The A To E Of Finding A Property Manager

If you are considering a Tampa property management company, try one simple test: how many calls (to or returned by) does it take to talk to someone in authority who can help you? The most desirable answer is one call served by a live person, who treats you as a valuable customer, not an interruption.

If the property management company mishandles the call, imagine how they could treat your tenants, or worse, you, when you are trying to resolve a problem.

A. Setting the rent and marketing the property


Will your rental rates be competitive? Property managers succeed or fail on one measure: they must understand their market and know how to keep your property rented at market rates.

Do they have a local presence and experience in the market where your property is located?

Do they carry the required property management license and any state required insurance and bonding?

How do they find qualified renters? How many rental Web sites does the property manager post your vacancy to and how fast? What search optimization strategies do they employ, and how do they answer tenant inquiries?

B. Selling and renting to a qualified tenant

What is their process to qualify and rent to a desirable tenant? Each potential tenant must complete an application for the purpose of verifying employment, rental, credit, and criminal histories. This verification, selection, and rental process must be done within applicable municipal, state, or federal regulations and requirements.

C. Managing (maintaining and re-renting the property)

To protect the property condition and your rental income, the property must have quality and timely inspections and maintenance.

Who provides maintenance, when, and at what cost? Ideally the in-house maintenance staff and preferred vendor relationships reduce the amount of time spent waiting for emergency 24/7 repairs, routine repairs, or making the property rent-ready for a new tenant.

Does the property management company perform interim inspections during the lease period to ensure that the tenants are caring for your property as spelled out in their lease agreements?

What are the inspection protocols at move-out? Reconciliation of willful versus wear-and-tear damage against any deposit, lease-up, and move-in?

D. Collecting deposits and rents (accounting and compliance with local, state, and federal law and regulation)

No surprise, time is money, and the timely and accurate collection, depositing, reporting, and payment are vital requirements of a successful relationship with your property management company.

If rents are not paid on time, will the property manager initiate the legal steps necessary to collect rents and/or evict tenants?

Does the property management company use an online system that allows landlord-investors access 2417?

E. Reporting to the landlord-investor in a timely manner

Provide the landlord-investor with timely and accurate financial statements that show money collected and authorized expenses incurred plus reports such as tenant rental histories, property rental histories, and profit and loss statements.

What is the scope of these reports?

Are the reports available online?

The property management in Tampa database should keep a record of compliance events with fair housing regulations (such as the Americans with Disabilities Act). What sort of notice and compliance advice is provided by the property manager?

Does the reporting system include a database of ongoing property maintenance, appliance, and other inventory associated with each address?

Maintenance coordination regarding any needed work, supplying bids, associated work orders (acceptance and approvals), completion notice, and actual costs should be communicated to the landlord.

For more information or for further inquiries, visit: Tampa Property Management, Rental Homes Tampa