7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Rental Property Manager

Many people who rent a house to others find that it is difficult to keep up with the day to day business of managing the house and tenants. That is what property managers are for, to handle the rental house for you. When hiring a property manager, it is important to ask these simple questions to make sure you get the best service possible to take care of your rented property.

1. How long has your company been in business?

This is a good starter question. You want to find a company with a good amount of experience so you can be sure that the managers know what they are doing. A company that has been in business for several years has more seasoned employees, so you can bet they will do a good job of managing your house.

2. Are you licensed and insured?

Most likely, the answer to this question is yes, but you might want to make sure anyway. It is always possible that the company is not properly licensed or insured, so it is a good idea to check, just in case.

3. How do you advertise a house to be rented?

You, as a homeowner, want to know how the manager plans to find a tenant for your house. Many companies use the Internet, including their own website as well as other sites they are affiliated with, real estate companies help spread the word about a new rental property being available, and traditional For Rent signs work as well. All of these methods will get a tenant for your house.

4. Do you screen potential tenants?

To ensure that you will receive rent on time every month, and that your property will remain unscathed, all possible renters should be screened. Ask the property management business how they screen tenants because this gives you, the homeowner, an idea of how reliable the renter will be. Criminal records and previous landlords can tell the manager a lot about how much the tenant can be depended upon to pay rent on time and keep the house in order. Also, to properly screen a tenant, the property manager should verify that the renter works where they say they do. They could be lying, so it is important to make sure they have a real job (If they do not, you most likely will not receive rent!).

5. What do you do if rent is late, or is not paid at all?

If the property manager already answered yes to question four, then this question is not quite as important: a tenant who passed screening will most likely be responsible enough to keep up with rent. Unfortunately, for some reason or another, tenants sometimes get behind on rent. Make sure the management company has a policy for dealing with late rent so you can rest assured that you will definitely get the money owed to you.

6. Do you take care of all maintenance and home repairs? That is pretty much what property managers are for, but you might want to ask this so you know what will happen if something in the house needs fixing. How does the manager go about calling repair businesses or finding some way to fix the damage and make it as good as new? You should ask this question mainly to find out what the companys policy is for dealing with home repairs, will they notify you of the damage? Will you have to approve the repair company they choose?

7. How often will you visit the property to check on the tenants?

Property management companies usually say they will visit the rental property "often" to see how the tenant is getting along and to see the condition of the house. But how frequent does the word "often" mean? Sometimes, property managers tell the tenant that he or she will make unannounced visits to see how the house looks when the tenant doesn't have time to clean it up for them!

Hopefully, as you look for a good property manager, you can use these questions to narrow your search. They should aid you in figuring out which company is right for you and your rental home.