9 Warning Signs of a Bad Property Management Company

9 Warning Signs of a Bad Property Management Company If you have a rental property that has been flowing cash for some time and only recently started to experience some problems, you may want to look into the manager. If other real estate investors are doing well, and you are not, despite the marketing investments you are making, maybe the reason lies with the dealings of the person/company in charge of property management.

There are a few major things that a property manager or a company that provides such service may do wrong, which will ultimately affect you. You most certainly don’t want to see the value of your property investment go down, therefore it makes sense to remain alert in regards to the warning signs that reveal it is time for a new property manager:  They don’t communicate much – a good property manager is one that always reaches out to you to inform you of important events and problems. If they aren’t proactive about this and you constantly find yourself contacting them, then it is not a good sign. There is every chance they are trying to hide something from you, which is not a behaviour you should tolerate.  They don’t conduct inspections – for the property to remain in top shape, the property manager should conduct regular inspections inside and outside. That way they can catch code violations and prepare a report for required

repairs and updates. If they aren’t walking the property, that is not going to happen.  They don’t respond to tenant queries – tenants will often report issues and file for repairs, all of which the property manager should respond to. If they are negligent on this part, tenants will be in their legal part to break the lease.

If you start getting more and more phone calls from tenants, then it is clear that the property manager is not doing their job.  Constantly getting bad tenants – there is no escaping the fact that bad tenants will happen, sooner or later. However, if you are only getting bad tenants who are either late to pay their rent or leave before their lease comes to an end, maybe it is your property manager to blame.  They are slow to provide reports – your property manager should be providing you with regular monthly reports. If you ask them, they should be ready to provide you with a copy of an invoice or any other document you need. If they are too slow on their reports, then they aren’t doing their job well.  Their appearance and behaviour aren’t professional – a property manager is representing you in front of many people, and as such, they need to be very professional about it.  They only work during business hours – an emergency is not going to wait for the property manager to open during business hours. They need to be easily reachable around-the-clock, to truly provide sufficient service.  Very slow to respond – if the property manager is very slow to respond to any queries you have, likely, you should not be wasting any time with them.  They don’t provide references-references are important, considering the fact you will be entrusting this person with your property.

Knowing more about the red flags in regards to bad property managers is important for the overall success of securing a good income from your rental property.

© MLM Property Management