In a hard economy you have to watch all your bills to make sure your money is being spent correctly. One set of expenses to keep an eye on is your property manager and their repair prices. Many property managers are seasoned professionals who work hard and charge fair prices, but some of them are sharks. Don’t get burned; take a good look at what they are billing you for.

Making repairs instead of replacements and replacements instead of repairs. This kind of thing is often a judgment call but if you see a lot of expensive items being replaced or the same repairs being made over and over again, you should check up on them.

Seasonal charges are easy to fake. One simple way property managers up their bills is by claiming snow removal or landscaping duties they didn’t perform.  Check the weather reports on the day you are being billed for to make sure the billing is legitimate.

Loss of receipts. Any reputable property manager will have a good system for keeping track of receipts and will be happy to hand over copies so you can check their expenses. They should be willing to be perfectly transparent. If not, you may have a problem on your hands.

Most real estate investors have one or two cautionary tales about property managers. Avoid their mistakes and keep an eye on where your money is going.

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