Learn the One Right You Must Reserve Before Hiring a Tampa Property Manager
If you are planning to hire a Tampa property management company you must demand one very important right. This is going to sound silly at first because most people think they already have this right. Are you ready?
You must have the right to fire your property management company with 30 days notice at any time with No Penalty!
Did you know that most property management companies in the United States specifically write in their management agreement that you cannot fire them within the 1st year without paying a significant penalty? I couldn’t believe it either.
Their explanation is that they go to considerable expense and effort to find you a good tenant and they deserve the management fees that would be earned over the entire year. That is if your rental is occupied. Of course, you have already paid them a leasing fee of 50%-100% of the first month’s rent so I think they will be okay. Some property managers even go as far as charging a termination fee if the rental is empty and they are being fired for their inability to find a good tenant. We have seen rentals sit vacate 4, 6, even 12 months under inept property managers.
You do not want to be forced to give them another one, two, or three months to find a tenant because you dread the prospect of paying a termination fee. These fees can range from $500 to $2500 depending the on the company and the quality of your rental.
The time to negotiate out the termination fee is right in the beginning. Please read carefully over any management agreement looking for this specific issue. Once you find it, you should nicely point out that you should have the right to fire them if they are not doing a good job. They will of course balk and give you their already prepared answers. Listen politely and then start giving examples of why this is unacceptable to you. Rest assured. The property management company has reserved the right to fire you without penalty.
You run the greater financial risk. The property could sit vacate for 6 months, or the property manager might hire overpriced contractors to do major repairs. There are dozens of reasons why you might feel that this is not a good fit. Be polite and tell them you would really like to hire them, but this issue is extremely important to you and cannot be compromised. I think you will find 90% of Tampa property management companies (or any property manager) will cave on this issue, and therefore, you have greatly decreased your financial loss from hiring an incompetent property manager by mistake.
