While you tend to a full-time job or are searching for a new property to buy and lease, you’ve left your landlord responsibilities in the hands of a property manager.
As you assess the value of your properties on a routine basis and check to ensure they’re being maintained to a good standard between leases. You also want to know your property manager is doing an excellent job at filling your shoes.
To gauge whether it’s time to ditch and switch your property manager, here are a few points to contemplate.
Unreliable Payments
A distinctive sign a property management firm could be experiencing financial issues or poor organization is their inability to pay the rent to you on time.
While some property managers seek to immediately transfer the funds to the property owner after the funds from the tenant have been cleared. Other property managers are not so prompt – and this is incredibly unprofessional.
If you thought, it’s normal to wait a week or more to receive payment; it’s not. There are better alternative property managers out there who can offer a much more reliable and speedier service.
If this situation sounds familiar to you, it’s time to switch property managers and find a better company that can administer regular, dependable payments.
Approve All Expenses
Repairs and maintenance in a property, providing it’s no fault of the tenants, falls to the landlord to pay to get it fixed.
Whether a leaky roof or a broken boiler, a property manager should alert you of anything that requires you to foot the bill in your property. Which also means supplying you with a set cost to sign off on concerning any work that needs doing.
Suppose for example; you authorized a repair which the property manager told you would cost $500. However, when the work was completed, it amounted to $600, you should have been informed and agreed to the amount first.
Managing a property can be expensive, and during times of economic uncertainty, $100 really does make a difference to your finances, particularly when you’re attempting to tighten your belt.
Property Manager Rarely Gets In Touch
Poor communication could be a sign your existing property manager may need ditching.
From alerting you about a change in a tenant’s circumstances, or whether a few people have shown interest in your property, but are requesting to negotiate the rent. You should, of course, be advised and consulted.
If you feel entirely out of the loop from your investment, it’s a bad sign. Regular check-ins with your property manager assure you everything is going smoothly, and your property is in good hands.
Ditching and switching a property manager isn’t a decision to take lightly. Particularly, if you don’t have another excellent property manager lined up.
Before you make a move to leave your property manager, it helps to source a new company to switch to first. But before you do, be sure to ask lots of questions about their fees, the service they provide, and so forth before you commit.
