How to Find the Right Property Manager

So you’ve made the decision to hire a property manager for your rental property to give you more peace of mind and freedom. Now you must choose the right property management company. This may seem like a challenge but you can easily navigate these waters by learning what questions are important.

Prior to interviewing management companies, write down a list of questions that you may have as well as what your goals are for the property. Is it a short term or long term lease? Appliances a little out of date, unsure if you should purchase new ones upfront or wait? Should allow pets and if so what is a good deposit to charge?

After you have determined your list of questions to ask a potential management company, check out the following benefits that your property management company should bring to the table.

Processes

A good property management company will have the processes in place to collect rent, handle inspections, and other administrative aspects of management. If your management company is continually trying to find its way for each and every situation that arises, they may not have the processes and experience in place to be effective for you. Often times, quality processes come with experience.

Easy to understand fees

A respected property management company will provide easy to understand fees. A company that has a difficult to understand fee structure is probably trying to hide something else too. A good fee structure should make you aware of all costs associated with your rental property and will allow you to be certain that you will not have any surprise fees in the future.

Communication & Service

It is important to understand that a property management company is not just communicating with you; they are working on your behalf to seek and secure tenants and source vendors. Hiring a company that has poor customer service and care would be a direct reflection on you. Customer service is something that you can gauge while you are interviewing management candidates. Also, be sure you know all of the people in the organization who will be working on your behalf so if there is a bad apple, you can identify it.

Emergencies

Property management is an around the clock job. Emergencies and always being “on-call” is one of the reasons you are most likely choosing to hire a rental management company. Make sure the companies you are interviewing have processes in place to handle major problems outside of normal working hours.

Kunkel Wittenauer Group is a professional rental property management company out of O’Fallon, Illinois. We service rental property in the Metro East, including the following cities: Belleville, Shiloh, Edwardsville, Highland, Collinsville, Alton, Godfrey, Glen Carbon, and many more! We’re happy to provide additional information if you are still on your search or thinking of switching property management companies. Still unsure if you need a property manager, click here to read our Top 5 Reasons You Need a Property Manager.