Deciding to hire a Bethesda property management company can easily become one of the best decisions you ever make for your rental property business.
Why, you ask?
Because, with the right property manager, your investment property will be safe, your tenants will be satisfied, and you will generate the income you seek.
However, there is a lot that goes into hiring a property management company to manage your rental and your tenants.
Today, we are going to dig deep, and take a look at some of the necessary questions you should ask a property management company before hiring them to be responsible for your rental.
Questions You Must Ask Every Prospective Property Management Company
1. What Types of Properties Do You Manage?
Finding a property management company that specializes in the type of investment properties you own is crucial to your success.
Most landlords may not be aware that there are four main types of property management companies:
- Commercial properties include hotels, offices, warehouses, restaurants, and factories.
- Industrial properties are those that are being used for industrial purposes such as research facilities, manufacturing plants, and warehouses.
- Retail properties are those that are in the business of selling products and services, such as grocery stores, furniture shops, and boutiques.
- Residential properties include housing units, condos, apartments, and single and multi-family residences.
You need to hire a property manager with experience in residential rental properties – you will rest easy knowing that your property is being cared for the right way.
[Bay Management Group deals solely in residential and multi-family properties, which are an extension of residential properties.]
2. What Type of Leadership is the Company Under?
Knowing what type of leader is in charge of running the property management company you are interested in is a good idea.
To start, aim for someone that is still active in the real estate market and who understands current market trends in your property’s region.
In addition, look for someone educated in the field of real estate that has additional real estate certifications supplementing their education.
Since states like Maryland do not require property management companies to have a Broker’s License in order to provide management services, you might want to consider enlisting the help of a company that goes the extra mile, and has a license anyway.
[The President of Bay Management Group takes pride in his experience and education surrounding residential property management. For instance, he studied both Economics and Business in college. Plus, he has over 10 years of experience in real estate, 7 in property management, and is a licensed real estate broker, which again, is not required in the state of Maryland.]
3. Do You Provide Any Guarantees?
Whether you are buying a new blender, a new car, an investment property, or are looking to hire one of Bethesda’s top property management companies to manage your rental, you should always look for the guarantee.
Many property managers may make the claim that services simply cannot be guaranteed, thus the reason no guarantee is in place.
And while logistically this may be true to a certain extent, there are some ways of promising customers that the services you provide are indeed guaranteed.
Take, for instance, the service-based pest control company “Bugs” Burger Bug Killers (BBBK). Guaranteeing their customers 100% satisfaction or they won’t take their money forces the company to operate as a no-error service company.
In fact, it places control in the hands of the customers, requires the company to meet or exceed the customers’ expectations, and creates an extremely successful business model.
[At Bay Management Group, you can expect superior customer service at all times. While there is no option to forgo paying the monthly rental property management fees, we do offer a significant guarantee that other property management companies in the region do not.
In addition to competitive management fees, the fact that you never owe for lease renewals, maintenance reserves, supervisory or routine management services, or vacant property fees, Bay Management Group also offers a 12-Month Tenant Warranty. If we place a tenant in your Bethesda rental property, and the tenant is evicted within the first 12 months of tenancy, Bay Management Group re-leases the property for you for free.]
4. Do You Have a Website?
Nowadays people rely on the Internet for nearly everything, and the numbers show no sign of slowing down.
That said, having a website dedicated to property management services is something you want in your property management company.
Here are just some of the things you should look for in your potential property management company’s website:
- Information concerning their property management services
- Social proof with satisfied client testimonials and reviews
- Available properties geared towards high-quality tenant pools
- Resources directing property owners towards authoritative information
- A blog with valuable information for existing property owners and tenants, and those that are interested in their services
- An owner portal for managing rental properties
- A tenant portal for paying rent and making maintenance and repair requests
[Bay Management Group invests a lot of time and effort into providing property owners and tenants information, resources, and easy-to-use portals via our website. This adds interest, and helps to encourage those on the fence between two top property management companies make a firm decision.]
There are always common questions you should ask prospective property management companies. These include:
- What services are provided?
- What are the rent collection procedures?
- What kind of legal backing do you offer in the case of a landlord-dispute?
- What are the maintenance procedures?
However, looking deeper into a company you are about to hand your investment property over to is a smart move to make.
Feeling comfortable with the company you choose to go with is the only way you will actually be able to leave the day-to-day operations of your rental property business to someone else.
Choosing the most experienced Bethesda property management company, such as Bay Management Group, is a surefire way to feel at peace in knowing your investment property is safe, your tenants are satisfied, and that you will generate the income you seek.
