Looking for solid Property Manager Recos!

[Candela Rebot]

Hello everyone! 

My brother is having headache after headache with this property manager of his on his property in Detroit. He's a long distance owner, as he doesn't live anywhere near Detroit. I offered to step in and help as I've been more involved in real estate the last year of my life while starting to invest in properties, but I am in LA so I wanted to reach out to the BP community for recommendations. 

Background: currently the property is vacant, and because of the snow storm it might need some pipes fixed after a few of them froze last week. To be honest this is not clear on how accurate this is as the property manager sucks, genuinely isn't taking calls or responding emails. We are lucky if we hear back from her every 2 weeks, so I want to find someone new. Property was previously rented, and the tenant was a section 8 who had to be evicted because of payments that stopped. My brother wants to sell, but honestly it would be an even bigger loss for him after all the repairs he did with that eviction and the costs of the eviction process, not to mention the current market. I want to find a new property manager that can help him evaluate what it would look like to get It rented again, but this time with a PM that's serious, communicative, knows their business, etc. 

Any and all recommendations welcomed! Thanks so much in advance.

[Drew Sygit]

@Candela Rebot

Even if someone give you a referral, don’t make the mistake of assuming that PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.

We also can’t believe how many owners hire the first PMC they speak with!

Then they complain their expectations aren’t being met!

In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.

It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – and they often select the first PMC they call!

So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.

EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean? What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.? You’d be shocked by how little actual screening many PMC’s do!

This also leads owners to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!

We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊

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