One of the most important thing you can do for your portfolio is to appoint the best property manager to look after it. The right property manager
not only help you maintain your cash return but also plays a pivotal part in growing the overall value of your portfolio.
Related: Vesna Wells – Investing in a property manager
Finding the right person who is going to look after your property the way you would yourself can be a daunting task for first-time landlords.
Related: How to interview for your next property manager?
To help you get started here is a list of 30 questions you should consider asking a property manger before signing the service contract:
Property management firm
1. What is your standard service rate? What does this fee include? What are the non-standard charges and in what instances would they apply?
Would there be any fees charged to me even when the property is vacant?
2. What is your property management speciality (i.e. geographic location, types of tenancy etc)?
3. What is your in-house service compliant process?
4. What are your landlord-customer and tenancy churn rates?
5. What is your standard tenancy term?
6. Who will actually be looking after my property? Is there a specific property manager or a team of rostered managers?
7. What systems do you have in place to support your service delivery (e.g. cloud accounting software, rental management software etc)?
8. What is the manager:tenancy ratio your firm maintains?
9. How do you terminate a standard service contract?
10. May I have a copy of your standard tenancy application form and tenancy agreement?
11. Do you operate a trust account?
Property manager
12. What are your (management/property) qualifications and experience?
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