1. You must hire a property management company that has an office that is located within 10 miles or 20 minutes from your rental property. The closer the better. Simply put, you will get better service.

2.You must hire a property management company that has a variety of services that include management, maintenance, and real estate services. This can save you from having to call several different companies to address your property needs. It’s just a good luxury to have if you choose to use it and all good and experienced companies provide these services.

3. You must hire a property management company that has good reviews. If you cannot get one by referral, your best chances of getting a good one will be through online reviews through trusted companies and organizations such as Google and the Better Business Bureau. It’s not the numbers of reviews that matters most but rather the majority of them being good ones. No less than 80% good or 8 out of every 10.

4. You must hire a property management company that has great communication with their customers and that you can get on the phone easily during business hours. They will also answer questions by email or text after hours if needed. It is also reasonable and acceptable to receive a reply within 24 hours of your call or email. The faster the response the better.

5. You must hire a property management company that’s good at problem solving. There’s a fine line between being too lenient versus being too legalistic. The reality is, both qualities are needed. The goal is to keep good tenants and get rid of the bad ones. There are some issues that can be addressed with prompt and tactful correspondence to get compliance from tenants. Other times may call for more escalated actions. A wise and experienced management company when and what actions to take at a given moment that ultimately benefits the owner in the end.

6. You must hire a property management company that has good people skills. A church needs good ushers. A company needs a good receptionist. Likewise an owner needs a company that has good and respectful communication with its tenants. The common thread here is that if the person in the middle, in this case the property manager mishandles your good on-time paying tenants, it could cause the tenant to not want to renew the lease, thus costing you unnecessary and unexpected expenses and in most cases, you may never even know it.

7. You must hire a property management company that knows the laws pertaining to landlord and tenants. Mainly, the laws in the city and state where your property is located. This is where proximity between the owner’s property and the management companies office and service area comes to the forefront. Most companies are familiar and aware of the laws in which their business operates and serves.