The 16 Questions
- How many residences do you manage?
- How many evictions have you performed in the past 5 years?
- Do you specialize in a geographic location or a certain type of property?
- How many people work for your management company?
- If you combined all the years of property management experience for everyone in your company, how many years would that be?
- How many of your employees have a real estate license?
- Do you hire leasing agents that are compensated for each property they rent?
- How many property management related educational classes or seminars have you attended in the past year?
- How many applicants do you turn down for every one you accept?
- How long is your management contract with owners?
- What was your vacancy rate last year?
- What day of the month do you typically mail a check to your owners?
- How many times have you been to court regarding deductions from a tenant's security deposit and what were the results?
- Are you a member of NARPM?
- What is your system for inspecting rentals?
- What are your management fees and what costs are included?
This is a very important question. Leasing agents who are paid a commission for placing a tenant have one main interest: place the first tenant I can so I can get paid and move on to the next house. Look for management companies who pay their employees to find the best possible applicant for your property, not the first possible applicant.