Property manager's responsibility?

Hi all
I know generally your property manager is responsible for organising urgent repairs and maintenance issues that crop up. But is it also their responsibility to follow up on it with the trades person to find out what the problem was and what was done to rectify the problem and whether there is likely to be further maintenance issue (to do with the initial problem)? My property has had a ducted heating system break down twice in 2 weeks, and both times, there was a call out organised by the property manager (1st visit was by an electrician, and the 2nd time a plumber). Both times, despite my emails, my property manager never bothered to either reply my email or call back to explain what the problem was in both instances.

I am just wondering whether it is the job of a property manager to follow up on maintenance issues with the tradesperson and tenant?

 

Property managers are always slammed for time, however they should be answering your questions. They should also follow up, although sometimes they may need some prompting. Also they are not mind readers so they don't know the information you might want unless you ask.

Just responded to your other thread about property manager and timeliness of rent payments.

Sounds to me like you need to have a frank discussion with your property manager, or look for a new one.

There are multiple threads on here recommending property managers. Many good ones are on here too.

 

well i have sent multiple emails regarding property maintenance call outs to get an explanation of what happened, and i generally never get a response. the only time i get emails is when she notifies me of a new problem and that another call out has been arranged. And when I call, it never gets picked up. So yes I don't expect mind readers - I am just asking for explanations and follow ups on each specific call out and whether it is their responsibility to follow up with the trades people, so that they can answer my questions?

 

Maybe time to vote with your feet? I have a bunch of clients that love @Lil Skater Qura Property. She actually returns their calls! What a shocker!

 

Thanks for the tip

 

Time for a new PM.

If your current tenants moved off and you were looking for new ones. Is this the kind of service you would want to rely on to find a new tenant.

 

You might be happy to forgive a few hiccups in communication, but what you've described is really not acceptable.

It is absolutely our job to follow up the tradespeople. Tradespeople regularly (and I mean REGULARLY) fail to communicate properly with us, which is usually where the issue lays. The PM will send off the work order and then forget about it, instead of having notes to follow up and make sure access has been provided, the work has been done, what was done and if there are any things to note around the completion of the work (e.g. it was patched up and will need replacement soon, etc.).

 

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice and feedback, especially from those in the Property management industry, gives me a bit of an insight into what happens from your end. After the repeated ignored emails over a week , I ended up calling a couple of times and leaving voicemails at the start of Friday, to finally get a call back at the end of the day. It appears you are right @Tom Rivera , she had totally neglected to follow up on what happened with all those repeated trades people call outs, and had only followed up with them after she got my calls. But her excuse was that the tradespeople hadn't reported back to her. Sounds like from the insights you have given me, it is still poor service!

 

You should get a copy of the invoice along with your statement.
Invoice should have detail of the work done and problem found.
Also shows the property manager is not adding a extra margin to the tradesman's charge.

 

Your PM needs to be communicating with you about these issues, following up with the tradey with questions like, is this general water and tear, miss use, or other causes and trying to elimate these problems reoccurring in the future. Of course the invoice will explain the problem, repair and price, when it is received in the end of month statement but owners shouldn't have to wait. After speaking with the tradey, I often email the owners especially if there is anything that can be done to alter or avoid the same problem recoccuring and I believe owners appreciate the additional communication instead on the generic email created by the software.

 

The owners responsibility

 

Hi jchw38, it sounds like you've got a bit of an overworked property manager. Some agencies like to pad out their profit margins by having one manager look after as many properties as humanly possible. If the Agency has the right systems in place, there won't be a problem but there obviously is a problem.

Maybe it's time to start asking some questions of your agency about what they are willing to do and what they aren't. If you're not happy with what they can offer, I'm sure there are plenty of other agencies willing to do the work for a similar fee. Either way, it's always good to get an understanding of your responsibilities in your current arrangement.

Best of luck.

 

Property managers are employed to manage your property and maintenance forms part of that. Yes they should be communicating with you on a regular basis, they should also have a relationship with the contractors who report back to them with any additional information when on sight. To me this simply is poor management an inexperienced property manager or possibly over worked managing more that capable of. There are so many systems available now to have this automated and streamline, I think you need to be asking the property manager some further questions as to why this is occurring and then do some research on other local Property Management companies and how they operate. Good Luck