As a Property Manager, what is the biggest mistake you’ve made? And what lesson did you learn?

[Esperanza Kinnaird]

As a Property Manager, what is the biggest mistake you’ve made? And what lesson did you learn?

As a property manager, you have a lot on your plate! From keeping the property in good condition to dealing with tenants, coordinating repairs and maintenance, and enforcing rules and regulations. There’s always something to do. And if you’re responsible for a big portfolio of properties, the task can seem even more daunting.

As much as we all try to be careful in operating our property management practice, if you are new to the industry, there could be many situation that you have not encountered or did not expect at all.

Therefore, I asked over 50 property managers this very question “What is the biggest mistake you’ve made as a property manager and what lesson did you learn?”

By learning from other property managers’ mistakes and experience, hopefully, you won’t have to go through the trial and error yourself. This can save you valuable time and energy as rectifying a wrongful situation can be costly and stressful.

It can also help you understand what to expect from their tenants and owners. Thus, lead you to be more mindful in similar situations and make better decisions.

Finally, when you learn from other property managers, you will realize that you are not the only one who is dealing with some of the problems. You may gain empathy, better understanding for the tenants, owners and yourself, which make it easier to forgive any related party and move on.

Common Mistakes of a Property Manager – Sharing from industry professionals

1) Not sticking to the rules

Common Mistakes of a Property Manager- not sticking to the rules

As much as we all want to be a nice person, if you do not enforce rules, you are really doing a disservice to everyone involved and putting your business at risk.

Not enforcing rules can lead to a lot of problems such as tenant complaints, loss of rental income, property not being taken good care of, or even legal issues.

Once you make an exception for one tenant, the others will want the same treatment. It sets a precedent for future tenants who may try to take advantage of your leniency.

Landlords expect their rules to be followed and may not be happy if they find out that you’re not enforcing them.

2) Did not conduct a thorough tenant screening

Common Mistakes of a Property Manager - not doing tenant screening

Bad tenants can cost you a lot of money and headache. They may not pay rent on time, damage the property, make too much noise or disturb other tenants, have too many people living in the unit, or engage in illegal activities.

As a property manager, it is better to be safe now than sorry later. You must make sure to do a thorough background check on every tenant. This includes verifying employment income, doing a background check, reviewing the criminal record and credit report, and speaking to previous landlords and references.

An experienced property manager shared that there was one time, and only once, he forgot to check on prospective tenants with the previous landlord. It turned into a miserable relationship of late payments, liens, and ultimate eviction. The tenants filed for bankruptcy on what they owed. Also, cost the property about $6K in damages.

3) Not being proactive

Another common mistake many aspiring property managers made was not being proactive enough in dealing with problem tenants. Many learned the hard way that it is always better to be proactive and address problems as soon as they arise rather than wait until they become bigger issues.

Be proactive about maintenance and repairs – it’s better to fix something before it becomes a bigger problem.

For example, if a tenant told you that the water flow in the kitchen sink is getting a lot slower, it is better to get a plumber to inspect it rather than waiting for it to clog, which could result in further water damage.

Also, keep in mind that although you can handle many things digitally these days, they cannot replace actual site inspection.

4) Made a decision out of emotion

Common Mistakes of a Property Manager - make decision based on emotion

As a property manager, one of the most difficult decisions you will have to make is evicting a tenant.

It’s never an easy decision, and many emotions are often involved. You may feel bad for the tenant because they may be going through a tough time or because you have known them for a long time.

From a recent survey, I did with over 70 property managers. Some tenants would have all sorts of reasons for not making rent payments. The common one includes a job loss and payroll messed up.

A property manager also shared that her tenant told her his father had recently passed away. But the problem is as much as the PM tries to show empathy, this very same tenant already told the same sob story a few years ago.

Of course, I’m definitely not implying all tenants are like that. Many of them are honest people and are just facing valid, temporary financial challenges in their life.

However, as a property manager, you also need to be mindful of the fact that you have the responsibility of running a profitable cash flow investment for the landlords. You cannot let emotions get in the way of making sound business decisions.

5) Did not trust your instinct

A property manager recalled an incident when she was about to rent out one of her units to a couple. They both looked presentable and had good jobs. However, something didn’t feel right to her. According to the applicants’ profile (i.e., where they work), that rental unit was nowhere suitable to them. So she decided not to rent the unit to them in the end.

A few months later, she heard on the news that the same couple was arrested for drug trafficking. She was glad she made the real estate scam decision not to rent to them as she would have been liable for any illegal activities taking place in her units.

From this incident, she learned to trust her instinct more when making business decisions.

Several property managers also encountered situations where their instinct them to decline a tenant, but they didn’t listen. And guess what? They always regretted it later.

Keep in mind that instinct is different from emotion. Instinct is developed through years of actual experience, making you aware of the risks that could jeopardize your business.

6) Always saying “YES” to tenants and landlords

Many property managers made the mistake of saying “yes” to everything their tenants or landlords asked for. They thought that by doing so, they would be able to please everyone and avoid confrontations.

However, this is not always the best course of action as it can often lead to more problems down the road. For example, a property manager shared that a toilet was clogged, but the landlord and tenant both refused to pay for the fix.

Rather than hiring a professional plumber, the property manager took the matter into his own hands by purchasing a manual unclogging snake and a toilet pump.

He didn’t charge any fee for his time and equipment. Although he did manage to get it unclogged, it wasn’t properly done, so the situation reoccurred after a few weeks.

Rather than being thankful for his free work from before, the landlord and tenant both blamed him for the problem and requested him to fix it free of charge again.

It seems that they both realized that the PM is an easy-going person, so after that, whenever there is any maintenance issue, they expect him to handle it for free!

While it is important to be understanding and accommodating, you also need to know when to draw the line and when to say “no.”

Another property manager reminds that you cannot please everyone. Burnout is real. Your physical and mental health is paramount. You should take care of yourself as equally good as others.

That is why he never reply to a need after hours unless it’s a real emergency.

7) Assume that other people would be as mindful as you are

A property manager in Virginia shared that he provided proper advance notice to the tenants of the date and time that he would inspect the property.

When he arrived at the rental unit that day, he walked into the tenant naked in the bedroom. The tenant was a police officer just waking up. He was totally shocked and had a gun pointing at the property manager.

Luckily, no tragic incident had happened. The property manager just laughed it off and joked to the tenant that he wouldn’t be getting back the security deposit if he shot him.

Perhaps, the next time inspecting the property, it’s better to give the tenants another reminder about it.

Another scenario is a property manager didn’t follow up with the contractor after he left the job site and assumed that the job was completed as instructed. So he told the tenants that the issue was fixed.

However, later he got a call from the tenant complaining that the contractor did not complete the job, which caused some damage.

The property manager contacted the contractor, and the contractor explained that the job wasn’t complete and he was planning to continue the job in the next few days.

If the property manager had checked in with the contractor first, he would have saved himself a lot of time and energy and avoided the damage costs.

8) Try to organize manually

Admittedly, property managers have tons to handle on a daily basis. From rent collection, scheduling repairs and maintenance, showing units to prospective tenants, screening tenants, negotiating leases, handling move-ins and move-outs.

With