If you own a home in Central New York and are considering hiring a property manager, the interview is your chance to learn what the manager will actually do and how you will stay informed. Use these questions as a checklist, and write each answer down beside the agreement you are reviewing. If you have not yet decided whether to rent the home or sell it, Renting Out Your Home or Selling It covers that decision first.
Confirm Exactly What the Manager Will Do
Management services differ from one company to the next, so start by asking for a written list of duties. SAP Real Estate describes its property management services on its service page, and the questions below apply to any manager you interview.
- Which tasks are included in the monthly service and which are billed separately
- Who handles tenant communication, including after-hours calls
- Which repairs need your approval and which the manager may approve up to a spending limit you set
- How often you receive financial statements and property condition reports
- Who signs documents on your behalf and which decisions remain yours
Ask How Tenants Are Placed
Tenant placement is where a manager’s process has the most direct effect on your property, so ask to see it in writing rather than hear a summary. Request the written screening policy and ask how it is applied to every applicant. A clear answer explains each step in terms of the rental itself, including the lease terms and the documents involved, and does not describe who an applicant is. If the manager cannot explain the policy plainly, treat that as a reason to keep interviewing. Also ask how the home will be advertised, how showings are scheduled, and how long the home is likely to sit empty between tenants and what that estimate is based on.
Understand Repairs and Turnover Work
Ask how maintenance requests come in, who responds, and how quickly a request is acknowledged. Find out whether the manager gets your approval before work starts, whether you see the vendor’s estimate, and how vendors are chosen. Ask what happens when a repair does not hold and who arranges the work to be redone. Turnover is a separate stretch of work, and the rental turnover checklist lays out the steps that usually fall between one tenant leaving and the next moving in, which gives you a basis for questions about cleaning, inspection and repairs.
Review How Fees and Money Move
Fees are where a management agreement can surprise an owner, so ask for a written fee schedule and go through it line by line. Ask which charges apply when a vacancy is leased, which apply each month, and whether the manager adds any charge on top of a vendor’s invoice. Ask how rent is collected, when and how your share is paid to you, and which reports arrive with each payment. Do not rely on a verbal summary of costs, and compare the schedule against the services you confirmed earlier.
Clarify Communication and How the Agreement Ends
Ask how you will be contacted, who your day-to-day point of contact is, and how quickly you can expect a reply. Then ask how either side can end the agreement and what happens to the property, tenant records and open work at that point. These terms are set in the signed agreement, so bring specific questions to the manager and read the termination section yourself before you sign.
Choose a manager whose answers you can verify
Put every answer into writing and compare it with the management agreement before you sign, since a verbal assurance is harder to rely on later. Ask for the names of owners the manager currently works with, and ask those owners what they would ask first. If any term is unclear, have an attorney review the agreement before you sign. SAP Real Estate offers property management in Syracuse and Central New York, and you can send your questions through the contact page.
