How often do you hear from Property Management?

Question

Hey BP!

I am an out of state investor and I was wondering what other OOS investors get out of their PM. I get my weekly emails and all that stuff but when stuff is actually going on with properties (Repairs, rehabs, evictions) How often are you in touch with PM about those issues?

Also, as far as off market properties go, who do you have walk the property? PM, contractor, colleague?

Bob S. · Answer

Owners are contacted when there are issues, why else would the PM co, contact the client?  Sure Holidays, but if all running smooth, well... I have done 100s and 100s and 100s of transactions with all out of state and country buyers, The team walks the property for the owner.

Ryan Kelly · Answer

@Nathan Harden generally, you’ll hear from property managers about once per month on average unless there is an issue. They aren’t at the property that often and rely on the tenants to keep them informed of issues. Some will communicate more often, but in reality, less can mean you don’t have as many issues to communicate.

Phillip Austin · Answer

@Nathan Harden As a professional property manager, here is when I communicate with my owners:

- Monthly accounting statement (email)

- Maintenance requests that exceed the agreed upon maintenance limit (email/call/text; in my contracts, anything $300+ requires approval from the owner)

- Lease renewal (email; communicating 90 days prior to lease expiration to get owner approval on renewal extension)

- Leasing (email/call; review leasing timeline, marketing, and terms)

Generally speaking, the purpose of hiring a property manager is to remove the headache and let a professional handle most, if not all, aspects of managing the property. So, the overall goal should be minimal communication or communication on an "as-needed" basis. If you're just beginning your relationship with a new PM, communication may be more frequent as you build trust with one another. However, you should not expect daily or weekly communication with your PM.

Theresa Harris · Answer

I get a statement once a month and that's it unless there are problems.  The PM is responsible for doing inspections and making sure things are okay-that is what they are paid for.  They usually do an inspection twice a year.

Eliott Elias · Answer

I meet with them once a month and go over property performance.

Richard F. · Answer

As PM, I review and approve all invoices before passing to accounting to pay. Before you ever see the charge, I would have already seen and acted on a jump in usage such as you suggest, either making a notation on the invoice, or sending a timely email advising of findings and action taken.

Bud Gaffney · Answer

@Nathan Harden never. If they’re doing the job right.

Todd Jones · Answer

I disagree with "No news is good news".

As stated above, I would like monthly reports. If they are managing some utilities, I would like a report on this. If the water bill jumps to x2, I want to see if there is a potential leak/drip somewhere.

Michael Diossa · Answer

The old saying No News is Good News. If tenants are happy, Rents being Collecting then it would be once a month. Some owners never want updates if there’s  nothing to update them on. It's more frequent if there was a big issue or if there is a unit that's vacant.

How often do you hear from Property Management?

Most Popular Reply