When you begin your search for a property management company, you want to look for a company that can effectively lease and manage your Orlando investment property. To find the right property manager, you’ll need to do your research and ask important questions to get the best results. Hiring the wrong property manager will result in a sub-par or unsuccessful rental property.
As a full-service property management company, we have compiled a list of the 10 best questions to ask an Orlando property manager before hiring them to manage your rental property.
1. What type of Orlando property management experience do you have?
The company’s type of experience is just as important as the years of property management experience. Therefore, it’s essential to discuss the specific experiences they’ve had. This may include single-family homes, multi-family rentals and multifamily property management, or apartments. Make sure their expertise lines up with your investment goals to see if they are the right fit for you and your rental property.
You’ll want to see if they are well educated regarding rental property management. In addition, you’ll want to make sure that your property managers are licensed as a Florida Real Estate Brokerage and active with ORRA.
Other necessary property management certifications and property management awards are:
- National Association of Property Managers (NARPM)
- ACoM
- Best Property Managers Awards (Expertise, Rentce, Roofstock)
2. Can you provide references?
It’s crucial to be thorough when interviewing potential property management companies. First, always talk to current and former rental property owners. This is a perfect way to predict the property managers’ experience you will likely have. Additionally, that should be a red flag if they hesitate to let you talk to the clients they’ve worked with within the past.
Check local Orlando property management reviews of your prospective property management company. If you look online and see numerous upset or unhappy rental property owners, they may not treat you respectfully once you’ve signed their property management agreement.
3. Can you tell me about tenant relationships with your Orlando property management company?
Ask about their level of customer service and how they treat their tenants. If they have a high level of customer service and excellent property management service, this will help retain good tenants in addition to keeping your rental income consistent. On the other hand, ask them how they handle problem tenants.
Problem tenants can de-rail the success of your Orlando rental property, and asking how they screen prospective tenants to reduce this is very important. Unfortunately, we have seen several property management companies in Orlando, Florida, lag in their tenant screening practices.
4. How will we communicate?
This is a straightforward but essential question to ask your property manager. First, find out how often they will communicate and what form of communication they will use. For example, is there an online owner portal you can use, or will they reach out via phone, text, or email? Ensure the company values communication and reaches out regularly, not only when something is wrong.
Rental property owners and real estate investors are different in their ways. For example, you may want to be very hands-on with your rental property asset, or you may not want to do anything and receive your rental income. While interviewing your property manager, make sure you understand your wants and needs regarding communication.
5. How do you handle maintenance issues?
Learn about the property management company’s maintenance routine in addition to emergency repairs. Also, you want to know who they use for maintenance. Do they have an in-house maintenance staff or an outside vendor list? Are those vendors licensed and insured? Is maintenance reachable 24 hours a day? All of these questions should be answered by your rental property management company.
6. What if a tenant doesn’t pay rent?
Good property managers in Orlando don’t have to evict tenants. But, you want to know there’s a process in place when tenants are late with rent. Ask about late fees and rent collection policies. Find out their eviction rate and whether they take steps to avoid eviction before it gets that far.
Check to see if your property managers in Orlando are familiar with the process of evicting a tenant in Florida. If they are not familiar with the fundamentals of property management, then you may want to interview other property managers.
7. Is your Orlando rental property management company a franchise or locally owned?
Rental property management companies across the country will typically fall into two categories:
– Property management franchise
Most property management franchises feature less flexibility regarding their service, pricing, and service. Franchise property managers must follow the same management structure and are usually more concerned about their bottom line.
– Locally owned property management company
Locally owned and operated Orlando property management companies will care more about your business than the franchise property management company. As a result, they will better care for your rental property and your personal goals for your business, tenants, and real estate asset.
Think about it would you compare Pizza Hut to Pizza Bruno in Orlando…. No – they are entirely different.
8. What Orlando property management services do you offer?
Many companies will offer different services, whether it is full-service property management, tenant placement only, or one-off services.
For example, if you are an out-of-state rental property owner unable to find a tenant, schedule maintenance, or collect rent. Then you’ll want to find a full-service property management company that can do everything for you.
9. What are your Orlando property management fees?
Property managers in Orlando and Central Florida will use each feature with different pricing structures. The most common property management fees to ask about are their tenant placement fees if your rental property is vacant their monthly management fee.
You’ll also want to know if they have other fees such as:
- Startup Fees
- Rental Marketing Fees
- Maintenance Up-charge/Coordination Fees
- Lease Renewal Fees
- Trip Charge Fees
- Cancellation Fees
10. Do you have any property management guarantees?
Many real estate management companies in Orlando, Florida, offer rental property management guarantees. Some common property management guarantees to be aware of are:
- Leasing Guarantee
- Eviction Guarantee
- Tenant Placement Guarantee
- Satisfaction Guarantee
- Property Management Fee Guarantee
- Communication Guarantee
- Pet Guarantee
- On-time Rent Guarantee
For example, here at The Listing Orlando, we offer our clients three guarantees for all of our property management clients. We are so confident in our ability to effectively and efficiently manage your rental property that we have a Rental Confidence Guarantee, 12 Month Tenant Guarantee, and a Management Satisfaction Guarantee.
Orlando Property Management Summary
When choosing a property management company, you want to feel confident in your decision; after all – your rental property may be your most significant investment. Our list of the top 10 questions to ask during your Orlando property management interview will be sure to help you decide which property management company is right for you and your rental property.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about our Orlando property management services, please contact us. At The Listing Real Estate Management, we pride ourselves on being your trusted source for Orlando property management.
