You have a vacation home, a second home or maybe you have just inherited another home and instead of selling in you decide that you want to rent it out, so you go and hire a property manager. Now is the time you find a few surprises just waiting for you.

Many property managers today are not professionals. They may have management experience, but not with your type of property; or they may take the job less than seriously; or they may farm out the task of caring for your property to another person, especially if they manage many different properties. How can you be certain that your property manager is the right one for you?

You can start by watching out for these 7 mistakes that are common among property managers.

1. NO COMMUNICATION: You should ask for references from each person that you are considering as a property manager and then check with the references on their communication skills. A property manager who doesn’t contact you at the end beginning of any rental period or at least a few times throughout the year, will probably end up costing you more time and money than if you managed the property on your own.

2. COMES UP SHORT IN ACCOUNTABILITY: Does the property manager you choose have a bond? What is their reputation in the professional field for maintaining a property? Does he or she have a real estate license? The manager that you choose will not manage your property well if they do not have some incentive to take care of your property.

3. MAKING PROMISES THEY CAN’T KEEP: Does one of your prospects seem so eager to get the job that they make twice as many promises than the others? This is not a good sign.

4. ARE YOU A NUMBER OR A PERSON?: When you choose a property management company you don’t get personal attention. You don’t know who you will be assigned to your account because everyone is working on it together. You become a number and may get lost in the shuffle. You will find it beneficial to select a property management company that is small or a single property manager to make sure your property is given the right care and attention that it needs.

5. NO EXPERTISE OR EXPERIENCE: To avoid problems you want a property manager that specialises in the type of property you have. You don’t want a person who’s used to dealing with office complexes trying to rent out your mountain get-away. They also need to have a good track record for managing their own properties as well as others.

6. NO RESPECT FOR YOUR CLIENT, TENANTS OR YOU: This actually goes along with being treated like a number, with some slight differences. How do the prospective property managers make you feel? Do you feel positive about them? Do they give you the respect that you deserve? If not then they may not be a good choice, because they will treat your clients and tenants the same way. You can test this be seeing how attentive they are to you. Do they allow you to ask questions and then answer each with equal importance or do they tell you what they want you to hear and not give you a chance to ask anything?

7. COMPLACENCY WITH TENANTS AND YOUR PROPERTY’S MAINTENANCE: You really want a property manager that will be not just active, but proactive, when renting your property and caring for it. Ask about their vacancy percentage and their turnover rate. Both numbers should be very low.

When interviewing property managers, you should make sure to screen them on each of these issues. You need a manager that is proactive, professional and experienced and one who will treat you as a partner by keeping in touch with you and treating your property as if it were their own. If you do this, then you will find an excellent property manager that will not only save you stress and time but increase your rental income and turn your property into an asset instead of a liability that it could become with the wrong manager.