Monthly Archives: September 2016

Listen, I’m as cost conscious as the next guy.  But it just drives me crazy, almost literally, when a real estate investors’ first question about our Kansas City property management services is “What are your fees?”

Can I give you a tip?

Stop asking about fees as the first question.

Seriously.  A vast majority of our 110+ owners are counting on their rental property (or multiples) to partially or fully fund their retirement incomes.  Essentially, these investment assets are more than just a rental property, they are a future.

To me, the first question is “How do you go about protecting my asset(s)?”

Here are questions I would ask before I got to fees. And, yes, I’d ask about the fees, as well.  But seriously, the value of your asset can rise and fall on the property management.  Get that right. It is every bit as important as the asset itself.

• How long have you been managing properties?
• If required by state law, are you licensed to manage rental property?
• What are your money practices?  ie, How do you hold deposits? When are collected funds disbursed to the owners?  Are you subject to state or owner audit?
• How do you go about selecting tenants? ie, What are your advertising practices? Do you show in person or do you do lock box showings? What are the credit and income criteria that you use to qualify, financially, the tenants?
• How do you document the condition of my investment property when you take it over from me or my current property manager?
• How do you document the condition of my investment property before and after a tenant moves in/out?
• What are your best practices when it comes to legal challenges?
• What is your vacancy rate?
• What is your turnover rate?
• How long does your average tenant stay with you?
• What is your eviction rate?

There are more questions, of course. Those are what I’d start with, however. Spend as much time choosing your property manager as you do selecting your investment house.  You will be glad you did.

I have been watching Kansas City property management evolve here in these last two years.  In fact, I think high quality, business-oriented property management companies are one of the great things that came about as a result of our Great Recession here in the United States.

Here-to-fore property management had always been mom & pop and not on a grand scale.  Some mangers cared more than others in the past, and the same can be said of today.  But, property management is growing up.  More KC property managers are a part of NARPM, or the National Association of Property Managers as are we here at Ad Astra Property Management.

But it is more than that.  A new generation of managers has realized that customer service matters.  That image matters.  That the better condition the property offered is in the more likely you will draw a tenant that appreciates that property and is willing to take care of it.

Tenants used to be easily and quickly dismissed as “tenants”. Which is to say, that they were some how second class citizens that didn’t appreciate safe, clean housing.  Many owners used to “milk” their rental properties for every dollar they could get at the expense of ongoing repairs.

With housing values as high as they are today and retirements at stake, most of our investment property owners are on board with taking care of the maintenance on their rental homes and making sure we are not deferring too much maintenance. After all, it is literally “pay me now or pay me later” when it comes to maintenance.

In short, I’m proud of our vision here at Ad Astra Property Management.  And I’m proud of much of our competition.  The game is getting more competitive and that is a good thing for both the tenants and the owners.