When you’re looking for a Littleton property management company, it’s important to check into the company’s reputation for high quality customer service. You want an expert team that can effectively lease, manage, and maintain your rental property.
After you’ve done some research and narrowed your list of potential property management partners, schedule interviews and ask a lot of questions. We recommend you start with these eight.
1. What is your experience with Littleton property management?
You’re relying on a property manager’s expertise and knowledge, so you’ll want to be sure they’ve been doing this for some time. Look for a history of helping owners like you in the Littleton rental market.
Type of experience is often just as important as years of experience. Talk about the types of rental homes they manage, and make sure their expertise aligns with your investment portfolio. If you rent out only single-family homes, for example, it may not be in your best interests to work with a management company that specializes in multi-family buildings and apartments.
2. How do you communicate with owners and tenants?
This will tell you if they value communication. Discuss your own communication expectations - do you want to hear from them regularly or only when something is wrong?
Talk about tenants and responsiveness. Ask if there are online portals for you and your residents so information can be easily shared.
3. How do you screen tenants?
You’ll want to know what kind of standard qualifying criteria a property manager has in place before approving a tenant. Ask about income standards, rental history, and how their tenant screening process manages to weed out unqualified tenants and focus on good renters.
4. What is your maintenance plan?
Ask about the maintenance process for routine as well as emergency repairs. You’ll want to know if your tenants can reach someone 24 hours a day. You’ll also want to know where they find vendors for these repairs. Do they have an in-house maintenance staff or an outside vendor list? Are those vendors licensed and insured? Ask about preventative maintenance as well and discuss how they balance protecting your property with protecting your bottom line.
5. What if a tenant doesn’t pay rent?
You’re looking for property managers who enforce the lease and consistently follow their own rent collection process. However, you don’t necessarily want a rush to eviction. Find out what the process is when rent is late and how much they’re willing to work with tenants before going to court.
6. What is your average vacancy rate?
Talk about marketing strategies, showings, and tenant screening. Vacancy is expensive, and you don’t want your rental home sitting unoccupied for too long. If it’s not getting any attention, you’ll want to know what your property manager will do to increase traffic and interest.
7. How do your Littleton property management fees work?
Ask to see a sample management agreement and always talk about fees for leasing as well as monthly property management fees. Ask if there are any additional charges for things like reporting, lease renewals, or inspections. Transparency is key.
8. What sets you apart from other companies?
A lot of property managers are effective at finding tenants and collecting rent. You need to know why this particular company is your best resource for property management.
This is just the beginning of an ongoing process when you’re looking for Littleton property management. It’s a big decision, and you want to be thorough as you’re researching and interviewing different companies. We’d love to tell you more about how we work and what we can do to launch a better investment experience for you. Please contact us at Assured Management, Lakewood property management experts serving residential landlords in West Denver and the surrounding areas, including Littleton, Golden, Wheat Ridge, Arvada, and more.
