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Management Companies
Once you have bought your property in Florida, the decision on which management company to use, can be, at the very least, key to your peace of mind in looking after your property thousands of miles away. After all, there have been numerous reported stories of rogue companies who rent out your property and keep the payment, don’t pay your bills and taxes, don’t cut your grass or service your pool etc.
- What Type of rental are you looking for? - long term rentals (ltr) are usually for a 12 month period. You may not need to furnish the property for this form of rental but this means you cannot use the property yourself between lets, unless you like a minimalist furnishing style!. The management company you select only needs to find you a tenant and you could use a local sercice company to carry out ongoing maintenance. For short term rentals (str) you will need a much more hands on management company with a 24/7 service, to deal with the wide range of queries and problems from holiday makers,and herein lies the problems.
- How much time and involvement are you prepared to provide? – to maximise your income potential you will obtain the best results using a str – if you use your management company or a guaranteed rental scheme the weekly rentals tend to be significantly lower, than if you market the property yourself – we can advise on how our most successful clients successfully market their properties to maximise rental weeks.There is a huge difference between those owners achieving the best and worst results.
- How experienced is the company? - setting up a rental company is one of the most favoured routes to obtaining a visa to immigrate to America. Some new companies are well motivated and provide excellent service to build their reputation, others at the very least dont have a clue how to operate a business and its only a matter of time before they run into financial problems, often with your funds!We have seen it so many times before.
- We have access to the performance of companies - with independent reports such as the yearly one carried by FHAT who do a comprehensive survey of villa owners in Florida.This is made available to clients who use our briefing service and/or use the Realtors we recommend with a proven reputation.
- Checkout charges – in some locations there is a lots competition however lower charges , cut to the bone are not necessarily synonymous with either great effeciency or quality of service – if charges are set too low Companies may skimp on some essentials. For example cutting back on pool service can lead to a pool full of allgie, resembling a scene from the day of the Triffods rather than a holiday in paradise. Full service maintenance come at cost, but for example if you opt to only have your grass cut rather than cut and treated you may find yourself having to replace that expensive St Augustines turf in a year thanks to the combination of chinch bugs – a less welcome Florida resident – and weeds.
- Sometimes a checkout the Company against the records of the local Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce,Sherrifs office , Licensing Authorities and the web,does not give critical information for reasons we explain at our briefings.
- Be aware that if a real estate company directly operates a management company service there may be a number of points worth considering. Some companies work on the principle of free flights and accommodation for clients on inspection trips, whose property will they stay in free of charge when over? Some Companies are interested in selling properties at high commission rates and then selling their overpriced and expensive management services – a double whammy! A lot of our troubleshooting advice is for clients who have faced awful problems by having all their eggs in one basket.
- Ensure you pay all tax and service bills are sent to your UK address - this will give you tighter control on your costs and avoid a scenario where through incompetance or fraud your house is subject to a lien, due to unpaid property tax bills, this happens every year.
- Keep in regular contact with the Management company. Ownership can change quickly without warning.
- Use a specialised property broker to identfy an appropriate location and an experienced honest Real Estate Agent in the first place, do not attempt to buy the property yourself or directly from a developer. A good fully licensed experienced specialised property broker will due to the property buying system in Florida cost you nothing and keep in regular contact with you, long after you have bought your property and update you on the performance of Management companies. If your property broker does not keep in regular contact and is readily available you may have chosen the wrong company!
When you require further in-depth information & to be as fully briefed as possible prior to emigrating or buying/selling property in Florida we offer the following briefings:-
Thinking about buying a property in Florida - click here
Thinking about selling a property in Florida - click here
Thinking about emigrating to Florida - click here
Just want to be sent details of suitable agents with excellent testimonials and a proven track record of working with British buyers – click here
Andrew Bartlett an acknowledged expert on property trends and relocation in Florida, writes articles and answers readers’ questions for several British publications including Florida Magazine, Escape Magazine, Place in the Sun, Sunday Times, America, and The Red guide to buying Property in America and is regularly consulted by journalists and broadcasters. His consumer web guides have received numerous accolades.
Andrew was a Senior Government Official for 20 years before relocating to Florida several years ago where he was headhunted to set up specialist British property and relocation teams for Coldwell Banker and Remax - America’s largest estate agents. He then established a uniquely impartial and independent relocation and property briefing company working between Britain and Florida. He has written a number of watchdog style articles warning Brits planning to buy property in Florida or considering emigration about misleading and dangerous selling practices.
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