Whether you’re new to real estate investment, looking for help with a growing business, or in search of a property manager to replace your old one, you will have to be ‘shop’ carefully. Choosing a Sammamish property manager is important because your manager controls your marketing, your funds, and most likely, your paperwork as well. You not only want someone with a good reputation, but you also want to look for the skills and talents that will allow them to manage your property better than you could on your own. Sure you could just hire anyone, but then you might as well ask your grandmother to do it. You want a professional, and that means taking the time to research your options.
Find Local Property Managers
The first step to choosing a property management company is to find local options in Sammamish. Many of these companies probably cater to the entire Puget Sound or King County area, or at least most of the Seattle area and it’s suburbs. That’s good because it means you’ll be able to stay with them if you purchase property in another area, but you should make sure that the company knows a little bit about Sammamish and it’s local laws before you hire them. You can make an initial list of local property managers by either checking the phone book, or using the internet.
Check Reviews
Once you’ve created a list of property managers in your area, you can begin to narrow down your options by asking around and checking reviews. You will have to take any online reviews with a grain of salt, but they will give you a general idea of how people feel about the company. If everything you hear is bad, take them off the list.
Consider Skills and Services
The most important part about choosing a Sammamish property manager isn’t their knowledge of the area but rather their skills and services. Consider what you need and what you expect from a property manager, and accept nothing less. A good property manager will:
– Offer a free proposal
– Not charge you until they’ve rented out your units
-Offer full management services including tenant screening, marketing,paperwork, rent collection, maintenance, emergency repairs, etc.
-Know local real estate law
Other things that are helpful but not 100% necessary include licensure as a real estate agent, extra services for tenants like online payments, and weekly, biweekly, or monthly reports. Generally you want to look for real estate management companies that make life as easy as possible for you.
Choosing a Property Manager
Once you narrow down your options to a list of 2-3 managers, you can go ahead and start calling them. Ask for quotes, compare prices, and most importantly, see how well you get along with them. If they don’t have the time to talk to you about their services and why you should hire them, then they might not have time to talk to you after the hire either. If all three options have close to the same qualifications, then you can also consider choosing one that you get alone with well, because chances are that you’ll be talking to that same person for a long time to come.
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to consider SJA Property Management when you make your list.