10 Questions to Ask a Property Manager Before You Sign

By Matthew Whitaker, founder of Evernest.

Quick disclaimer: this is general guidance, not legal or financial advice. Contract terms, fee structures, and fair housing requirements vary by company and by state, so confirm the specifics with a qualified professional before you sign anything.

You're not hiring a vendor. You're hiring someone to run your business, so screen them as hard as you'd screen a tenant, or a babysitter for your kids. I'm Matthew Whitaker, founder of Evernest. We manage 15,000 homes across 50 markets, and I wrote the book How to Rent Your Home. Here are the 10 questions I'd ask before signing with any property manager, and the answers that should make you walk away. The last one is my favorite, and it's going to surprise you.

The short version

The short version: Before you hire a property manager, ask about every fee in writing, whether they charge on rent collected or rent due, how repair markups work, who actually manages your home day to day, and their average days on market. Then ask about their screening criteria, their late-rent process, their emergency plan, and how you'd leave the contract. Finish with "why would I not like you as a property manager?" and listen for a specific, honest answer. Vague answers now stay vague forever.

Money questions: fees, collected vs. due, and repair markups

Start with money, because this is where two similar-sounding quotes turn into very different bills.

What is your full list of fees, in writing? The monthly fee is usually 8% to 10% of the rent they collect, but that's just the headline number. Behind it sits a leasing fee when they place a tenant, a renewal fee when the tenant re-signs, maintenance charges, and sometimes a setup fee. A good answer is boring: they slide a one-page fee schedule across the table before you finish asking. The walk-away answer is "it depends." Without everything in writing, you can't compare two companies fairly.
Do you charge on rent collected or rent due? Say your tenant stops paying in August. A manager paid on rent due still collects their fee that month; they get paid even when you don't. A manager paid on collected rent feels August exactly like you do, since their fee only shows up when your rent does. That one word in the contract tells you whose side they're on, and it shapes how hard they screen, how fast they chase late rent, and how quickly they fill an empty house.
How does maintenance billing work, and do you mark up repair bills? Your manager sends a plumber, the plumber sends a bill, and some companies add a percentage before it reaches your statement. A 10% markup on a $500 repair shows up as $550. A markup isn't automatically a bad thing since coordinating repairs is real work; Evernest charges one. What matters is whether the answer comes fast and transparently, as a specific number, in writing. If they get squirmy on this question, that tells you something.

Who's actually running your home

Ask who actually manages your home day to day, and how many homes they handle.

The person who sold you on signing is almost never the person managing you day to day, so you want to know about the actual human who will answer your calls. When they tell you the number of homes, listen for what's behind it. A big number isn't automatically a red flag if there's a team behind it. At Evernest, our property managers run hundreds of homes each, some as many as 400, but they have maintenance coordinators handling repair calls and leasing agents handling showings. The manager does the managing. One person handling 400 homes with no team at all is the same number and a completely different answer; you'll just be voicemail number 40 that day. Bonus move: ask to meet your actual manager before you sign. A confident company says yes.

The single best report card: days on market

Ask for their average days on market, meaning how long a home typically sits empty before it rents. It's the single best report card a management company has.

Here's why it matters so much: if your rent is $2,000 a month, every extra month your house sits empty costs you $2,000, gone for good. A manager controls that number through speed: photos ready and the listing live the day the house is ready, and showings answered quickly. A good answer is a real number, said without looking anything up, plus an explanation of how they keep it low. One tip: if a manager tells you 30 days, they almost always don't actually know the real answer. If a manager doesn't track the number, it doesn't matter to them.

Screening rules and what happens when rent stops

Two questions here protect you in very different ways.

Show me your written screening criteria. Written is the key word. Written rules mean a standard: minimum credit, income at some multiple of rent, rental history, and a background check, applied the same way, in the same order, to every applicant. That protects you twice: it keeps you on the right side of fair housing law, and it gets you a better tenant, because the rules do the choosing instead of somebody's mood that day. Good screening catches the vast majority of problem tenants before they ever get the keys. The walk-away answer is "we've been doing this a long time, we can just tell," which I see mostly from real estate agents who've added property management as a side business. Ask to see the actual document.
What happens when a tenant stops paying? You want an answer with dates in it: day 3 the late fee posts, day 5 the written notice goes out, day 10 it escalates. One of the most common landlord mistakes is waiving a late fee "just this one time," because one time becomes every time. A real company runs the same steps in the same order every month; the process is the kindness, because everybody knows the rules. What you don't want to hear is "we work with them." That's not a plan. That's a hope.

The 2 a.m. test and how you'd leave

A pipe bursts at 2 a.m. What happens? Who picks up the phone, what counts as an emergency, what waits for morning, who dispatches the plumber, and at what dollar amount do they wake you up versus just handling it themselves? A good answer sounds like a system: a live person or an emergency line, a written definition of emergency, and a spending limit they can act on without you. One of the most common do-it-yourself mistakes is having no emergency plan at all, so every problem either gets ignored or turns into a panic. If a company can't walk you through the 2 a.m. story step by step, nobody ever actually wrote it down.

Then ask the awkward one: how do I leave? What's the notice period, is there a termination fee, and if they placed the tenant, do they still get a claim on fees after you're gone? I recently signed an owner who had to wait 6 months to come aboard because her previous manager's contract wouldn't let her leave. You're not asking because you plan to leave. You're testing their confidence. The best answer is simple: you give notice, and you leave, no huge penalty. A company that answers that way is betting they'll keep you with good service. If leaving is expensive and complicated, they're planning to keep you with a contract instead.

The question that matters most

Ask this one exactly as written, then stop talking and let it sit: why would I not like you as a property manager?

Every management company knows its own complaints; they hear them every week. Good companies own them out loud. Bad ones pretend they don't exist. My honest answer for Evernest: we run on processes. Same screening rules for every applicant, same repair system, same renewal playbook every time. If you want to handpick your tenant or approve every $80 repair yourself, you're going to hate us, and we'll tell you no: no to a rent number the comps don't support, no to skipping the annual inspection, no to bending the screening rules for anybody. That answer costs something to say, and that's exactly the point.

Listen for a pattern that's specific and a little uncomfortable, something like "we're not the cheapest" or "our process doesn't bend." The walk-away answer is "honestly, most people love us." A company that can't name its own trade-offs either doesn't know them or won't tell you, and both are bad. There's a bonus here too: if their honest answer describes exactly the kind of owner you are, that's not a red flag, it's a gift. You just found the wrong fit in 10 minutes instead of 10 months.

How to judge the answers

The pushback I hear all the time is, "I'm not an expert, how am I supposed to judge the answers?" Here's the secret: you don't judge the answers, you judge the pattern. In writing beats vague. Real numbers beat nice words. Fast answers beat "we'll get back to you."

Take the same list of questions, in the same order, to every company you talk to. That's how you compare them fairly. And don't worry about offending anybody: great managers love this interview, and if your questions annoy a company, that's your first answer right there. Remember, the sales call is their best day. You're seeing them at their very best. Vague now is vague forever.

Quick recap: all 10 questions

Every fee, in writing.
Collected, not due.
Repair billing explained fast.
Who runs your home, and who's behind them.
Days on market, known cold.
Written screening rules.
Dates, not hopes, for when rent stops.
The 2 a.m. plan.
How you'd leave.
Why would I not like you as a property manager?

A manager who nails all 10 is rare, and they're worth more than the cheapest bid.

Frequently asked questions

What's the most important question to ask a property manager before hiring them?There isn't just one, but asking for every fee in writing and clarifying whether they charge on rent collected or rent due are the two that most affect your bottom line. The final question, "why would I not like you as a property manager," is also powerful, since it reveals whether the company knows and owns its own trade-offs.

Should a property manager charge fees on rent collected or rent due?Rent collected is the better structure for owners. A manager paid on rent due still gets their fee even when your tenant doesn't pay, while a manager paid on collected rent only gets paid when you do. That single word in the contract shapes how hard they screen tenants and how quickly they chase late rent or fill vacancies.

Is it normal for a property manager to mark up repair bills?Yes, and it isn't automatically a bad thing, since coordinating repairs is real work. A common structure is around a 10% markup, meaning a $500 repair bill shows up as $550 on your statement. What matters most is that the company answers this question fast, transparently, and with a specific written number.

What is a good average days on market for a rental property?There's no single universal number, but a well-run company should know its actual average and be able to state it without looking anything up. If a manager says an even 30 days, they usually don't know their real number. Every extra month a home sits vacant costs a full month of rent that's gone for good.

Why does a property manager need written screening criteria?Written screening criteria set a standard, minimum credit, income relative to rent, rental history, and background checks, applied the same way to every applicant. This protects owners on two fronts: it keeps screening on the right side of fair housing law, and it produces better tenants, since the rules make the decision instead of someone's mood that day.

What should a property management contract say about ending the agreement?Ask about the notice period, whether there's a termination fee, and whether the company keeps a claim on leasing fees after you leave. A confident company lets you give notice and leave without a heavy penalty, because they expect good service to keep you, not a restrictive contract.

How many homes should one property manager handle?A high number of homes per manager isn't automatically a problem if there's a team behind that person, such as maintenance coordinators and leasing agents handling repair calls and showings. The concern is one person handling hundreds of homes with no support team at all, since you become just another voicemail in a long queue.