As a real estate investor, one of the most important relationships you’ll enter is the one with your property management company. Your property manager is going to be your eyes and ears, taking care of any tenant issues, keeping your properties in working order, and making sure that the management of each of your properties runs smoothly.
You need to work with a company that’s reliable and trustworthy; a company that will go above and beyond to make sure your investments are taken care of. And with a job that big, it’s essential that you find the right property management in Frisco, TX.
But how exactly do you go about that?
Reach Out to Your Network
One of the best ways to find an amazing property management company is to reach out to your network and ask for referrals. Your associates who work in the real estate field, including agents, vendors, contractors, and other investors, likely have experience working with multiple property management companies in Frisco and will have insider knowledge on who’s amazing, who’s just average, and whom you should avoid at all costs.
Talk to Multiple Frisco Property Management Companies
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when looking for property management in Frisco, TX is to sign on with the first company that you talk to, without doing competitive research.
There’s a number of factors to consider when you’re hiring a property management company, including price, what level of repairs they’ll handle, and whether they take care of the eviction process for you when necessary. It’s essential that you gather all the data that you need from multiple companies so that you can compare apples to apples and choose the company that is the best fit for what you need.
Consider the Experience
The relationship with your property management company is going to be a close one. While they’ll handle a lot of things for you independently, you’re going to have to collaborate often. So if someone has the perfect credentials but is a nightmare to work with, going with that property management company will come back to haunt you sooner rather than later.
When choosing property management in Frisco, consider the experience. What will the experience of working with this team be? How’s their communication as a company? Is this a team you could envision working happily with in the long term? Those are important questions to ask before committing to a property management company.
Speak to Current Clients
If possible, it’s always helpful to speak to some of your potential property management company’s current clients. They’ll give you the best idea of what you can expect from working with the company, what have been the positives, and any potential negatives that you need to be aware of.
If your property management company refuses to give you references, that’s a red flag. If a company can’t produce a current client who’s happy with their work, that’s never a good sign, and you should probably look elsewhere.
Speak to Current Tenants
You’ll also want to connect with some of the tenants currently living in properties in your potential property management company’s portfolio. Taking care of tenant issues, treating them with respect, and creating a positive living environment is perhaps the most important responsibility of your property manager, so you want to make sure they’re delivering for their current tenants and, as such, will deliver for the tenants living in your investment property.
Review Contract Terms
Before you decide on a Frisco property management company, it’s important that you review the terms of their contract and negotiate if necessary.
Some of the things you’ll want to look for in the property management contract include:
- What are their fees?
- If either party wishes to terminate the relationship, what’s the protocol?
- Who is the main point of contact? How can you reach them fast?
- When can you expect the tenant rent each month?
- What are the company’s procedures for evictions?
- What’s their policy on maintenance and repairs? How quickly will they respond to tenant requests? Which repairs are handled in house, and which will need to be escalated to a contractor or specialist?
Go through the contract with a fine-toothed comb and make sure that you’re in agreement on each point before moving forward. You don’t want to be surprised later in the relationship because you didn’t read the fine print.
Review Lease Agreements
You’ll also want to review the lease agreement that the property management company uses with tenants. Make sure that it clearly spells out everything that the tenant needs to know, including when rent is due, how late rent is handled, whom they should call with questions or concerns, and what their responsibilities as tenants are. This will help to minimize tenant miscommunications in the future.
There’s a bit of leg work involved in finding the right property management, but it’s a worthy time investment. The relationship with your property management company is a critical one, and you want to be sure that you choose the company that’s the right fit for you and your business.
