How to Hire the RIGHT Property Manager.
Are you feeling burnt out? Are you tired of dealing with guests and late-night calls? Need help to realize the full potential of your investment? There are many reasons why hiring a property manager could be beneficial. Although I firmly believe that anyone can manage their own short-term rental, there are countless reasons why you may be better off with a short-term rental property manager.
Making sure you get the right one is a challenging task, though. There are plenty of great, ok, and downright bad or even illegal managers who are all interested in your business. At the time of this writing, an estimated 25,000 vacation rental management companies are operating in the US. 70% are estimated to be managing under 20 units, and inventory growth for these managers continues to surge with an increase in the number of investors purchasing home property managers. According to Transparent, property managers experienced an average growth of 34% in 2022.
So, how do you choose the manager that is right for you? While I suggest you take your time to do all the due diligence, here are three simple questions to ask every manager before hiring them. Their response will give you a good indication of if they are the right fit for you.
Is a license required in your area to manage short-term rentals? If so, confirm your manager has all licenses.
How many employees does your potential manager have, and what are their roles? If there are no employees, what vendors do they use?
How many properties do they currently manage, and what is their average rating on Airbnb? How many did you manage six months ago, a year ago, etc?
It's always important to keep in mind that no manager is perfect. All managers will have their strengths and weaknesses. A good exercise is to note what is most important to you as a property owner and pick a manager who shares a similar belief in what is most important, but be wary of the over-promise.
Picking the right property manager is a critical decision requiring a lot of due diligence beyond just these three questions. However, these three questions can give you a great starting point. Always interview as many managers in your area as possible, and be consistent with the questions you ask every manager.