Landlord - Property Manager Bill of Rights

[Costin I.]

There is an amazing amount of articles and forum threads on the subject of property management (interviewing, selecting, transitioning, self managing, etc.) with a lot of controversy or pro and cons on the subject of PM vs Self Manage (like this recent article why-you-dont-want-to-be-a-landlord). But nowhere is defined what a property manager is and doing for an owner, and what is not. There is no certification (sure, some states require to be a REA in order to PM for others), no defined list of duties, rights, fees, expectations.

So, if you are using a PM, what is the PM is doing for you? What kind of services, operations, reports, bookkeeping is included in the PM fee? What do you consider normal to be included in the PM fee (or wished it was)? What is not included and you are charged extra for? What is customary for you in your experience with your PM and what is extraordinary (or outrageous)?

If you are self-managing, why do you do it? What is missing from a PM or would convince you to relinquish the task to a PM?

Or if you are PM, what is your PM creed, your PM company mission statement? And what do you think are unreasonable expectations from the owners or wish would be different?

Let's try and bringing it to an apple-to-apple comparison. Figure out where is the disconnect between the "self-manage" and "outsource" camps. Maybe define the “Landlord – PM Bill of Rights” in the process.