How to switch property managers

How do you actually switch property managers?

Nine steps, in this order. The order is the whole point: almost every expensive switch happens because notice was given before the agreement was read or before the new manager was in place.

1. 1 Read your management agreement first Before you talk to anyone, find the termination clause. It tells you the notice period, the form the notice has to take, whether it has to be in writing, whether there is an early termination fee, and whether the agreement auto-renews on a date. Everything else in this list depends on what that clause says.
2. 2 Check where you are in the term Many agreements charge more to leave inside the first year than after a renewal. If you are close to a renewal date, waiting a few weeks can be the cheapest decision in the whole process.
3. 3 Look at your lease dates before you pick a date The worst time to transfer is in the middle of a turn or days before a lease expires. The cleanest is mid-lease with a stable resident, or immediately after a new lease is signed. Line the transfer up with the lease, not with your patience.
4. 4 Line up the new manager before you give notice Have the new agreement signed and a start date agreed. A gap between managers is when rent goes uncollected, maintenance requests go unanswered and residents lose track of who to call.
5. 5 Give notice in writing, exactly as the clause requires Email plus certified mail if the agreement calls for written notice. Keep it short and factual, state the effective date, and do not argue in it. You want the date documented, not a debate.
6. 6 Get your documents Signed leases and all addenda, the resident ledger and payment history, the security deposit accounting, applications and screening files, move-in condition reports and photos, keys and access codes, warranties, open work orders, vendor contacts, and year-to-date financials for your tax return.
7. 7 Transfer the money correctly Security deposits and any prepaid rent belong to the resident and move to the new manager or back to you, under Ohio landlord-tenant law. Make sure the outgoing manager sends a written deposit accounting, not a lump sum with no ledger.
8. 8 Tell the residents once, clearly A resident needs to know three things: who manages the property now, where rent goes on the 1st, and how to report a repair. Send it before the first of the month, not after, and confirm any autopay is cancelled at the old manager and set up at the new one.
9. 9 Watch the first rent cycle The most common failure is a resident paying the old manager out of habit. Check that rent landed where it should on the first cycle, and that the old manager forwarded anything that arrived at their office.

What should you get from your old manager?

Request it in writing at the same time you give notice, not afterward. Files get harder to obtain once an account is closed.

• ✓Signed lease and every addendum for each unit
• ✓Resident ledger and full payment history
• ✓Security deposit amounts and a written deposit accounting
• ✓Applications and screening files
• ✓Move-in condition reports and photographs
• ✓Keys, garage remotes, mailbox keys and access codes
• ✓Open work orders and any warranty documents
• ✓Vendor and utility account information
• ✓Year-to-date income and expense statements for your accountant

The security deposit is the one to watch. It is the resident's money, held under Ohio landlord-tenant law, and it needs to arrive with a written accounting showing what is held for which unit. A lump sum with no ledger is a problem you will inherit at move-out.

What does the transfer look like if you move to us?

We build the schedule before you give notice. That means reading your current agreement with you, mapping every lease end date, and picking a start date that does not land in the middle of a turn. Then we collect the leases, ledgers and deposits, introduce ourselves to each resident in writing, move rent payment onto our system before the the 1st, and inspect each unit so condition is documented from day one rather than argued about at move-out.

For an owner moving several properties, or consolidating off more than one manager, the same work is a sequencing exercise: units move in groups timed to lease dates, so no group is ever between managers on the first of a month. Across the portfolio we manage, 96% of rent is collected by the 5th, and protecting that during a transfer is the entire job.