Many investors today have become accidental property managers due to changing market conditions and a tightening economy. Many will learn the hard way what professional property managers have known for years: Property management requires a lot of experience to do well.

It’s not just investors who have become accidental property managers. As real estate agents look to diversify their business, many have turned to property management. For many, it is simply to keep an existing client, and they don’t intend to make it a part of their core business. For others, they are intent on building this niche into their core services, but have not had a lot of experience in both up and down markets.

A Case For Experience

As a result, many agents who have recently become property managers do not have a sufficient breadth of experience to manage properties in a tight economy. Managing real estate is a full time business (or should be). For those who haven’t learned through experience how to control costs in a down market, or screen renters to get the best ones available, or build a strong relationship with renters to keep the good ones paying rent in a timely manner, it is their investor clients who will suffer the consequences.

The real world consequences of agents who provide inexperienced or ineffective San Jose property management services is that their clients  can see catastrophic loss of their investments. One or two missed payments from one or two renters for an investor may be enough to start a process of negative cash flow that can spiral out of control.

Interview an Experienced Property Manager

As a property owner, it’s important to build a trusting relationship with an experienced property manager who can help you navigate through the tight spots of managing a rental property. Interview prospective property managers extensively to learn their business philosophy, their take on the current market conditions, and their strategy for keeping your cash flow in the black.

Here are some questions you should ask:

1. How to do you go about finding prospective renters for your properties?
2. What is your renter screening process?
3. How do you keep maintenance costs in control?
4. What do you do in case of a late payment?

A good San Jose Property Management company like First Statewide Realty will answer all these questions and be able to elaborate on their unique business philosophy about them. It pays dividends to invest a little extra time with your prospective property manager to make sure you’re putting your trust in the right one.