10 questions to ask a Sarasota property manager

Before you hire a Sarasota property manager, ask who holds the license, where your rent and the tenant’s deposit will sit, how tenants are screened, how you’re kept in the loop on repairs, and how you can end the contract. Those five answers tell you most of what you need. The other five below fill in how the company will actually run your home day to day.

Use these on the first call with any company, including ours. A good manager answers each one plainly, and puts the important answers in writing.

1. Are you a licensed real estate broker, or do you work under one?

In Florida, leasing and managing someone else’s rental for pay generally requires a real estate license, and the licensee has to work under a broker. Ask for the name on the license and the brokerage, then look both up on the Florida DBPR license search at myfloridalicense.com. It takes a minute.

Our management agreements are with Wagner Realty, where Richard and Patrice are both licensed.

2. Where are rents and security deposits held?

The answer you want: in the brokerage’s escrow accounts, under Florida law. Florida also sets rules for how a tenant’s security deposit is held and returned, and a manager who does this every day should be able to explain them in a sentence or two.

If the answer is vague, or the money goes to a person instead of a brokerage, keep looking. For the homes we manage, rents and deposits are held in Wagner Realty’s escrow accounts, never by us personally.

3. Do you have written screening criteria?

Ask to see them. Written criteria applied the same way to every applicant protect you twice: you get a consistent standard for credit, eviction history, income, employment and rental references, and you’re on firmer ground under fair housing law.

Also ask how they handle assistance animal requests. Under fair housing law, service animals and emotional support animals aren’t treated as pets, so a no-pets rule generally can’t be used to turn down a valid request. The manager should know how those requests are reviewed.

4. How are you kept in the loop on repairs?

Ask what happens when a tenant calls about a broken AC, a leak or a dead fridge. Who answers after hours? How fast does a vendor go out? When do they call you before work starts, and when do they handle it and tell you after? How are vendors chosen, and do you see the invoice?

You want a clear answer that matches how involved you want to be. Some owners want a call on everything. Others want a monthly statement and a call only when something big comes up.

5. How and how often will you communicate with me?

Ask who your contact is, how they reach you (call, text, email), and how fast they reply. Ask what you’ll hear without asking: rent received, renewal coming up, an inspection done, a storm on the way.

If you live out of state, this one matters most. You can’t drive by to see for yourself.

[NEEDS RICHARD: the question you wish every owner asked on the first call, and how you answer it]

6. Do you manage seasonal rentals, and how?

Seasonal furnished rentals are a different job from annual ones. Ask how they price high season (January to April) against low season (May to December), how they handle cleaning and checks between stays, and how they block out your own weeks.

Ask who collects and files Florida sales tax and the county tourist development tax, which apply to rentals of six months or less. For the seasonal homes we manage, Wagner Realty collects and files both. Also ask their minimum stay. Ours is 30 days, and we don’t manage shorter stays. If the home will sit empty between seasons, ask what checks they do while nobody’s there. We compare that with hiring home watch in home watch or property management.

7. What will my statements look like, and when do I get paid?

Ask for a sample monthly statement. It should show rent collected, every charge, invoices for any work and what was paid out to you. Ask about a year-end summary for your taxes, how payouts are sent and on what day of the month. Ours go by direct deposit through Wagner Realty.

8. How do you market a vacancy?

Every empty month costs you. Ask how they set the rent, where the listing goes (MLS and online), who takes the photos, who handles showings and how they follow up with applicants. Ask what they’d change if the home isn’t getting interest after a couple of weeks.

Also ask if they check your condo or HOA rules before they list. A rent number your association won’t allow doesn’t help you.

9. Do you offer leasing only?

Some owners want help finding a tenant and would rather manage the home themselves after that. Ask if the company offers a leasing-only option and exactly what it covers. Ours covers pricing, marketing, screening against written criteria and getting the lease signed, then we hand it over to you.

10. What’s the contract term, and how do I cancel?

Read the cancellation section before you sign anything. Ask how long the agreement runs, how much notice either side has to give, whether there’s a charge to end it early and what happens to the tenant, the lease and the deposit if you leave. Ask for every fee in writing, too.

We don’t publish our fees, because they depend on the home and the type of rental. We explain them on a short call, and they’re written into the Wagner Realty agreement before you sign.

Print this list before your calls

Questions to ask a Sarasota property manager

Print this page or keep it open while you call. Write each answer next to the question.

• Are you a licensed real estate broker, or do you work under one? What's the brokerage?
• Where are rents and security deposits held?
• Can I see your written screening criteria? How do you handle assistance animal requests?
• How am I kept in the loop on repairs? Who answers tenant calls after hours?
• Who is my contact, how will you reach me, and what will I hear without asking?
• Do you manage seasonal rentals? Who files the sales and tourist tax? What is your minimum stay?
• Can I see a sample monthly statement? How and when am I paid?
• How do you price and market a vacancy, and do you check my association rules first?
• Do you offer leasing only, and what does it include?
• How long is the contract, how do I cancel, and what happens to my tenant if I do?

If you want to know what each answer should cover, our post on what a Sarasota property manager does walks through the whole job and the agreement. Storm handling is worth its own question too, and our hurricane season guide for rental owners covers what to expect before and after a storm.

What’s the next step?

Ask us all ten. Call Richard at 941-800-8891, or start with a free rental analysis and we’ll send a rent range for your home and answer your questions on the call. You can also read the full list of what’s included and our owner FAQ first.