The Property Management Company

A few months ago, we interviewed several property management companies to manage our house as a rental property.  This should not have been a complicated process nor should it have been rife with risk or stress.  But then, taxpayers shouldn't be bailing out mis-managed Union pension plans either.... but I digress.  

This is not my first time in the ring with managing a rental property.  Sixteen years ago, I built my first house in DeLand, Florida and after four years of occupancy, decided to rent it and move back north.  The management company I hired was excellent and I barely knew I had a rental property except for the monthly check and the occasional maintenance and upkeep bills which they deducted from said rent.  I had 2 tenants in 10 years and sold the property to the second tenant for a handsome profit and minimal agent fees.  Piece of cake. 

This new property management company, if one could call them that, is proving themselves to be less competent in every way.  We met for the first time 2 months ago and I was very specific about my expectations.  I wanted clear, proactive communication and I wanted things to be managed.  No surprises - No fire drills.  

The property was listed in mid June.  Two weeks into the process, I received an email from the management company suggesting that I reduce the rent due to inactivity.  It seemed awfully premature and I refused.  Two weeks later, we had people beating down the door to rent the house and several people contacted us directly (by knocking on the door), because of the lack of response by the management company.  Hum.  

When I first spoke to the owner of the management company, I asked him to disclose all fees associated with renting the property as we were debating renting versus selling.  He told us that there was a rental fee that was equivalent to one months rent that would cover all expenses of renting the property and a monthly management charge.  Seems reasonable and was in line with what the other prospective companies had quoted.  Before we left, though, I started getting emails and letters concerning all sorts of new fees that would be required.  One fee, for $1000, is for the city of Minneapolis to inspect the property to license the conversion from residence to rental.  Really, $1000?  Two issues with this - first, I could have used this information two months ago when I was making my decision and secondly, what lazy, union government agency gets $1000 for an hour of work? 

On top of that, we found out that the house will need to be rekeyed for the new tenants.  Again, could have used this info during the decision making process.  I do not disagree with the idea of rekeying as I would want the same, but the timing is a little odd.  Can anyone spell disclosure.  

The thing that really put me over the edge, though, was the inspection they did the Friday before we left. The management company sent over their maintenance guy with a nice, pre-typed list to ensure we have all the right things that a rental property should.  I assumed we would be checking things like the furnace, plumbing and gas lines .  Things that could not be fixed while we were occupying the property.  Nope!  We were left with a punch list of items like - need doorstops on all doors and need curtain rods in all bedrooms.  Now this really pissed me off as these are things that could have been brought to my attention a month ago, you know, when I had the tools to fix the items myself. But, true to form, these guys are the masters of the last minute fire drill.  What would take me 10 minutes to do two weeks ago, now must be subcontracted due to lack of equipment.  Naturally, they were kind enough to offer to do it for us for a charge.  I started to rub my forehead, because clearly I must have had idiot written across it in bold, red letters!  I threw the guy out and sent a nasty email to the owner.  

Luckily, the people that clean our house also have handymen on their staff and took care of these essential items.  Since we have been in India, I have received more emails concerning "services" that will be provided like Furnace Inspections, radiator bleeds, etc all for a nominal charge.  Again, I think these are essential to have done for the well-being of the house, but would loved to have known about them in advance of renting.  In the mean time, I am formulating a plan on how to deal with this management company.  It will not end well for them - this I can guarantee!