Some landlords prefer to hire property managers if they feel that their rental business should have someone who has real management expertise to handle most operational tasks.
Landlords pay their property managers a fixed amount or even a percentage from all rental earnings. So it’s only fair for landlords to expect them to provide high-quality and service with no to minimal mistakes (let’s face it, some circumstances are inevitable).
However, if a manager is intentionally negligent in performing his/her tasks, the landlord will have no other choice but to hire someone else. If you’re going to be the new property manager, then you have to take certain measures to ensure that you would be able to effectively do better than the one you replaced.
Transitioning from one property manager to another requires a lot of adjustments. It might even be crucial in ensuring your success as the new manager.
Here are a few things you need to know so you can increase your odds of succeeding as the new property manager:
1. Know your owner’s policies and approaches.
You and your landlord must be on the same page when it comes to how you’ll run his properties. Acquire some sort of user manual or list that would detail the following:
- rental and security deposit collection
- property inspection frequency and procedures
- handling expense expenditure
- move-in and move-out process
- dealing with late rent, problem tenants, and evictions
It’s important to counter-check these policies if they are in line with both state and federal law. You wouldn’t want to get caught in the middle of any legal conflict. Your landlord might even appreciate it if you find any legal issue that he accidentally overlooked. If you’re sincere in going the extra mile, go ahead.
2. Know the property owner.
Having a harmonious relationship with the landlord is vital to avoid conflicts. Try to get a feel of his business style.
If possible, without appearing like you’re prying, find out about his working relationship with previous property managers such as:
- issues he encountered with them
- why he replaced them
- how long did he work with them
- how many managers he has worked with before
Not only will you get an idea of what mistakes to avoid, but also how the landlord relates to his managers. Sometimes, conflicts between landlords and managers may have something to do with the former’s attitude. Watch out for red flags.
3. Know your tenants.
All your tenants must know about the change of management. It goes a long way if you put in the effort to introduce yourself to them one by one. This will strengthen tenant relations and can help smooth implementation of rules and regulations. Let them know if you have changes you plan to make.
4. Know the best way to market properties.
Should there be sudden vacancies or new units that are ready to be occupied, you must find tenants to maintain a low vacancy rate.
Learn what the selling points of the different properties under your management, create attractive and detailed listings that would emphasize those features, and the moment that they are vacant, upload them on listing syndication platforms like Padleads so that they will be published on popular rental sites and be seen by hundreds of home hunters.
There many more ways you can do so that you can take over as the new property manager with ease. But the ones mentioned above would surely set realistic expectations for your landlords, the tenants, and yourself.