Blog Post

What to Look for when Reading Reviews of Property Management Companies Online

Dustin Edwards • September 11, 2020

Read the Reviews to Find the Right Company For You

Beach Cities Management Reviews
555Businesses have extreme accountability to their customers due to the speed at which reviews can be left online. This can be challenging for any business to manage. It is a great advantage for property owners (and tenants even) to explore what a working relationship would be like with a property management company. Find out more below how to evaluate reviews to help you to find the best possible management company for your goals.

Renter Reviews vs. Owner Reviews
Reviews tell a story from the perspective of the tenant and the property owner. While it would be nice to say “well I am a property owner I don’t really need to read reviews left by tenants” we would encourage you to read a balance of the reviews. As a property owner reading reviews left by tenants will help you to understand how they handle tenants who are renting your property. Reading the property owner reviews will help you to understand how they will interact with you.

While it might seem a bit tedious to read through a large volume of reviews it is a great way to understand, from a 3rd party perspective, how it could be to work with the company.

Quantity and Quality of Reviews
Depending on the platform for reviews (the most common being Yelp and Google My Business) a reviewer doesn’t even have to leave comments when they leave their rating. They could leave a 1-star or even a 5-star without writing a single word.

As you are evaluating the reviews of property management companies we would argue that to truly understand what it could be like to work with a company is to look beyond the pure ratings and read the commentary. Sure it is nice to see a string of 5-star reviews, but what is that really saying about the company? Likewise a number of 1-star reviews could mean there is a problem or maybe there was a common challenge that impacted renters on the same day.

Time Period of Reviews
If there is one truth about the internet it is that once something is put online you can find it for pretty much forever. To understand what it could be like to work with a property management company take careful note of when the reviews were left. Consider the following:

Have they not received any new reviews lately?

Are the majority of the negative reviews older?

If they haven’t received any new reviews lately, why is that? Maybe they stopped encouraging owners and renters alike to leave reviews?

For older negative reviews it could be the result of a bad hire that could no longer be with the company. Or they might be a result of a challenging economic period (i.e. great recession or COVID-19) when many businesses received negative reviews. Take time to understand the context of the negative reviews and even ask the property manager about these negative items during the interview process.

Are there Specific Team Members Mentioned?
This goes for both positive and negative aspects. As you read through the reviews of potential property management companies who are the people that are most often mentioned? Is there a particular individual who is always mentioned as going above and beyond? Is the staff mentioned holistically in a positive manner? Look for trends (positive and negative) regarding the staff to help you get a greater understanding of what it is like to work with the property management company. Property management is a service focused business which means you will certainly be relying on those staff members that are mentioned in the reviews.

Should you see a specific property coordinator or manager mentioned in reviews make sure to ask if they will be the one handling your property. Or you might even ask if you can speak with them as part of the interview process. Having confidence in the individual you are assigned as well as the company will help you to have a long relationship where you and your management company benefit.

At Beach Cities Property Management we enjoy reading the reviews from tenants and property owners and encourage prospects to read our reviews prior to working with us as you will certainly get a better understanding of how we enjoy helping. When you would like to find out more on how we can earn our way to a future 5-star review from you we invite you to request our Free Rental Analysis to see how we can help.

Share this post

By Dustin Edwards January 17, 2025
A new year is a new chance to start new ideas to bring in prospects to your property. Consider the following 5 ideas to engage prospects and get new tenants.
By Dustin Edwards January 10, 2025
Having clear communication with your tenant is essential for maintaining a healthy landlord-tenant relationship. By being transparent in all relevant interactions, landlords can prevent misunderstandings while resolving repairs and disputes efficiently while improving tenant satisfaction. Having good communication with your tenant is beneficial for landlords too. Effective communication also protects your investment property. Remember that while your tenant is living in the property, landlords need to take care of the repairs. Below are the three best things to do during tenant communications. Prompt Responses Addressing tenant concerns quickly is essential for building trust and maintaining a positive relationship. Tenants feel valued when landlords respond quickly, knowing that their needs are being prioritized. Building this trust not only enhances your tenant’s satisfaction it lowers the possibility of conflicts or misunderstandings to arise. This ultimately creates a healthy and successful rental experience for you and your tenant. Some of the most common inquiries will oftentimes include repair requests, among others. As an example; if your tenant reports a leak under their faucet and the repair is delayed, this can be damaging to your landlord-tenant relationship, as well as your property. If left ignored, that leak can result in hundreds of dollars in water damage and a vacancy . Which can further affect our bottom line negatively. For landlords with multiple properties, this can become difficult to keep track of. A property manager can help with scheduling repairs and communicating with your tenant on your behalf. Document Everything Keeping a detailed record of all interactions with your tenant is an important element when managing a property. There are many choices for documentation including email, text, or written notices. Although many property management companies and landlords have opted to use apps or dedicated tenant portals to log communications. A great example, for instance, a tenant may claim they’d reported a repair issue that was never addressed, if everything is to be documented, both you and the tenant would have a copy of the request. Maintaining transparency with tenants. Having thorough documentation ensures agreements and requests between all parties are clearly tracked. Documenting communications with your tenant provides landlords with a foundation for addressing misunderstandings, or disputes if and when they arise. Provide Regular Updates Regular updates show tenants that their landlord is organized and has an attentive approach to managing their property. Giving tenants ample time for maintenance, inspections or policy changes is a simple way to build trust with your tenants while showing your professionalism. Giving tenants advanced notices reassures them that you’re aware of how changes can affect them and you understand that time might be needed in order to adjust. Surprises are best kept for birthday parties. Proactively notifying tenants of changes helps clear the communication channels and minimizes disruptions which helps tenants feel valued and satisfied. These small yet consistent efforts can contribute to a positive tenant stay, which can encourage lease renewals and long-term tenancy. Additionally, having a good relationship with your tenants can give you a great reputation which can provide you with leads when looking to fill a vacancy . It cannot be understated the importance of communication for a healthy landlord-tenant relationship. Even if your tenant may not agree with some of the decisions a landlord needs to make, by giving your tenants ample time to process the change tenants generally are more accepting of said change. If you’re having trouble communicating with your tenants or if you need help managing Beach City rental property, we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247 or complete our Owner Application online .
By Dustin Edwards January 2, 2025
Keeping tenants safe, translates to happy and long-term tenants. Read to discover 5 Inexpensive ways to keep your tenants safe.
Show More
Share by: