8 Things to Look for in a San Antonio Property Manager

Published on: Dec 5, 2016

Looking for a residential Property Management company in the San Antonio, Texas region?

Below I highlight some of the things you should be looking for as you browse around town looking for a property manager, and how we meet these qualifications.

1. Are they members of the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM^®)?

   If not – keep looking. This means they are not professional enough to care to improve what they do, and you run the risk of not getting the advantage of the latest information for investors – such as new laws, common practices, new technology, or professional education opportunities.

   RentWerx San Antonio is a member of NARPM^® as well as other organizations. See “About RentWerx San Antonio“

2. How are their online reviews? Do they even have an online presence?

   If the company you are looking at has a poor online presence, or does not even care enough to pay attention to it – that would be an indicator that they do not care about their reputation from you or anyone else. Look elsewhere.

   Inside Tip: A lot of reviews may be from disgruntled tenants. Take that as a badge of honor. The management company is targeted as the bad guy, but really they are standing up to the tenant for your investment. If the tenant does not clean the home, they have to be charged….and the management company is obligated to do that out of that tenant’s security deposit.

   RentWerx San Antonio is listed at Angie’s List. Feel free to read our Google reviews.

3. Do they have a full disclosure website?

   Or is it the bait and switch with “call us for a management quote” so they can sell you over the phone with whatever they think they can get you signed up with?

   Here is a tidbit – it takes the same amount of time, cost, and staffing to rent a $1,000 home as it does a $3,000 home. If the management company offers you the same knee jerk price that has been around for 50 years – keep looking – you will probably overpay.

   RentWerx San Antonio offers several plans to choose from. Find out all the details on our San Antonio Property Management page.

4. Do they use a custom attorney approved lease agreement – or the Texas Association of Realtor lease agreement that has more holes in it than Swiss cheese?

   If the company you are looking at, no matter how big, uses the TAR lease – it means they have no intentions on making improvements or customization anywhere – ever.

   Want an example? The Early Termination section in the TAR Lease, paragraph 28, is about as clear as mud. Good luck explaining that to a tenant who just wants to break the lease the right way. ALSO – we have seen managers not even fill out leases correctly putting their owners at a severe disadvantage!

   Want another example? Does that Management Company have regimented lease rate increases, or do they just put the rental rate at a certain amount for 10 years on auto-renew? The San Antonio market has experienced significant increased rental rates. I hope your property management company is paying attention!

   RentWerx San Antonio uses an attorney-approved custom lease to better protect you and your investment.

5. Do they offer any incentives for owners

   RentWerx San Antonio offers the following:

   Rent Protection
   Damage Assurance
   Eviction Assurance

   Leasing Guarantees
   Pet Guarantees
   Tenant Liability Insurance

6. Does that Management Company offer a Single Owner Point of Contact?

   Or, is it management by committee with one person doing the leasing, another person handling the maintenance, another person handling the tenant issues, and another person handling the book keeping? In that scenario, everyone is in charge of nothing.

   Look for a company with a single owner point of contact who is accountable for your home!

   RentWerx San Antonio assigns each owner a Portfolio Manager so that there is a single point of contact.

7. Are the financial incentives of the Management company you are looking at aligned with yours?

   Does the Portfolio Manager assigned to you see financial rewards, and see financial pain by the gains and losses of owners and tenants?

   If the Manager you are dealing with is a straight salaried person – do they REALLY care about how much rent you get?

   Our Portfolio Managers are paid a percentage of the homes they are responsible for, so having tenants that pay their rent on time is in their best interest as well as yours.

8. Finally – Do they have a method to sell your home?

   At some point, you will want to sell a rental home either in 30 days or 30 years. Does that management company refer it out to someone outside their agency causing potential hand off issues?

   RentWerx San Antonio has a sales division. Being familiar with your property, we can better understand and handle the sales process, and it will save a tremendous amount of time in vacancy by NOT having to turn it over to another agency to sell.

I hope this will help any investor / home owner out there make a decision on which company they choose. As a Management Company Owner and Broker – we have spent a great amount of effort perfecting our systems and services to meet and exceed the market needs. Get in touch with us if we can assist you. We look forward to working with you.

Brad Larsen
Owner – Real Estate Broker