Q: I've used a management company on the guaranteed system for 12 months. The contract ended last month and I've started self renting. The company is still doing the cleaning, pool maintenance, etc. However, my first renter is for 5 months and has had a few problems with the air conditioning and pool filter. The attitude of the company has completely changed and they aren't sorting anything out. Our villa is in Florida and we live in the (UK). Is there a management company you could suggest that deals with rentals by owners (as we don't know any one and can't get over there until March)?

A: Congratulations on your move from using a property manager to renting by owner.

First off allow me to ease your mind a bit. My properties are 1000 miles away from my home and I can't visit them often either. And yes I do occasionally have maintenance problems that need addressing as well. There are some simple solutions for the problems you are experiencing.

Here's what I would recommend. Go directly to a service provider that can assist you. Establish a relationship with them so that if you have any problems in the future you'll have a company that you can easily call upon.

For your air conditioning, contact a heating and air specialist and for your pool filter contact a pool/spa maintenance company. Look up providers in your area on Yahoo Yellow Pages.

Since you have long term tenants, ask them if they would mind allowing the air conditioning service producer access and entry to the home (they usually are happy to oblige). What I usually do is call my guests and ask them if they would like me to set up the appointment or if they would like to. Usually they prefer to set the appointment themselves so they can schedule it around their activities.

For short term rentals, you can generally set time to do maintenance when your property is not booked. If you have an immediate emergency, you can always ask your housekeepers or renters to give access. Be sure to compensate whomever you use.

For payment/billing, just ask the service providers to either bill you or give them your credit card number. Make sure that you give them instructions that you would like to know what needs to be repaired so that you can authorize the work. This will alleviate surprise large bill/charges.

When you are at your property next March, be sure to pick up a local phone book (yellow pages/business listings) and bring it home with you. This way you'll have it on hand when you need to look a service provider next time.

I am not really surprised that your previous property manager is not eager to assist you any more. But maybe it's a good thing. Although it's a bit of a hassle right now, you'll be building a reference list of maintenance people that you can use for years to come. And likely you'll also save some money; the property managers often charge much more to do this sort of work than if you were to call the service provider directly.

© Christine Karpinski 2007

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