Choosing the right property manager is critical.
Think about it. You’re investing from a distance, and you’re buying rental houses here in the suburbs to generate consistent and predictable cash flow. Your your property manager, therefore, is the person who will have the greatest impact on it.
The best solution is to manage the properties yourself, because no matter what any property manager tells you, they don’t and won’t care as much about your property as you do.
Again, take it from a rental property owner!
So it’s important to cull through the hundreds of property managers around and find the one that’s the best for your property.
It sounds like looking for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately it’s not that difficult.
The reason is because you should look for a property manager that has direct, specific experience managing properties in the neighborhoods you’re buying in, because every neighborhood is different.
And knowing how to rent houses in specific neighborhoods is the critical factor in minimizing the vacancy time that you experience.
So the questions to ask when you’re looking for a property manager are:
• Where are the houses you manage?
• How many do you manage in my neighborhood?
• How long have you been managing in my neighborhood?
• How quickly do you re-rent houses?
• What’s the average cost to turn over a property in my neighborhood?
• How do you determine the rent to charge?
If you’re dealing with a property manager that really knows the area, you should get straight, specific answers to your questions. If you don’t, go on to the next one.
I would also ask them if they have experience managing properties for owners that are out of state or out of the country.
One last thing – managing apartment buildings is significantly different from managing single family rental houses.
Just because a property management company has experience managing apartments in your area doesn’t mean they know how to manage houses.
So make sure you choose a company that has specific expertise, with houses, in the area you’re buying in.
Your cash flow and profit depend on it!
Tune in tomorrow for Step 6: Protect Yourself!
