How to Find a Property Manager
If there is one professional I recommend you include on your team when investing in real estate is a property manager.
I’m asked all the time how many properties or units you should have before you hire one.
And to be nice, I tell people two or three, or to just judge how much time your spending and that when it becomes to be too much, too stressful, then hire a property manager.
The honest truth though, if I had to do it over again?
I’d hire a property manager for my very first rental property, not my sixth.
But don’t hire just any property manager, because there are certain rules you should follow, certain qualifications they should have...
Which I’ll be sharing in this video below.
When looking to hire a property manager, there are a few rules that I now follow after learning over the years what makes a good one.
For starters, look for a company, not just one person.
Also, if you’re thinking of hiring a property manager whom does everything on their own, sure, in the beginning it's okay, if they only have a few clients.
But the way you make money as a property manager is more clients, so to make more money, the property manager will be taking on anyone and everyone to make more money.
Eventually, they are going to be in over their head, with too much on their plate, and no time to attend to all the issues at the property...
Yours being one of them!
With them being too busy, they then become impossible to get a hold of.
So, when you are looking for answers, and you can’t get them, as a real estate investor, this is the most stressful thing.
Because you’ve put all your trust in them to make sure your investment is going to do well, and you have no idea if it is.
This is why communication is so key when you invest in real estate.
So make sure you hire a property management company, where there is a team of people to handle all the tasks.
And make sure to find out how many units they are currently managing?
This way you can gauge how busy they are going to be, and if they will available when you need them.
I work with 2 companies whom have full-time employees, trades, assistants, so that the owner is free to focus on running the business and free to communicate with you when needed.
Put it this way, if you email your property manager and they take a day or two to respond, or you call them and they never pick up, get a new property manager!
Another key factor I look for in a property manager is their experience.
How long have they been in business?
Do they know all the tenant laws?
Are they experienced in commercial?
Have they built up a team of contacts in that market at with:
city inspectors
with the fire department
with paralegals
with contractors
with trades?
These contacts are very important in making sure you hire a good property manager and/or property management company.
Now I get it, everyone needs to start somewhere...
But hiring a brand-new property manager, whom has no experience, other then what they’ve read in books, is a huge NO NO!
Now there are new companies out there that are formed, and usually these are people or companies teaming up, so this is okay.
But a brand-new property manager...
To the industry...
WALK AWAY!!
No matter how much you want to help them get their foot in the door.
Lastly, are they real estate investors themselves?
Someone whom has been on the other side?
Whom understands how to keep costs down for repairs or renovations?
Whom knows to be budget friendly with materials, because they know its just a rental property from there own experience owning real estate?
This helps in that they can easily relate to you, because they’ve been in your shoes, they understand the mind of a real estate investor.
This way they do everything to make sure your investment makes money, so they in turn make money!
In the end, just be sure to do your due diligence before hiring the first property manager you google.
Ask other real estate investors in the area whom they use.
Join local real estate Facebook groups and ask in there whom people recommend.
Word of mouth is the highest recognition you can get over any advertisement.
Once you found a few that people keep mentioning, contact them and ask them these questions, to make sure they’d be good for real estate investing business.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If you’re looking to learn more about investing in real estate, how to get started, how to become successful, then click here or on the image below, and join my REI Bootcamp for FREE.
