Property managers - how to pick 'em

I got the email newsletter from CREW today.

First thing that caught my eye was "How to spot a bad property manager"the article spoke of what property managers were doing wrong but not really how to spot a bad one.

Well, I can tell you from experience how to select a good one.

1. Be a tenant - call one of their listings and see how they act and answer. See how the response time works how they book showings and even go to one.

Down the street from one of my rentals a property management company had a For Rent sign up for 3 months. It was a pretty hot rental market and no need for the sign to be up that long and the property vacant that long. It made me want to pull title and give the owner a heads up.

2. Ask other investors - straight from the horses mouth.

Todd and I posted a question on REIN forum about 6 years ago related to Edmonton's best worst property managers.  It still gets comments  and people still add information to it. It's a goldmine.

3. Ask for their maintenance team contact numbers - seriously the one thing I have learned in real estate is to talk to the maintenance people.

They will tell you all kinds of stuff. How fast they go out. If they are getting paid on time. Anything about the management ask them they MIGHT tell you. I also want to talk to the guys see if they are learning plumbing on my properties.

So communciation and reporting can only be tested once they are hired, make sure you get a good PM before handing them your hundreds of thousands of dollars of assets.