The property management company you choose to oversee the care of your properties will play a vital role in your success as a real estate owner. These companies are not all alike, so it’s crucial that you spend time assessing the property management company with as much scrutiny as you did which property to purchase.
What To Look For In A Property Management Company
When choosing a property management company to take care of your property investment, it pays to look for one that works best for your individual circumstances. Depending upon the nature of your property, there will be multiple moving parts to monitor. A quality property management company will be able to adeptly handle everything the owner needs regarding that property. Anything less than that costs the owner more, either in time or cash.
Ultimately, the property management company reflects on the owner. Done right, the company makes the owner look responsible, diligent, and caring regarding the property and its tenants. Conversely, the property management company can directly or indirectly contribute to unnecessary damage to the property, tenant dissatisfaction, extended vacancies, profit loss, and even increased vulnerability to lawsuits.
Reputation And Reviews: Assessing Trustworthiness
Checking a property management company’s reputation is one of the easiest things property owners can do, and yet this vital first step is often overlooked or underestimated. Today, access to tenant and property owners’ online reviews can be had with a few simple clicks. Online reviews are reliable, but they aren’t 100% accurate. There are those who make errors, leave fake reviews, or write reviews based on personal vendettas. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to vet every online review for genuineness. But the discerning property owner can determine with a high degree of certainty the impression any certain property management company has left on past clients and tenants in their care.
Weed out the ones that are vague yet highly defamatory. Such reviews are unhelpful and sometimes suspicious on top of that. You should place a higher value on both positive and negative reviews that include individuals’ names, since that points to the reviewer actually working with a certain person at the company. An example would be, “Tom in accounting is always happy to answer all of my questions.”
If you see a bunch of positive reviews that all posted on the same day, that often means someone paid to get reviews. You might also want to cross that company off your list because paying for reviews is considered by many to be unethical.
Look for patterns of behavior. Negative and positive patterns of behavior, as noted in reviews, typically mean those reviews are genuine. If a company has a handful of negative reviews that all relate to one kind of service, chances are they’re deficient in that area. For instance, seeing multiple remarks about the company’s lack of responsiveness to tenant maintenance requests is a red flag you shouldn’t ignore.
On the flip side, if you see a lot of reviews calling out the company’s professionalism, “going above and beyond,” friendliness, or similar, this may be a company to put on your short list of possibilities.
Services Offered: Understanding The Scope Of Management
Property management companies don’t all offer the same things. Don’t ever assume a company is going to provide a service unless it’s specifically written in the agreement. Not every property owner wants the same services. Some only want property maintenance, and they’ll handle getting tenants in themselves, and some want the complete package.
First, sit down and write a list of every service you want the company to handle for you. You may find that the property management offers more services or that they provide something you didn’t even realize you needed. But with that core list, you can make sure your basics are covered. That helps to avoid disappointment later on.
Core services should include tenant screening, rent collection, routine maintenance, legal compliance, and regular financial reporting. These are the basics that keep a rental property running smoothly. Beyond that, look for companies that also handle marketing to minimize vacancy time, have a clear process for handling evictions when necessary, and use technology to give you visibility into how your properties are performing.
Experience And Expertise
There are lots of different kinds of investment properties, and each of them requires a specific set of skills and expertise. It’s best to work with a property management company with experience with your type of property. This is especially important in the case of single-family homes. When you hire a property manager who knows how to handle the unique needs of single-family houses, you can have confidence that your investment is being looked after.
If you have duplexes or an apartment building, look for a property management company that’s dealt with that particular situation before. Multi-tenant buildings have very different needs. Take for example, the tenant in one unit who lets their tub overflow, causing damage in the occupied unit below them. Or another tenant has a job where they come home at 2 AM and they like to play their music loudly to decompress after work. You won’t encounter these kinds of complaints in single-family homes. Any property management company you hire needs to know how to handle these tricky situations.
Property management companies often advertise in terms of how many “doors” they manage. This can be misleading, because they might only manage one property, but it’s a 150-unit building, so they manage 150 doors. But it’s one building, so they have different experience than a company that manages, say, 42 single-family homes.
Years in business tell you something, but they don’t tell you the whole story. A company that’s been around for 20 years but mostly manages commercial properties might not be the best fit if you own residential rentals. Experience with your specific property type really does count the most. Be direct with questions about the company’s experience.
Track record questions worth asking include how long their average tenant stays, what their vacancy rate looks like across their portfolio, and how they handle maintenance issues when they come up. Come up with your own set of questions, too. Companies that have navigated tough situations and come out with strong results are usually the ones worth working with, and they should be able to quickly give you straight answers without evading the questions.
Communication And Responsiveness
Great communication between the landlord and property management company is paramount to a mutually profitable relationship. You should be able to reach your property management team within a reasonable timeframe. There should be multiple methods of communication available, including things like online chat, telephone, SMS, and email. For even better results, it’s desirable to have a dedicated representative that you’re assigned with, someone who knows your property and always has your particular details at hand.
Even a company with great reviews and solid experience can be frustrating if they’re hard to reach or slow to respond. Good communication should be a baseline expectation.
Start measuring communication and responsiveness from the outset. Your first interaction with the company might be an online form requesting a quote, a phone call, or a personalized email. Note how quickly you get an answer. Even an automated response is positive since it means they have a technology in place to help manage communication needs.
From there, be aware of how easy or hard it is to communicate with their company contact. Does the person understand your real estate business model? Are they forthcoming about their company? Knowledgeable about their services and operations?
The other side of this is how the company plans to communicate with your tenants. Ask how they handle tenant communications, and in what timeframe they strive to get back to tenants.
Finally, ask about the tools they use. Many modern property management companies use software portals that let you log in and track maintenance requests, review financial statements, and stay updated on your properties in real time. You want some distance from the day-to-day stuff, but you also want oversight. Regular check-ins or owner updates are also ideal. A company that keeps you informed without you having to chase them down is doing it right.
Local Market Knowledge
A property management company with strong local knowledge brings real advantages. They understand local rental rates and can price your units competitively. They know the neighborhoods, and that helps with marketing. They’re familiar with local landlord-tenant laws, which helps you stay compliant.
Technology tools are important here too. Good property management software helps companies track maintenance, communicate efficiently, and provide you with clear reporting. When a company combines local expertise with modern tools, you get better outcomes on both the operational side and the financial side. Faster vacancy fills, more accurate pricing, fewer legal surprises. Local companies that know your market can also respond faster to tenant needs and maintenance issues, which contributes to higher tenant satisfaction and lower turnover.
Closeness is also of concern when choosing a property management company. The company team should be able to handle the property needs in a timely manner or be able to get a contractor out to the property in an efficient way. Although your property management company doesn’t necessarily need to be in the same town, they should be within reasonable distance.
Making An Informed Decision
Once you’re ready to move ahead with understanding what to look for in a property management company, the next step is to make an informed decision that will support your needs for a long time into the future. The key to success is in finding one that you can work with, that’s offers services tailored to your unique needs, and one that reflects positively on your real estate endeavors. That’s not easy.
Building your own property management checklist before you start interviewing companies is a smart move. Write down what you need most, what questions you want answered, and what a deal-breaker would look like. Then take the time to actually interview a few companies. Ask the hard questions. Request references. Review sample reports so you can see how they communicate with owners.
MECA Realty offers a full suite of property management services backed by years of experience dating to 1975 and a stellar reputation unsurpassed by most of our competitors. We’ve got it covered, all under one roof.
We make it a priority to work closely with our property owners. Our success is your success. From saving money responsibly to keep vacancies down, to ensuring legal compliance, to taking great care of the properties themselves, you can rely on us to be your long-term partner.
We leverage the latest proven technology to help our clients be successful with their real estate properties. Every aspect of our business is designed around exceeding expectations. We know that our clients want passive income, not a second job. That’s why we offer full services that include marketing, leasing, and owner reporting for single-family homes and multi-tenant buildings. Whether you have one property or an entire portfolio, you’re in good hands with MECA Realty for your property management services in Charlotte, NC. Contact us today to learn more.