Why Hiring The Right Las Vegas Property Management Company Matters

I recently sold a home in the Northwest part of Las Vegas for a former real estate investor. He purchased the home years ago with the intentions of living in the home but plans changed. He ended up meeting someone, they got married and they bought a house. So instead of selling his Las Vegas home, he decided to become a landlord. Unfortunately, he did not choose a reputable Las Vegas Property Management Company and decided he doesn’t want to be a landlord anymore after years of issues.

I won’t name the property management company but they managed the property for several years and after hearing about the issues he had with them and seeing the current condition of the property, it was obvious the property was mismanaged during the entire time he had it rented out with this particular property management company. Before I could even list the home on the market for sale, my client had to replace the entire carpet upstairs as it was saturated in pet urine which was beyond obvious by the stench in the house. He also had to remove drywall in the downstairs hall closet as it was stained with pet urine and had a tremendous stench of urine. This should have been handled by the property management company once the tenant vacated the property but they never documented the obvious pet urine stains and smell in the hall closet or the stench in the house which would have been a major indicator there was pet damage. Another indicator that the tenant had pets was the pet feces in the backyard and based on the amount of feces in the backyard, it had to have been there for months. Here’s the kicker, the tenant was not authorized to have a pet and the property management company returned majority of the tenant’s deposit back  to the tenant! My client was now paying for all the damage and clean-up out of his pocket and the property management company refused to compensate him for their mismanagement!

If the property manager would have conducted property inspections at any point during the lease term, it’s highly likely they would have detected the tenant had a pet and prevented the pet damage before it became a big issue. According to my client, the property management company did not conduct any property inspections and the move-out report indicated the tenant left the property in good condition. I was beside myself on how they believed the tenant left the property in good condition based on the overall current condition of the home???

I tried to convince my client that not all property management companies mismanage properties and he should give Shelter Realty an opportunity to manage his property. We have a full time staff of property managers whom work together on the overall management of each and every one of the properties we manage. We conduct property inspections every 6 months which is documented on an iPad app that allows our field agents to take photos and embed them within the report, detailed notes and the tenant can even sign with a stylus or their finger. This inspection report can then be emailed directly to the landlord right from the field without the need to go back to the office to email.

Even though my client was impressed with how Shelter Realty uses technology to manage over 600 properties in the Las Vegas valley, he made the decision he no longer wanted to be a landlord. This is why hiring the right property management company is important. If you own an investment property, it’s imperative you interview multiple property management companies, ask questions and request to speak with a few of their current clients in order to get feedback on how they are managing their investment properties.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.