We started interviewing property managers this week.
The question we were asking ourselves was, what to do with our house, should we sell or rent? In other words should we take the equity out of it or turn into a regular income. We decided to rent……. that way we can get income, plus still take advantage of what has and continues to be a appreciating market here.
To be honest deciding to keep our home was more of a comfort factor! After all if things don’t work out as planned or the world’s economy collapses…… we will have a home to come back to. Renting it is! Do we do it ourselves or get a professional in, if we were planning on being around we would probably have done it ourselves. However we are not…. so a professional it is.
We started by asking people we trust, in our case our accountant (reviewing your plans with your accountant, is probably worthwhile as ours was a huge help).
We have interviewed a few of these referrals; we checked out there websites beforehand to get a feel for their business. We gave each of them a quick tour of our house, then sat down & listened to what they had to say. Sometimes what they don’t say or don’t ask is more enlightening……….. for instance security concerns!!! BC bud has to be grown somewhere and if the news has it right usually in rented homes!
Knowing that, would you be more comfortable with a manager who visits your home once a year or every couple of months? Don’t get me wrong they will do a drive by………. sorry but unless you have X –ray vision that’s not good enough.
Have your list of questions and make sure you ask if there any additional costs to you…… yep one of them would charge us advertising costs and security check costs in addition to the basic charge for finding and vetting a renter!!! These costs can add up, especially if they end up checking multiple applicants.
The reality is we want the best tenants for our house, so feel comfortable with the manager you choose and ask how he determines suitability…… that’s another very enlightening question!
Here’s another one…….. is the person you are interviewing actually going to be the person who finds, vets and deals with your tenants on a ongoing basis? Or are they part of an organization with multiple managers? Would you as a renter want to have the same person to go to with any maintenance issues or have a faceless contact person & never know who was going to show up? I know which I would rather have.
Last but not least……… ask your potential property manager for references, if they are as good as they seem, they will not only expect it but will have lots of very happy clients for you to contact. After all you too want to be a happy client!
Yes we have found our property manager and the funny thing is, it is not the one we would have chosen before the interview process. As he said you have to be able to look people in the eye, get a feel for them, then follow your instincts.
Happy hunting!
