I love to be outside and when it’s 110 degrees here in Phoenix, at the very least I want to look outside.  So as I sit at my computer, my blinds are open and I get to look out at the goings on in the neighborhood.  I haven’t been able to figure out why yet, but ever since moving here we’ve noticed that everyone lives cooped up inside their homes.  All the blinds are closed and all you see for activity is garage doors open and close and cars drive in and out.  I walk our neighborhood with my dog everyday and we are the only ones here with our blinds open.

Anyway, our neighbors across the street just moved into a new home and they are trying to rent the one here.  We played Cash Flow with them a few months ago and I like to think that has something to do with their strategy :)   They hired one of the big name property management companies here in Phoenix.  I’ve been seeing people come to their house, knock on the door (as if they think someone is home), then they go to the side where the lockbox is.  A few seconds later they go back to their cars looking frustrated, sometimes even throwing up their hands.  It seems to me they can’t get the lockbox open.  This is happening again and again so I decided to go check it out.

The lockbox on the side of the house is one of those combination types.  You don’t have to be a realtor to get it open.  There is a little bit of a trick to it, but with a few tries I would think most people could get it open.  Apparently not.  Why are these people first knocking on the door?  Why is it that nobody seems to be calling someone on their cellphone when they can’t get in to ask for help?  They drove all the way over here and they don’t even get to see the house.

And the elephant in the room is… drumroll please… why are these people showing up alone?  Where is the property manager?  Why isn’t someone with them to insure they get in?  Why isn’t a trained property manager there to sell the merits of the home, take an earnest money deposit, close the deal, overcome objections, anything?  Gee, no wonder the place isn’t rented yet!

But it doesn’t stop there.  My neighbors told us they paid $1,000 to the company for “marketing.”  They don’t know what this gets them exactly, but if they want the house on www.rentclicks.com that will cost extra.  Obviously the grand doesn’t buy them a warm body to actually get the place rented.  Typically, these high up front fees are supposed to cover getting the house listed on the MLS.  If a realtor places the tenant, they have to get paid so the fee covers that.  So I went looking on the MLS to see how well advertised it is.  Can’t find it.  I kept loosening my search criteria until I had every house within the name of our city and it still does not come up.  Either the management company has it listed in the wrong city, or it’s not there at all.  I guess that’s what $1k gets you.

I really want to give them the benefit of the doubt here.  So there’s a sign in the front yard with a website on it.  I look up the website to see if I can find the house there.  It’s there all right.  One photo of the front of the house and a few short words in a maximum 15-word description that says interesting things like “loft” “refrigerator” and “landscaped.”  There is no sales element to it whatsoever, and nothing that would make me like this house more than any other house! 

We told our neighbors we would keep an eye on the place so I emailed them and said there have been several people over to look but nobody can get in to see.  The response was “ya, we’re not very happy with the service.”  And so the sign sits and the house remains empty.

There are some very important takeaways here:

  • Always know what your fees paid to property management companies get you.
  • Just because they are a property management company, it doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing.
  • Always make sure everyone that requests a showing is escorted to the unit!  Someone needs to answer questions, sell, close the deal, and most importantly, protect your property!  Someone could easily take up residence, steal the appliances, or damage the place.  The manager is also there to collect very important feedback for you so you know if you need to change your rent or something about the property.  You can’t react if there is nothing to go on.
  • Have your property manager show you the marketing they are doing, and see for yourself how easy or hard the advertising is to find, and if it represents your property well.

Even if you have no intentions of managing your own property, you must know HOW properties are managed.  This is what enables you to choose a good manager and to know when you’re being snowed.  Get a bad manager and it costs you thousands of dollars just like it is my neighbors.  Once you’re in this deep it gets tough to walk away and start over with a different company.  And they’re only trying to get it rented.  What about when a tenant is in and there are problems?  I shutter to think…

The Landlord System is your source of knowledge to be able to either manage your properties if you want to, or better get, equip yourself to manage someone else who is managing your properties.  You don’t want to do the work.  You just want to be smart enough to know that someone else is.  Get your copy at www.landlordsystem.com today!