a timely manner. Emails shouldn’t take five days to get back to you.
Screening
If you are hiring a management company they should be able to screen tenants. A professional property management company will be able to screen for income, landlord-tenant verification, criminal history and credit history. They ability to screen an applicant is a MUST.
Legal Aid
By legal aid, I mean a professional property management company should have an attorney they consult with for expert advice. If you ask me a legal question that I don’t know, I’m going to ask our attorney. I want you to feel comfortable that important legal issues have been reviewed by an attorney. We have our own legal counsel that we reach out to often.
Set Fees
If you are interviewing a property manager and they don’t really know what their fees, they may not be a professional. We have set fees and a professional management company will have a set fee structure. Ours you can find out on our website on our pricing page. We are very open about what our management plans cost and even describe our plans in detail in a video.
Software
When interviewing a property manager, you will want to ask them about their software. How do they take care of collecting rent, take care of maintenance invoices, and take care of paying bills? Professional property management companies will be using some type of proprietary software.
Maintenance
A professional property manager will have access to maintenance vendors. Whether it is in-house maintenance or strictly third party vendors, this is one of the most important parts of being a property manager. If something breaks, a property manager needs to have contacts ready and available to handle those problems.
End of the Year Accounting
It only happens once a year but a professional property manager will provide you with end of year accounting. You should receive a 1099 and a Schedule E. A schedule E will breakdown all your income and expenses (management fees, appliances, landscaping, etc) you had throughout the year. You then take this to your accountant so you can do your taxes and plan for the year to come.
These are the most important items to expect from a professional property management company. Thanks for checking out our blog!
Check out our other related blog about the Advantages of Having Professional Property Management.