It’s important to know how to shop for a property manager. When you sit down with somebody and you are interviewing them, what do you really need to find out? What is important to know about this person who you are turning over your valuable asset to manage? I think it’s important to start out with recommendations from people you trust. That’s not always possible, however, so if you don’t have someone in that particular area who you know and trust, the next place I would go is Yelp.

Yelp is a great website where you can get feedback from other people who have used the company you are thinking about using. You will benefit from the experiences of those customers, and you have the ability to read what they are sharing with everybody else. I would check there. Look at testimonials on their own websites too. See what their clients have to say about them. Find out if they even have testimonials. If they don’t, I’d be curious about why they do not. It’s their website, so that information should be front and center.

Another thing to check out is their experience and how many years they have been in business. Find out how long they have been managing properties like yours in your market. You also want to know about any affiliations and designations they might have that would be useful. Ask about insurance, which is really important. They should have errors and omissions insurance as well as worker’s compensation insurance for their employees. This will protect you in the event that someone from the property management company is at your home and trips and falls or gets hurt.

It’s always important to ask about security measures they have in place to protect their records and the confidentiality of the people who do business with them. You will be turning over a lot of personal identifying information as well as sensitive financial information, so security is really important when it comes to researching and interviewing property management companies. A breach in security can be detrimental to everybody, and you don’t want to be in a position where that is a possibility.

Hopefully this information will help you feel better prepared as you search for and interview potential property management companies. If we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at Real Estate Eight Three One.

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