I’m darkly curious what neighborhood you’re in and if you’re dealing with our old crazy property manager or not.
In general owners have incentive to repair their properties and keep them in good shape for future renters and eventual sale. Property managers have incentive not to perform maintenance and repairs, especially if the owners give them a certain sum to work with each month.
I’m sure there are good property managers out there, but the ones I’ve dealt with were nightmares.
[quote=poorgradstudent]I’m darkly curious what neighborhood you’re in and if you’re dealing with our old crazy property manager or not.
In general owners have incentive to repair their properties and keep them in good shape for future renters and eventual sale. Property managers have incentive not to perform maintenance and repairs, especially if the owners give them a certain sum to work with each month.
I’m sure there are good property managers out there, but the ones I’ve dealt with were nightmares.[/quote]
This is in La Jolla. But I’m sure there are many examples of this all over. I think my original theory was correct, there is a conflict of interest between the owner’s interest and the property managers interest. Even more so given she is an MLS agent.
For the owner, I am an ideal tenant. Even though the rent is below market value, he has 7 years of consistent income without a single break plus his maintenance costs are minimal.
For the PM, she will make more money if he raises rent. Not only for the rent commission, but by raising rent, the rent vs. buy decision becomes close enough that it would discourage long term tenants like me. Instead, it would likely attract an endless series of temporary 12 month tenants. In this case, every year she gets to show the property again and get more kickbacks that way.
