For rental property owners who decide to utilize a property manager, finding the right one is crucial. A good property manager is always ready, willing, and able to act for the benefit of the property owner whom he or she represents. He or she should be capable of resolving issues quickly and effectively. Also important, a professional property manager should be able to act without constant guidance or oversight from his or her clients.

Many real estate investors are wary of hiring a property manager, but a good property manager can sometimes mean the difference between a profitable real estate investment and a bad one.

One of the best ways to find a good property managers is to utilize the experience of others.  Get recommendations from other investors and rental property owners.   Check reviews and see what others in the business are saying. Once you find a few good contenders, screen them to see which will be the best fit for your business.

Here are a few tips for rental property owners during the screening process.

1. Find out how many properties (or units) the property manager is managing.  Also find out how many employees they are using to manage these units. A trained employee can successfully manage between 30 and 40 units.
2. Find out how often the property manager will conduct a formal inspection of your property.  Property managers should be willing to conduct routine property inspections as part of their normal package of services.
3. The best managers are those who listen and understand their clients’ needs. Be leery of managers who constantly want to speak over you or try to finish your sentence during the screening process.
4. Make sure that the property manager you select is using a quality property/tenant management tool and request samples of output reports from this system during the interview process.  If they don’t use software to improve efficiency or hesitate to share reports with you, that could be a red flag.
5. Most professional property managers charge a percentage of the rent for managing your properties.  Be sure that you know what that percentage is.  Steer clear of managers who require the agreed percentage on the total rents that could be collected whether they are collected or not.  Don’t pay someone for rents they didn’t collect.
6. Know how a property manager will address maintenance issues.  There are a variety of ways property owner can pay for getting maintenance issues resolved.  A good property manage will want to make maintenance decisions up to a certain dollar value amount before they have to obtain your permission. This helps save hassle when small repairs need to be completed.

Ask the right questions when hiring a professional property manager to thoroughly understand their processes and ensure you are working with someone who listens and understands you. The screening process may seem daunting, but a professional property manager will listen and walk you through their processes.