Need Help Finding A Property Manager To Look After Your Investment Property?

By Kirsty Dunphey

Questions to ask yourself:

• How many property managers do I want to interview? While the attached form allows you to compare 3, I recently interviewed 5 for my new property. A little exhausting to say the least!

• How will I find out who to interview? I find personal referrals from other property managers to be the best method.

• What are the most important areas to me in finding a property manager. Do you want the cheapest fees or the highest rent or is the service provided more important?

To follow is quite a long list of questions you may wish to ask a potential property manager. Have a read through it before you go to interview an agent and identify which questions are most important to you. After the questions is a form you can fill in while interviewing the agents. It's best to start from the far right column so that you can fold that over out of sight when you start interviewing the next agent.

Structure:

• How is the property management department structured?

• Who will be your point of contact?

• How many people will you have to deal with on an ongoing basis?

• What is their contingency plan for when your point of contact is ill or on leave?

• What is the ratio of staff to properties managed?

Maintenance:

• What is their procedure?

• Do they contact the property own for all maintenance?

• Do they charge a fee to conduct maintenance?

• What percentages of their tradespeople are licensed?

• Can the owner nominate their own tradespeople?

• How are large bills paid (directly by the owner or through the rental receipts)?

Lease renewals: It is very important to choose a company that handles their lease renewals promptly and efficiently ensuring your tenant always remains on a current lease.

• What is their procedure?

• Do they perform rental increases only upon lease renewal or during the period as well?

• Does the company charge to renew an existing lease (ie: where they don't need to find a new tenant)

Rental arrears (tenants who are behind in rental payments):

• What is their procedure? (ie: how often do they check arrears, how many days behind does a tenant have to be before their procedure starts and what does that procedure consist of)

• At what point does the owner of the property get contacted to notify them their tenants are in arrears?

Inspections:

• How often is the property routinely inspected?

• Who conducts these inspections? (ie: is it your point of contact or someone else?)

• What points are noted on the inspection report to the owner?

• It is appropriate to view or request a sample of one of these reports.

Fees:

• What are all of the costs they charge (get written confirmation).

• Charges typically include: management fee (usually a percentage charged against all rent received), letting fee (usually a percentage or number of week's rent charged up front when a new tenant is found), advertising (internet, newspaper etc), sundry or postage (usually a nominal fee per month), lease renewal (often charged when a lease is renewed as opposed to a new tenant being found).

• Will the owner be charged more than one letting fee in a year if there are more than one set of tenants (if the letting fee is based on a percentage of annual rent this can be costly).

• Are these fees negotiable (ie: for management of more than one property).

• It is appropriate to view or request a sample of the authority you would sign if you were to give them your property to manage.

Payments:

• By what method does the landlord get paid (direct debit to a bank account is the most common and convenient method).

• How often does the property owner get paid (weekly, fortnightly, monthly).

• What payment methods are available to tenants.

Statements:

• Does the statement get emailed, mailed or both to the owner

• It is appropriate to view or request a sample of one of these statements

Tenant screening:

• How is this performed and what does the tenant need to provide

• It is appropriate to view or request a sample of one of these statements

Advertising

• How are vacant properties marketed to the public (commonly - internet including large property portals and the real estate agent's own website, newspaper, window display, in house database of tenants currently looking)

Estimated rental projection:

• What does the agent think the property is worth?

• What other comparable rentals on their books can they show you so that you know that their figure is realistic and achievable?

Other:

• Any other questions you think to ask

• Comments on their presentation materials etc

• Did they provide testimonials? Can they give you contact details for 5 of their current landlords who you could query about their service.

Preparation / Follow Up:

• What did the agent do before and after the presentation to stand out.

Overall rating:

• A section to rank a number of property managers

How to Choose the Best Estate Planning Attorney for You and Your Family

By Don West, Jr.

Legacy & Estate Planning allows clients to address their values, finances and legacy plan progress. For most professionals and entrepreneurs the importance of proper estate planning need not be stressed. When you hear the term estate, it refers to everything that you have worked hard to accumulate. Your home, real estate, bank accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, cars, life insurance, business interests, artwork and jewelry. Without proper planning and based on the amount of total assets that you own there could be a hefty tax bill to upwards of 55%. Additionally, your beneficiaries may also be delayed and inconvenienced with all of the requirements in settling your estate.

When you arrive at the important decision to hire an estate planner you want the best for your family. You will have to consider if you want a traditional estate planner who only focuses on the hard numbers and physical assets or would you prefer a holistic counselor who also incorporates legacy development and planning into the process. Conscientious adults make an effort to bank with the best, invest with the best and associate with the best. When seeking to hire a planner the qualities you need to look for include the following.

Trustworthiness

The sensitivity of your personal financial matters dictates that you need to have a high level of trust in the counselor who assists you with planning. Most high net worth individuals utilize a team approach that includes their accountant, their financial advisor and an estate planning attorney. Each of these professionals typically are competent and knowledgeable and have earned the clients trust over time and through reputation. The importance of using the team is that most already have these separate advisors in place, in order to keep an orderly ship, communication and collaboration is stressed so that all goals can be working simultaneously toward similar objectives. A separate approach often leads to undesired inefficiencies.

Professionalism

You should hire an estate planning lawyer that is highly professional. Your estate planning lawyer should be a recognized leader in his or her field and typically hold a special certification or advanced legal degree. In many instances your estate planning lawyer will be standing in your shoes as a professional representative of your interests and affairs. It is important that such an important representative properly represent your family's good will and precious resources. If you have a complicated situation or lots of assets, choose someone experienced with complex situations and issues so they will always be a shining reflection of your initial decision to hire them in the first place.

Ethics

Since estate planning will deal with all or most of your assets, you should hire an estate planning lawyer that is reliable and ethical. This fact can be checked by asking the lawyer if anyone has ever filed a complaint against them in the past. Most will answer honestly, but it is a question of ethics so one should always stay alert. An ethical estate planning lawyer should consider all your needs and best interests above everything else. An ethical planner will always provide sound and legal advice and never recommend faddish or illegal scams to save or hide money.

Commitment

Commitment to a high standard of quality is a good characteristic in an estate planning attorney. Your planner should provide a warm and courteous environment that fosters a sense of security and accomplishment. Attention to the smallest detail in addressing every last issue in your legacy and estate planning process is the trademark of and excellent planning institution. Your planner is willing to stay until the job is complete and will not have problems working with your investment advisor, accountant and insurance professional. In the most productive relationships your planner is a multi-generational partner who will work with you side-by-side through a process that at times can be long and arduous, but is made simple and enjoyable due to their enthusiasm and pride in their work.

When you take the time to consider the long term implications of preparing a solid plan the question of who will prepare my plan becomes far more important. Utilize these tips and you should find a rewarding and securing planning experience just around the corner.
Donald L. West, Jr., J.D., CTEP
Chartered Trust & Estate Planner
Axis Legacy Planning & Trusts, P.L.