Property Manager Problem
 

I own a house in TV but I am stationed in Europe. I hired a property manager to handle problems. The one I have takes weeks, if ever, to respond to emails. Today he wrote to me that there were weeds in the yard and ants and that I needed to call Massey and Son of Life to take care of it. Am I wrong to expect my property manager to handle things like this?

You need a new property manager.

What’s in your “contract” with them? In their defense they spend a ton of money on issues then your upset about it, etc. My 2 cents
See this post might help
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...perty+managers

That's what you pay a Property Manager to do. If you wanted to do it yourself, you wouldn't need a Property Manager.

Get another one, but around TV, you're likely to find more of the same.

Mine is Empty Nest, TV’s property manager, and they told me to call Massey. So they write to me and I call Massey. But when it comes to mowing the grass they will call the lawn company directly. So I think yes, it depends on what the contract says. Empty Nest is very reasonable whenever I need something to be done usually. But they are not cheap.

IMO
Who they? I sure the property managers for in contract they’re not paying anything? They are collecting payments. Hence work manage and NOT fixing anything. I would think if I was managing something I would be one contacting for work required I as manager not going to do it but call someone?

Unacceptable.

They should respond to emails within 24 hours MAX, and should be paying attention to the details of your property, so that any potential issues are identified and acted upon immediately.

Does it take ‘weeks’ to get a response to all your emails? Weeks to respond to emails is certainly not ordinary. I don’t know the nature of your messages. If your messages are reasonable, then weeks to respond to messages is unacceptable.

Who is your property manager? Perhaps a discussion with the company’s manager will help with expectations.

The link below has a list of standard Empty Nest services. I don’t see handling or coordinating home maintenance with contractors on their list of services for their fee of $3.50 per day.

Empty Nest Service | Home Property Management

So with Massey you will need to contact them and have them add your property manager as a spokesperson for you. Same with an HVAC company. Your permission is required for the PM to make decisions for you

Fire the property manager, since it appears you have to do their job! Lastly, construct a contract with detailed expectations, authorities, and COMMUNICATION requirements that includes penalties for failure to satisfy the contract terms.

Agreed...although this owner should've had these services in place BEFORE he left. Our PM requires these, and their names and phone numbers, for ease of maintenance.

Some vendors will not allow anyone other than the owner to order service.

Find a new property manager.

Just do NOT go with Down Home. They fail to respond to email, phone messages, etc. But, they were right there to collect their fees. When I did get to speak with them, they were very friendly. But, then immediately dropped the ball...repeatedly.

They cost me a boat load of money and I was glad to cancel my contract with them.

Email to office
 

I felt my emails were being ignored, but realized it was my error. I was simply replying to the email message with the weekly report. This is not the proper way as the individual sending the report will not get/respond on behalf of the company. If I send my email directly to the office, I am always contacted right away.

Ditto WRT who to contact and at what point. Digital communication be it TXT/SMS or email has limitations, and they are great, except when they are not. So many variables, day-to-day checks with service staff that are using a checklist, and a route with say 20 or 30 homes to check every day vs. management that likely have different skills, when it comes to problem solving and experience. I monitor the staff we use and they spend about 10 min per visit, if everything is in order no action required. In the event an issue then they simply alert us and we have to coordinate with electrical, HVAC, lawn service, etc. As noted the scope of service and expectations need to be aligned.

Just my take on the situations as we have a company that checks on our home as well.

I'm not sure exactly what that is, but it's not a "Property Manager". It sounds like you have a "home watch" company.

A property manager manages all aspects of the property and does whatever needs to be done ... he doesn't call the owner and say, "you need your weeds pulled". That's not "management", that's 3rd party observation.

Name the Crook!
 

Typically you give your property mgr a certain dollar amount that he can authorize on his own. Repairs exceeding that amount have to be cleared with you. At least that’s the way we worked it with our rental property up north.

You have the wrong manager
 

I used Realty Executives, and they were great. The called services to come in and fix issues, I just wrote the checks.

It's time to find a new property manager. Kick this guy to the curb.!

Usually a property manager finds tenants, handles check in check out, passes, acquiring things for the tenants. They can also acquire handyman, and repair companies.


Home watch walks the perimeter of house checking for issues. Animal entry, damage to the lawn. Then house room by room checks for leaks in the ceilings, bugs, appliances.
Make sure the lanai doors and all the windows are secure weekly report emailed to the customer.

Our home watch email us a weekly report, immediate call for repairs that needed immediate response. Hire a cleaning team every other month, making sure done to her standards.

At our request would stock the refrigerator and spruce the place up before we came down.

Property Management
 

Mike&Molly Home services
217-898-7709
Will known in TV just google go to their website.

Kickback
 

They told you to call Massey because the probably couldn’t get a kickback from them. They might only use companies they pay them. I dealt with management companies for many years and a 10% kickback was the standard

The Village People.

Today he told me the power has been shut off at my house for three weeks after the last renter left. I had switched it online with Seco 3 weeks ago. I told him a property manager should have been aware of this and told me 3 weeks ago.