Need a recommendation for a GOOD property management company

[Kanwar Sodhi]

Hey guys, 

I'm looking for recommendations for reliable property management companies in Cincinnati, OH.

I'm building my portfolio there and I need a company to help manage it.

Right now, I just have a duplex but I'm going to purchasing another multifamily soon.

Who do you guys recommend that is results oriented and reliable?

[Drew Sygit]

@Kanwar Sodhi

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.

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😊

[Michael Craven]

Hey there,

I'd recommend either True Home Ohio or Nick Baltimore with ERA. Let me know if you need their contact info!

-Michael

[Lucia Rushton]

Quote from @Kanwar Sodhi:

Hey guys, 

I'm looking for recommendations for reliable property management companies in Cincinnati, OH.

I'm building my portfolio there and I need a company to help manage it.

Right now, I just have a duplex but I'm going to purchasing another multifamily soon.

Who do you guys recommend that is results oriented and reliable?

 @tal tamir would be my recommendation. Please DM and i can give you his contact info.

[Joseph Cornwell]

@Kanwar Sodhi 

I have been referring my clients to Blue Vista Realty, PM me for contact info! Good luck! 

[Bernadette Salvani]

Hello @kanwar!

I am a Sales Rep for True Home Ohio Property Management and we currently manage about 400 units of rentals across the Cincinnati market for our ~150 clients that own the rental properties (most of them being out-of-state investors). We have experience managing in just about every zip code in Cincinnati and would be happy to have a discussion with you to see if you'd be a good fit with us.

I cannot state how spot on @drew is with most of his comments/suggestions. There is a problem in the Property Management industry where the customer (clients of ours who we manage property for) does not know EXACTLY what each property management company provides in terms of services. When the general public hires/partners with a Realtor, there is continuity across every single Realtor for the most part and the general public knows pretty much exactly what to expect in terms of service level.

With property management, there is unfortunately a VERY WIDE range of service levels that different property managers provide in the city.

For example, our company True Home Ohio has invested in every last piece of software available to us in order to help us streamline the property management experience for not only our clients but also our residents too. We use a software called Property Meld for all of our maintenance coordination. I am very confident that any other company that does not utilize Property Meld in Cincinnati that's managing more than 100 units is not doing as good of a job at taking care of maintenance as we are.

This is just one example of one of the many differences you can get when hiring/partnering with a property manager. You will never know 100% exactly what you are signing up for when you partner with a property management company (in the sense that you will not know exactly how every last bit of the sausage-making works) and that is perfectly fine. What you want to do on the front end before choosing the company you want to work with is do the best job you can to make sure you are partnering with the right fit. Property management companies' websites tell A LOT about who they are, and their philosophies on managing properties, and you should be able to get a good sense from just spending a good amount of time reading through their FAQs and all the other available pages.

To @drew's point on screening. Go to a property management company's website who you are looking to hire and act like you are a tenant wanting to rent out one of their properties. Go to their application page and get as far as you can before you have to pay for the application and submit it. This will tell you how they screen and give you a really good sense of what sets of criteria they screen against.

Good luck on your search and if you or anyone else reading this is interested in learning more about True Home Ohio, please visit our website and fill out the contact form on our homepage!