Are you like me?

Do you invest in multifamily properties?

Want to make your real estate investing life a bit easier?

Find a good property management company. When you do, stick with them!

A good management company will handle all the tenant, toilet and termite issues in your properties for you, plus a whole lot more!

Here’s a short tutorial on how to choose a good property management company, which helps you leverage your time a whole lot more! Click the link below:

What makes a “good” property management company?

A property management company is responsible for handling all the issues in a property so you don’t have to. For instance, they collect the rents for you, they make sure pest control happens, they schedule regular service on your property and help you handle the bigger issues, like broken pipes or property damage.

A good property management company should be a part of your team, which will over time save you money and certainly take stresses off of you.

Though there could be a much longer list, I’ll keep it simple for now. If you are looking to free up your time, you need to find a property management company to handle things in the property in your stead. Here are a few things that qualify a “good” property management company vs. a so-so management company:

1.- How long they’ve been in the market that you are serving.

This is important. You don’t want to hire a property management company that’s only been serving your market for a couple of months. They need a good track record and they need to be able to show you proof that they’re good at what they do specifically in your market. (It won’t help you to hire a management company that isn’t used to working with the type of tenant you serve, because they won’t likely understand the mindset or issues that will come up.)

2.- How well they understand the market they (and you) are serving.

As I just mentioned, a property management company you are considering must understand YOUR tenants. For example, in my world I serve a working class or “B” Class tenant. That means families where one or both parents work to pay the bills; these tenants don’t cause a lot of trouble, but I see certain issues arise from time to time. If the property management company is more accustomed to working with an “A” Class tenant (a.k.a., in the luxury property market), they may not understand the mindset and needs of my tenants. Conversely, if the property management company is more accustomed to working with the lower-end “C” Class tenant, they may not be able to engage with the “B” Class tenant the right way, which may result in higher vacancy rates.

3.- They need to have processes in place to run day-to-day operations effectively.

For example, how do they market the properties they manage and how do they keep good tenants in place? What are the processes they use to handle services and maintenance of the properties they manage? What other processes do they have in place that allow them to effectively manage your property? Are these the right systems for the market in which you invest? Again, this partly goes back to how well the company understands the market.

4.- The visibility that the management company can provide you with in your property.

In other words, do they have online systems that help you check in on the property and what’s happening when you can’t actually drop by the property personally? For me this is a crucial point, because I live and work in Barcelona while my properties are on the east coast of the United States. I can’t be there, so the property management company I use needs to have systems in place that let me “see” what’s going on. This reduces my stress tremendously!

You may wonder how you can determine whether or not the property management company you are considering has the right qualifications. How do you learn if they have been at the job long enough to do well for you, that they understand your market, that they have the right processes in place and that they can give you the right level of visibility?

That’s simple.

You ask good questions.

Questions you should ask a property management company…

Think you found a good property management company contender? You can determine if your assumptions are valid by asking the following questions:

While this is certainly not an all-inclusive, fully comprehensive list, it’s a great start.

You don’t even have to ask all these questions, but you should ask a number of them. Plus, you should always be on the lookout for good property management companies.

As you grow your portfolio of rental properties, you may need more than one management company.  In fact, you should always be ready to replace your existing property management company, just in case something goes wrong.  – Tweet   Then you won’t have to experience the “single point of failure” syndrome.

So now that I’ve shared some insight with you as to how to find a good property management company, I have a quick question… Of the tips I’ve shared with you here today, which resonate with you most and why?

As usual, I’d love to hear from you about this and any of the content you find on my site or social media pages.

Here’s a quick link you can use to contact me: