This is a four part series where we have outlined important questions to ask a property management company before hiring them.

Series 1 Company’s credentials
Series 2 Property management services
Series 3 Property management fees
Series 4 Tenant screening process

Property management companies come in all sizes, capabilities and expertise. Just because one works for one investor doesn’t necessarily mean they will work for you. Below we have outlined some important questions to ask a company during your initial interview process. Their answers to these questions will provide insight into their business capabilities, credentials and areas of expertise,and can provide you with an understanding of the type of services they offer which are important to you.

Series 1 – Credentials

Years in the business – Years in the business can equate to experience and stability within a company. Of course things such as changes in key personnel or senior management can jeopardize this. But generally this is a good indicator of a company with a solid foundation. Chances are they have solid processes and procedures in place to streamline the management of possibly hundreds of properties all at the same time. Make sure these “years in the business” are related to property management and not sales only. Just because they have 30 years running a real estate sale department does not make them an expert in property management or tenant relations.

Done business under another name – You should do your due diligence and contact the Better Business Bureau or other reliable service such as Dun & Bradstreet to see if the company your interested in has a good track record or any consumer complaints filed against them. The Better Business Bureau assigns grades from A to F with pluses and minuses. A+ is the highest grade and F is the lowest. The grade represents BBB’s degree of confidence that the business is operating in a trustworthy manner and will make a good faith effort to resolve any customer concerns. If the company your interested in has done business under another name you will want to check the track record of this business entity also.

Property Management Only or Sales also – Some investors will only hire companies that deal strictly in property management when it comes time to managing their rentals. These companies are focused on every aspect of property management since this is all they do, and they will not be influenced in trying to get you to sell and making a sales commission.

Other investors may find security in knowing they have a management company that is well verse in sales. A company that offers both sales and property management can be very useful if you plan on buying multiple properties and want to work exclusively with one company for buying and managing all these properties. These companies typically will have a good grasp of the overall market condition whether buying, selling for owner occupied or investment.

Real Estate or Brokers License – In order to practice business as a property manager some states require they process a Real estate or Broker’s license. To receive a license requires extensive education as well as passing the state’s licensing exam. In order to keep their license current they must also participate in ongoing courses. These courses and license designations cost money and show they have a commitment to their trade. Other states may only require a certificate, which consists of basic classes and passing a class exam.

Staff personnel – Some management company may employ hundreds of employees, while others may be run by a sole proprietor. What you want to find out here is the ratio between their portfolio of rental properties and managers they employ. In other words, if they manage several hundred properties yet only have two staff managers, they may be overworked and unable to give you the service you expect.

Type of properties you manage – Some property management companies manage all types of properties while others specialize in one type, such as residential. If you have a single-family house that needs managing, a company with 90% of its properties being commercial property may not be a good fit. Typically commercial and community association management is the most profitable for a property management company. And some residential property management company may prefer to manage only multi-unit apartment buildings of a certain size and not manage single family houses at all.

Associations/Affiliates – They are many local and national associations that are tailored for the property management community. These associations are full of valuable information, and are a great way to network amongst others in their industry. Once a member of these associations you have numerous channels of educational classes and seminars all geared toward enhancing their skills as property managers. Upon completing class requirements many are given professional designations to promote them as a professional in their field. Some popular associations are “National Association of Realtors®” (NAR), “National Association of Residential Property Managers®” (NARPM®), “Institute of Real Estate Management®” (IREM®), “Community Associations Institute” (CAI), “Building Owners and Managers Association” (BOMA) and the “National Apartment Association” (NAA).

Coming soon: Part 2 of 4 “Make finding a property management company easier on yourself by asking the right questions”- Property management services

Karen McDaniel
Principal/CEO
Property Management Profile LLC

Property Management Profile offers the most up-to-date listing of full-service property management companies nationwide. We have become a wealth of information and resource for the first-time landlord as well as the seasoned investors. We should know what we’re talking about, as owner and creator of Property Management Profile, Karen McDaniel, has owned and managed many of her own properties. Today, all are managed by professional property management companies, so she now has more time to continue her work educating and helping others make better choices when it comes to finding a qualified property management company.

Is Starting A Christian Home Business Easy?There are three parts to the answer of this often asked question of “How Easy Is It To Start A Christian Home Based Business”. The first part depends solely on YOU. How badly do you need to have your christian home business turn to profit? How much time are you willing to invest even if the income is not there right away? Are you a dedicated person who does NOT give up easily and sets realistic goals then tackles them? There are many more questions about YOU, but this is a good start. The second part will depend on the christian home based business company that you decide to start from home. Does the company have a pay structure designed so that anyone, even beginners can begin to turn a profit immediately? Is the christian business reputable, established and legitimate? Does the christian based business encourage ethical and honest practices within the company? And the list goes on of course. The third part depends on which sponsor or christian group you decide to come into the christian business with. Is the sponsor or christian group knowledgeable about the company and how to conduct the business to be profitable? Does the sponsor or christian group have advertising campaigns that beginners are able to tap into while they are in your first stages of the learning? Does the sponsor or christian group have a constant source of communication, because communication is KEY in home based business. Those are just a handful of questions to keep in mind when start a christian home based business.Can Anyone Start A Christian Home Business?Yes, anyone with a computer, telephone, and email address can start a christian home business for the very first time. But do not get the wrong idea, just because you have the three above items, does not mean, POOF you will magically be in the profit zone right away. You will need to learn the proper skills it takes to utilize each of those 3 items so that they do the work for you. Basic computer skills and an active email address are usually all it takes to get off the ground running, but having telephone skills and knowing how to talk to people is a definite plus with any business, not just home businesses.What To Look For In A Christian Home Based Business Company?When choosing a christian home based business for the first time, there are some key elements to consider. Is the opportunity affordable for anyone, even smaller budgets? Typically what you want to look for is a good price range to join, to profitability ratio. A good price range to look for is anywhere from 30-60 dollars to join and or on a monthly basis. And here is why. If you get into a business that only cost below 30 dollars to join or on a monthly basis, this means that it is nearly impossible to become profitable because the company does not have enough money coming in, to pay a decent amount to their representatives (you). Now, any higher than 60 dollars is going to be a far stretch on new members who are on a limited budget, so you want to keep it within reason for everyone. Within the 30-60 range is perfect because it does not strain everyone’s wallet, and there is plenty of money coming into the company to create sizeable commission checks to their representatives (you).

One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.