Before you sign with a property manager: the questions that expose a weak one

The questions that matter, in one paragraph

Before you sign, ask who the licensed broker is and how involved that person is, who your day-to-day contact is, every fee you could ever be charged, whether maintenance is marked up, what day rent reaches your account, how the asking rent is set, what the written screening criteria say, how inspections and emergencies work, what happens step by step when rent is late, and how you leave. Then look the license up yourself on the Texas Real Estate Commission's public search. A vague answer to any one of these is an answer.

I am on the receiving end of these questions every week, and I like them. An owner who asks them ends up with a manager who has to perform, and that is the only kind worth hiring. Here is each question, why it matters, and what a good answer sounds like.

Who is actually responsible for your house

In Texas, leasing or managing property for someone else for a fee is real estate brokerage, which means the company needs a licensed broker, and anyone else doing the work must be sponsored by one. The broker supervises the people handling your house and is responsible for the trust account that holds your rent and your tenant's deposit. So the first question is simple: who is the broker, and what does that person personally review?

Look the answer up. The Texas Real Estate Commission's license holder search lets you search by name or license number. Confirm the license is active, note whether the person is a broker or a sales agent, and if it is an agent, look up the sponsoring broker too. A license is a floor, not a guarantee of quality, but a manager without one has none of the obligations that come with it. While you are on the search page, check the license history. Repeated lapses and reinstatements can point to a part-time operator, and formal disciplinary actions appear on the public record.

• Who is the broker, and what do they personally review or approve?
• Who is my day-to-day contact, and who covers when that person is out?
• How many properties does each manager carry, and why is that workload manageable?

Money questions that deserve a number, not a promise

Ask for every fee in writing before you sign: management, leasing, renewal, inspection, setup, eviction, termination, vacancy and any administrative charge. A company that describes fees loosely in the meeting will describe them loosely on your statement too. Our breakdown of what a property manager costs, fee by fee shows what a complete schedule looks like.

Then ask the question most owners skip: do you mark up maintenance, own a maintenance company, or receive payments from vendors? The good answer is a direct yes or no with a specific number for any markup. An undisclosed markup is the real problem, because it compounds on every repair for as long as you own the house. Finally, ask what day of the month rent reaches your account and how much they hold in reserve. A specific date and a reserve shown on your statement are what you want. Payouts that arrive when everything clears leave you guessing.

How they will price the rent and choose your tenant

Ask how they set the asking rent. The answer should mention leased comparables, meaning homes that actually rented recently, not just what neighbors are asking, along with an honest word about your home's condition. A promise of top dollar with no comparables behind it usually becomes a price cut three weeks later, after the house has sat empty. Ask what the weekly reporting looks like while the house is vacant, so you know whether showings are happening and what prospects are saying.

Then ask to see the written screening criteria. A professional company has a document that states the standards for income, credit, rental history and background, and applies it the same way to every applicant. Criteria that live in someone's head expose you to fair-housing risk as the owner, and they let a persuasive applicant talk past the checks. Our guide to screening a tenant in Texas shows what those criteria should cover. Ask too how showings are handled and how quickly inquiries are answered, because the first good applicant rarely waits a day.

When the water heater fails at midnight

Maintenance is where owners feel the difference between managers most. Ask what your approval threshold is and what happens above and below it. You should set a dollar limit, repairs under it should be handled without delay, and anything over it should come to you with a description, photos and a recommendation. No threshold means no control over spending.

Ask how often they inspect and what you receive. Move-in, periodic and move-out inspections with dated photos and notes in a portal are the standard; a drive-by is not an inspection. Ask who answers an after-hours emergency, who authorizes the plumber, and how quickly you hear about it. A voicemail box when a pipe bursts is the wrong answer. Ask, finally, whether you can use your own insured handyman for some jobs. A flexible manager will coordinate with your vendor rather than insist on its own for everything.

Ask about the bad months before you have one

Every manager handles the easy tenancies well. Ask what happens step by step when rent is late. A good answer is a dated sequence: a reminder, the late fee charged as the lease allows, a written notice, filing if necessary, and points at which you are consulted. Our walk-through of how late rent becomes a Texas eviction shows what that sequence looks like in practice. Ask also who keeps late fees, the owner or the manager, because the agreement decides that and owners are often surprised to learn the answer after the fact.

Be wary of a company that says it has never had to file an eviction. That usually means limited experience or an incomplete answer. Ask too how they handled their last difficult owner or tenant situation. An honest story, including what went wrong, tells you more about a manager than any number of five-star reviews.

Read the agreement before you believe the pitch

The management agreement governs everything the salesperson said. Read three parts of it before you sign. First, the termination clause: the notice period, any early-termination fee, and what happens to leases the manager signed if you leave. Some agreements claim leasing fees on tenants they placed even after you have moved on. Second, the renewal terms, because some agreements renew automatically. Third, every promise made in the meeting, because if a guarantee is not in the agreement or a signed addendum, it does not exist.

Ask for the exit process in writing too: how files, keys, deposits and leases transfer, including mid-lease. A company that makes leaving difficult is often counting on that friction to keep clients. If you are already with a manager and reading this because something has gone wrong, our guide to the signs it is time to switch managers covers the handover.

Check the answers against people who already use them

A good meeting proves the company can talk. To find out whether it delivers, ask for two references from owners who have been with the company for several years and own homes similar to yours, then call them. Ask how quickly the manager responds, whether statements are ever late or confusing, and how the last turnover went. Ask for a sample owner statement and a sample inspection report too. If those documents are thin, the real ones will be thinner.

Read reviews for patterns rather than stars. Tenants write most property management reviews, and an angry tenant review about screening, late fees or deposit deductions can simply mean the company enforces its lease. The reviews that should worry you are owner complaints about surprise fees, late statements or long vacancies, and tenant complaints about maintenance calls that were never returned, because ignored tenants leave, and turnover is paid for by the owner.

Answers that should end the meeting

One weak answer can be a bad day. A pattern is a business model. These are the responses that make me tell a friend to keep looking.

• They cannot name the broker without checking, or the license search does not match the company.
• Fees are described as standard or typical but never written down before signing.
• The maintenance answer is about great vendor relationships rather than a yes or no on markups.
• There is no written screening criteria document to show you.
• Rent is promised at top dollar without any leased comparables.
• Inspections mean driving past the house.
• Leaving requires a long notice period, a termination fee and a fight over the file.

How we answer these questions ourselves

It is only fair that I answer my own list. Perpetual Property Management is broker-owned. I hold the broker license, TREC 549418-B, and Perpetual Realty Group is licensed as TREC 9008702-BB, so you can look both up. Every fee you pay must be in the written agreement, and any fee that is not listed is not owed. Collected rent is disbursed by the 10th of the month, or that month's management fee is waived. Our screening criteria are published, and every adult applicant is checked for credit, income, rental history, employment and background.

Every move-in and move-out gets a 360-degree condition inspection, every completed repair over $500 comes with photo or video proof in the owner portal, and the vendor's original invoice is always there for you to see. We manage homes in Keller, North Richland Hills, Fort Worth and across Tarrant County. Bring this list to our first conversation and hold us to every answer.

Questions people ask me