Property Manager Isn't Showing Property--Say They Are Too Busy
Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 26 votes
Property Manager Isn't Showing Property--Say They Are Too Busy
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
8yUnprofessional and unacceptable. Stick with them while looking for a new Property Manager.
You can start by going to www.narpm.org and search their directory of managers. These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics. It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.
1. Ask how many units they manage and how much experience they have. If it's a larger organization, feel free to inquire about their different staff qualifications.
2. Review their management agreement. Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, but especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.
3. Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers. It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees. Fees should be clearly stated, easy to understand, and justifiable. If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee. Don't be afraid to negotiate!
4. Review their lease agreement and addendums. Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.
5. Don't just read the lease! Ask the manager to explain their process for dealing with maintenance or problem tenants. If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily. If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that it is enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.
6. Ask to speak with some of their current owners and current/former tenants. You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Just remember: most negative reviews are written by problematic tenants. The fact they are complaining online might be an indication the property manager dealt with them properly so be sure to ask the manager for their side of the story.
I hope this basic guide helps. If you have specific questions about property management, I'll be happy to help!
The DIY Landlord Book4.7243 Reviews
23 Replies
- 8yPatrick LiskaPro MemberInvestor · Verona, NJ · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 832 votes
Squeaky wheel gets the oil, keep bugging them. Is this your first and only property with them? if so, i hate to say, but you are probably not a priority for them, they probably have other investors with multiple properties that they make sure get taken care of first. they sound like a small PM company then if they could not free someone up to show your property.
I had an experience when i bought my 1st property, the realtor i bought it with did PM as well, as i was emailing questions it got to the point she did not answer me so i went with another PM co. was with them for 4 years, then they started getting too greedy, then i re interviewed the 1st PM co ( not too many choices of PM co. where i invest) and she told me she regretted not responding fast enough to me and not getting my business before. I think she did not worry about my one house and new investor but of course she regrets it now, because she did not see that that i could be an investor that would own 7 houses in the next 3 years after buying that 1st house. most PM's look at what you have, not what the potential may be, you need to show them you are serious about what you are doing with real estate and explain how you need the place rented, they are losing out on money as you are the longer it sits. If they can not do their job, move on to a new PM co, i did.
- Rental Property Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 313 posts · 326 votes8y
If you like them other than the issue with showings, maybe have a come to Jesus meeting and tell them it's unacceptable and there will be a change made if it happens again. If their response is anything less than apologetic then move on. Even if they're growing and understaffed at the moment, they must have a brother/sister/cousin/parent in town they could ask to help out with an open house style showing. "Too busy" is a lazy excuse IMO.
- 8yDavid OunanianBusiness MemberReal Estate Broker · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2017 · 380 posts · 195 votes
Hey @Michelle Eisenberg does the company do any type of pre-screening before showing the property?
They will waste a lot of time if they are showing the property to everyone who inquires. The property managers I've worked with tend to have prospects read through the qualifications and answer a few questions and then host a group showing once or twice per week.
CASHFLOW NATION535 Reviews - Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes8y
Unprofessional and unacceptable. Stick with them while looking for a new Property Manager.
You can start by going to www.narpm.org and search their directory of managers. These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics. It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.
1. Ask how many units they manage and how much experience they have. If it's a larger organization, feel free to inquire about their different staff qualifications.
2. Review their management agreement. Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, but especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.
3. Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers. It may sound nice to pay a 5% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no add-on fees. Fees should be clearly stated, easy to understand, and justifiable. If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee. Don't be afraid to negotiate!
4. Review their lease agreement and addendums. Think of all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.
5. Don't just read the lease! Ask the manager to explain their process for dealing with maintenance or problem tenants. If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily. If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that it is enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.
6. Ask to speak with some of their current owners and current/former tenants. You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp. Just remember: most negative reviews are written by problematic tenants. The fact they are complaining online might be an indication the property manager dealt with them properly so be sure to ask the manager for their side of the story.
I hope this basic guide helps. If you have specific questions about property management, I'll be happy to help!
The DIY Landlord Book4.7243 Reviews - Rental Property Investor · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2018 · 51 posts · 34 votes8y
@Michelle Eisenberg Sorry to hear about your experience. I agree with @Max Householder to have a meeting/call with them and find out why they have not had any showing. Also, as @David Ounanian mentioned, pre-screening is an important part of the qualifications process. The key is to set expectations ahead of time and make sure they follow through with it. I've been interviewing property management companies in the area and have narrowed down to 3 companies I will work with in the future. PM me if you want to talk to them. Also, PM me the company you're working with so I can avoid them :-)
David
- Investor · Dublin, CA · Member since 2016 · 344 posts · 228 votes8y@Michelle Eisenberg Great Job, Michelle. I am also based out of Bay Area and invest OOS. I would say move on ASAP. What do you think this PM would do whe they have an urgent maintenance request?
- Specialist · Little Rock, AR · Member since 2018 · 148 posts · 71 votes8y
As I see it, if there is other property management available in the area then I would start shopping around. I won't deal with someone that is not going to put MY investment in the best position possible. Its like contractors, you may have to go through one or two bad ones, but once you find a good one, your set.
This is a business, if they don't want to do their job then you have to find someone that will.
Request your property manager to advertise an open house and show to as many interested parties at weekend open house. You are close to the end of the month. If not rented, well you need to get it filled for October.
- Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 26 votes8y
@Patrick Liska @Max Householder @David Pham
Thank you for your input. I took your advice to keep bugging them, and I called them this morning. I purposely spoke to a different person than the original person I've been working with. It's actually not a particularly small property management company. The team I'm working with has four assistants in addition to the main property manager, and he's not the only main property manager at the company.
When I spoke to them today, I told them about what was going on. First, I was told that there were no showings because they are so busy with other properties. Then when I insisted that even if there were no showings right away, something should have shown up on the scheduling page for sometime in the future, she checked and it turned out it wasn't assigned right (whatever that means). They got that fixed within an hour, which was good, although the first available showing is this Friday. It's better than before, though. However, there aren't any appointments listed for this weekend, which is when most people want to see properties. She did at least tell me that if someone calls in, they will try to fit them in sooner, but it's hard to know for sure if that's actually the case. I'm really hoping that people actually get to start seeing it soon. If I hadn't called, though, I don't know how long it would have taken them to realize something was wrong.
I think I'm going to start calling around to see what other options are out there for property management, although I'll also see how it goes now that showings are available. They've done some things well, like getting the make-ready process going pretty quickly, but that won't matter if it doesn't get rented.
One thing I'm wondering is whether property management companies will keep you updated about how many people have expressed interest and how many showings have been done. The property management company has an owners dashboard but it doesn't have this kind of information. I want to be able to keep tabs on how it's going. I'm willing to call every day to make sure it's actually being shown, but I'd rather not have to do that.
- Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 26 votes8y
@Nathan Gesner Thanks for your in-depth response. I asked a number of these questions when I first interviewed them, and it all sounded positive. They're not a particularly cheap company (9% plus one month leasing fee). I'd rather pay 10% and have it leased quickly, though. I'll definitely make sure to ask all of these questions when I interview other companies, which I'm going to start doing now in case things don't start turning around with this one.
- Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 26 votes8y
@David Ounanian I don't think they do any formal screening, but they lay out their tenant requirements clearly on the site where people can schedule appointments and they ask three questions about income level, felonies, and past problems with landlords. They only do the full background and credit check once people actually put in an application, though. It doesn't sound like the issue has been unqualified people making inquiries, although I didn't get the best answer about who has been calling with interest. I'll likely call again tomorrow to see if any appointments were made today now that showing times are listed and to see if I can find out any more about what happened to the people who made inquiries.
@Alpesh Parmar Fortunately, the maintenance part of the company seems to be somewhat separate from the listing part of the company. Maintenance has actually been very quick to respond to emails and has done a good job of getting the property rent ready quickly. I have no complaints about that, and given my experience with them so far, I don't think I'll have problems with maintenance in the future. It's really the listing part of the company that I'm having difficulty with.
- @Michelle Eisenberg you may have to call them again to get the info on inquiries and showings. Find out who will be responsible for showing your property and then you can ask them to update you on a weekly basis (don’t think they will be able to do that on a daily basis)
- Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 26 votes8y
@Avi Garg Thanks for your advice. I'd be very happy with a once-weekly update as long as I can trust that things are going as smoothly as possible. I agree with you that asking them to update me daily is too much to ask. On the other hand, given what happened, I'm having trouble trusting them to actually get things moving right now, unfortunately. That makes me want to micro-manage, but I also don't want to get them so frustrated with me that it causes more problems. I'll probably start with calling slightly more frequently than once a week until I see that things are moving and then reduce the frequency.
- Investor · Campbell, CA · Member since 2016 · 76 posts · 91 votes8y@Michelle Eisenberg ... I “Manage the Manager”. If they demonstrate they have my best interest at heart, they don‘t need to be micro-managed, but remember, it’s your business so watch over it. If you have a vacancy, squeak and get it filled. Once filled, review your statement each month. Trust me ... the other owners are pushing to get their rentals filled too.
- Investor · Northern, VA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 904 votes8y
Originally posted by @Michelle Eisenberg:
I have been working with a property management company in St. Louis to get the SFR we just bought rent ready. The process hasn't been perfect, but overall, they've done a good and relatively fast job of getting it ready. It's now listed, which is very exciting, but the property management company has been so busy showing their other properties that they don't have any available showing times for our property. On Friday, I was told that we had 8 inquiries in the past week, but no showings because they didn't have any available times. Now it's Sunday night, and we just missed out on our first weekend showing opportunity because of this. How worried should I be about continuing to work with this property management company?
I realize that no company is perfect, and I wouldn't want to trade one problem for a worse one. Should I be happy that the company gets so much business (which will hopefully carry over to our property) or worried that we're going to miss out on the prime time for renters?
I'd appreciate any advice you have.
I am really good at quickly firing people. Sometimes a bit too trigger happy for my own good. Had 3 units for rent in Richmond, and went through 2 PMs. The third one is the charm.
Let me ask you this. How big are they. I have noticed that its always a better business proposition to hire a bigger PM company. Someone who has enough staff on hand that if someone quits, falls sick, goes on vacation, there will be someone else to step in.
1 man army or husband wife setting up a PM shop can be a bad idea
- Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2008 · 319 posts · 243 votes8y
Originally posted by @Chinmay J.:
The other problem with that, as a small client of a small PM shop, it is quite simply not enough money to move the needle. Where a larger operation will look at the small deals as a pool and have a set of systems, and people in place to deal with them. It avoids the single operator thinking, "wow this $50 a month in fees and owner that insists I do not cost them money every day is not worth the headache."
- Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes8y@Michelle Eisenberg So I use two propert management companies in two different markets. One of them simply gives keys to people and lets them do “self showings” I believe. They also have leasing agents on staff do they can go that route to. The other company is smaller and just does all showings one a week, usually on Saturday. Either way, you need a new PM.
- Architect · Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2018 · 843 posts · 907 votes8y
I would suggest bring up some kind of compensation. Your house has been sitting empty for how long now? How much money have you lost because of their poor scheduling and work ethics? They should knock off some of their fees or something. This isn't acceptable at all. If they are willing to do something like this then I would consider keeping them. If they refuse I would start looking elsewhere.
I have experience with bad PMs and have had to fire several.
Envision when this property manager does get around to putting a tenant in your place, do you think they are working hard to make sure the tenant is meets all requirements? What about maint issues? Do you think your place/tenant is going to get the proper responsiveness to problems? What if the tenant becomes non-performing? Do you think the PM is going to work diligently all the steps toward eviction?
Or will they be "too busy"??
I hope you get the picture.
Get busy finding your new PM. One that cares about your business.
- Rental Property Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2018 · 46 posts · 26 votes8y
@Robert Schumacher @Avi Garg @Patrick Liska @Max Householder @David Pham
I wanted to give you an update and thank you all again for your response and your encouragement to keep bugging them. I spoke to them again today, and they did do a showing today. The person apparently really liked it and is planning to put in application, but we'll see what happens. I don't know that this would have happened if I hadn't kept following up with them. Hopefully there will be more showings soon.
I'm really hoping we'll now be on a good track, but I'll definitely keep a close eye on it.
- 8yPatrick LiskaPro MemberInvestor · Verona, NJ · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 832 votesMichelle. Thank you for the update, glad to hear that you were able to get the PM moving. I hope the person works out and rents the place from you, good luck! Just remember, always keep a line of communication open with your PM and do not be afraid to check up on them, that is your job. Make sure you get monthly reports from them ( income / expenses and maintenance) always check them for mistakes, it does happen.
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