Managing Home Maintenance Costs

When you hire a property manager, property management qualifications must be taken into account, in addition to many other attributes. For example the cost is an obvious one. The experience level of the property management team is another. The services that they will offer to you are another. This assessment can sometimes be quite difficult. It can take a lot of time with competing interests and different opinions on the board. However the important thing is to do a thorough job. In the end everyone agree on the best company for the job. Ask for other properties that are being managed by this company. Interview the owners to confirm service levels etc and other areas that you may be interested in.

Condo Board Decisions – Property Manager Qualifications

Prepare for interviewing property managers for the job of managing your property, or condominium as part of a board decision. It is important to make sure that you list all of the criteria that you are going to use to rate each property management firm.  The board must review and agree to the requirements. Everyone will have a variety of opinions. It may be difficult to reach a consensus. But better to do this before the request for proposal is issued than after. The board needs to make sure that all of the requirements are included that satisfy everyone. Otherwise it is back to the drawing board and a waste of everyone’s time.

Property Manager Qualifications

The property management qualifications include services offered. Also price for those services, experience levels and knowledge of the current conditions of your property. There are also legal requirements in the jurisdiction where you live.

Some board members, and owners will prepare a spreadsheet listing all of the services and features and costs. They will write down all of these requirements. They will rank the level of adherence to each of the criteria that they are looking for. Some issues have more importance than others. Give these a high-ranking. It is much easier when everyone has discussed and agreed to the rankings ahead of time.

Document everything including all decisions. They should  have a detailed list of criteria that they will use to rank and interview property management companies. This is protection for both the board itself, the property manager and of course the owners of the property. If the board does not take this step and the property manager they hire fails or does not perform, at least you can go back to the documentation to confirm where you went wrong. This is one way to avoid the same mistake the next time around.

Services Included

The services that are included will depend on whether this is an owner occupied building, a rental building or a mixed use building. Each group has different objectives and it helps to keep them separate.

For example the condo board is responsible to the owners, whether they live in the building or rent their units out. They may need a separate company to manage the rental of the units and the maintenance of the interior of the units. It is not a good idea to have the same management company managing the condo and managing the rental portion of the business. Sometimes there can be some cost savings, however the job of managing a condo is much different from managing a bunch of rental units.

In mixed use buildings there will often be a condo board to manage the condominium corporation and another board made up of owners who rent their units. This second board will be responsible for managing the tenants and the property manager responsible for the interior of the rented units. This board may also represent this subset of owners on the condo board as well.

There can be some conflict in these situations since rental unit owners do not have the same objectives at all compared to people who own their units and live in them.

In our last post we talked about someone who is leaving their home vacant for a month while they go on vacation.  This post is about hiring Property Managers to manage your home as a rental property. There are specific things you should do to make sure that your insurance is still valid while you are away.

You do not want to have a big surprise when you get back, find damage of some sort and then find out that your insurance does not cover it because you did not have someone checking your home while you are away. What about the person who wants to find a property management firm to manage their home as a rental?

Property Management Companies

There are many firms that offer property management firms in most cities and most offer their services to home owners who wish to rent their homes out while they are out of the country or have an investment property. Picking an inexpensive property management firm that provides you all of the services you need is a tough thing to do. These companies try to offer the best price, however supporting a single home in an area is much different that managing an entire property.

As a result the costs are going to be higher for a single property vs. a mutli unit building. Still you can negotiate a relatively  inexpensive deal if you take the time to understand all of the services and focus on the ones that you require. (continue reading…)

We  have found over the years you get what you pay for. Also you cannot assume that a specific service will be provided unless it was specifically discussed. It must be included in the contract. Too many people leave their homes for the weekend or a week with out proper over site. They end up with problems with their insurance companies, because they thought that the cost of property management was just too expensive. If you place yourself in the shoes of a property management firm for a few minutes, you will quickly see that the cost to run a company and to visit your home on a regular basis can be expensive.

Affordable Property Management

Types of Property Management Situations

There are many different types of property management situations to consider. The one we will look at today is the consumer who will be away for a month and needs someone to check on his or her vacant  house once every 3 or 4 days. This time frame was chosen because that is typically what insurance companies require, however it does vary by company and location and circumstances, so check with your home insurance company before you agree to a property management contract.

What Should a Property Management Firm Do

Basically you need some one to collect flyers or mail items at the front step. Check that the security of the home has not been compromised. Also check that the furnace is working during colder months and that there are no water problems of any kind. You may also get them to water a few plants or add extra services such as lawn care or snow removal. Basically the property management employee should be in and out of your home in less than 15 minutes including the time it takes to fill in a brief report and also send an email confirming his or her visit and the status.

Travel Time

Travel time is an issue that must also be considered. We are assuming that it will take an average of 15 minutes to get to your location. Anything more than that is considered extra costs. The price of gas and the wear and tear on a car must also be considered.  Let’s assume 10 miles of driving and an average cost of $.50 cents per mile. It may vary in your location.

So now before any profit is considered you have 30 minutes of someone’s time at whatever rate is paid and a minimum of $5 for car mileage. Add to this profit for the company that runs the business, overhead and taxes and you will be fortunate to find someone who will check on your home for less than $30 a visit! Sounds expensive, but there is the cost at reasonable rates and times. If you add requested services, that take a lot of time, look for increased expenses to be added.

Decision Time re Affordable Property Management

Many people will shy away from charges like these. They will take a chance and not have their home checked or will have friends or neighbors check the home. As long as you have agreement on what is to be done. Also that it is written down. You must be able to depend on the person or persons to perform the checks then you should be safe.  Remember you are paying something in the order of $30 a visit to make sure that your home which is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is monitored. Action will be taken if there is break in or damage while you are away!

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