Interviewing Property Managers

Title:
E9: Interviewing Property Managers
Summary:
Interviewing property managers is a skill that every landlord needs to have.  The property manager can make or break an investment property from making profits. As a result, there are many deeper questions a landlord can ask and understand what they mean when with their answers. As the saying goes, "You pay for what you get" and a property manager is way more than a "line item on a budget".
Recorded:
Jan 16, 2020
Host:
Kassandra Taggart, Eik Boltman, & Dave Stroh
Links:
The Landlord's Almanac
Facebook Page
Website
Property Management
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Sponsor:
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Show Notes:
Introduction

Hiring the right manager is the key to being profitable.

Asking many questions about their “why” will help differentiate the different professionals.

How do you know if the property manager is impacting your profits in a negative way?

Story of a property manager being overworked and cost the landlord money.

Does reputation matter in the market place?

Check reputation by what others say, not just what the property manager says.

The words behind what tenants and owners say on google reviews.

How needs to have a higher bar?

The property manager needs to have systems in place to be consistent.

How many references do you ask for?  

We like 5, you can obtain it from the title, inspectors, other landlords, Facebook, and more.

What does success look like with a property manager if you can define it?

You shouldn’t hear from your property manager because they got everything in control where it is smooth.

Does property management have to have their finances in order?

Yes, there are a lot of regulations on how the money must be managed.  

A management company can outsource their books or have it done in house.

Example of replacing a refrigerator. How do you classify it so the Tax professional can review it?

Does the number of rentals they manage matter?

Hiring a property manager that’s to small can be split focus with another line of business.

An example of keeping up with the laws can financially hurt the landlord.

Do you like property managers to have investments?

Yes, in fact, ½ of our company has employees that own rentals. This helps the team understand fears, budgets, and market trends.

Does a professional property manager know how to market your rental property?

Yes, knowing how to market your type of rental is key to renting it faster.

Compare small or large companies vs companies that have solid systems in place.

Do you expect a pitch on the marketing plan to rent your unit?

Yes, every property is a type and should have a particular marketing plan that fits that property with act

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:48 Hiring the right manager is key to being profitable.
• 1:19 Asking many questions about their “why” will help differentiate the different professionals.
• 1:51 How do you know if the property manager is impacting your profits in a negative way?
• 1:53 Story of a property manager being overworked and cost the landlord money.
• 3:24 Does reputation matter in the market place?
• 3:27 Check reputation by what others say, not just what the property manager says.
• 3:44 The words behind what tenants and owners say on google reviews.
• 5:21 Who needs to have a higher bar?
• 5:36 The property manager needs to have systems in place to be consistent.
• 6:03 How many reference do you ask for?
• 6:03 We like 5, you can obtain it from title, inspectors, other landlords, facebook, and more.
• 6:42 What does success look like with a property manager if you can define it?
• 7:00 You shouldn’t hear from your property manager because they got everything in control where it is smooth.
• 7:27 Does a property management have to have their finances in order?
• 7:29 Yes, there are a lot of regulations on how the money must be managed.
• 7:42 A management company can outsource their books or have it done in house.
• 8:23 Example of replacing a refrigerator. How do you classify it so the Tax professional can review it.
• 9:00 Does the number of rentals the manage matter?
• 9:10 Hiring a property manager that’s to small can be split focues with another line of business.
• 9:33 Example of keeping up with the laws can financially hurt the landlord.
• 10:23 Do you like property managers to have investments?
• 10:42 Yes, in fact ½ of our company has employees that own rentals. This helps the team understand fears, budgets, and market trends.
• 11:04 Does a professional property manager know how to market your rental property.
• 11:37 Yes, knowing how to market your type of rental is key to renting it faster.
• 11:51 Compare a small or large companies vs companies that have solid systems in place.
• 12:32 Do you expect a pitch on the marketing plan to rent your unit?
• 12:47 Yes, every property is a type and should have a particular marketing plan that fits that property with actual stats to support it.
• 13:35 Commercial - Real Property Management Alaska
• 14:07 Do you ask what properties they manage in the area?
• 14:14 It matters if your portfolio match their portfolio.
• 14:49 Do you groom to see if they know the rental market?
• 14:54 I do! I’m curious of their knowledge and if they are engaged in their portfolio and market or not.
• 15:31 Many landlords that have been in it a while get jaded and are difficult to work with.
• 15:55 What is a high level of clarity from a successful property manager?
• 16:20 A property manager than can speak with their facts and not facts posted by the town’s numbers.
• 17:44 What traits does a company need to solve problems?
• 17:45 There are a lot of problems in property management.
• 18:46 You’ll need to understand what matters to you most and ask questions to see if their systems work to solve what matters to you.
• 19:02 Just know, you pay for what you get. You can’t have a property manager go every day to check on the rental unless you pay accordingly for that service.
• 19:21 Do you want a property manager that does rentals only or rentals and sales?
• 19:34 In today’s world, we should work with someone that does just property management.
• 19:53 You pay a property manager to keep up with laws. If they are split focused they can’t keep up.
• 20:16 A focused PM will have solid records and systems where they can hit print on a file in minutes to know the risk involved with a problem.
• 20:48 We are like fire departments.
• 21:35 If they are a small company they don’t have the experience to handle difficult situations.
• 22:11 Who should decide what the price is of a rental property?
• 22:17 Property manager should set the price to go on the market, not the investor. Because we have the numbers.
• 22:55 Should you ask how long it take to rent a property?
• 23:11 We asked questions to determine their turnover rates.
• 23:37 Would you prefer a company that promotes tenant satisfactions.
• 23:58 Yes, an example is how to handle tenant credit reporting.
• 24:30 Having tenants that care about their credit report will help ensure payments of rent in the future.
• 24:39 Commercial - Pioneer FloorCare
• 25:17 Is a good manager able to answer the phones 24/7?
• 25:36 Yes, there are managers in this town that has an emergency calls that is a “voicemail”
• 26:23 Look at all the costs and why they are there.
• 26:28 If you start off with asking cost, you’ll naturally make them a line item on your sheet when they are suppose to be your partner.
• 27:04 What do you find as the problem with low-priced property managers?
• 27:48 Proactive repairs were not done costing them thousands during a property being sold.
• 28:37 Comparing property management to a babysitter.
• 29:54 Commercial
• 30:23 We have special guest, Erik Boltman.
• 30:44 Questions from the forum:
• 30:55 Is it illegal to charge pet rent? No it is not.
• 31:08 "NonRefundable Deposit" is not a thing
• 32:20 67% of leases signed have pets – know that this is the potential renters.
• 33:14 Large Dogs and Small dogs damages
• 33:53 Visual damage vs financial damage
• 34:23 Does pet smells go away?
• 35:00 It takes a long time to remove the smells depending on how far the damage
• 35:33 What do you do with renters that punch walls?
• 35:56 There are a lot of hard conversation?
• 36:02 Story about two disabled people that was causing damages and ideas on how to handle them.
• 38:30 Must have judgement and compassion to find problems.
• 38:40 Is Air B&B allowed on a sub-lease?
• 39:27 When something bad happens it goes bad fast.
• 39:35 Outlets should be white or almond?
• 40:04 Just match! Light bulbs, outlets, knobs – just match.
• 41:39 Comments “well it’s just a rental”. Tenants can’t improve it. It matters.