Looking for Property Managers Near Me? 10 Things Sarasota and Manatee Owners Should Know

by John Michailidis, MSIRE, JD, Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee

The short answer: The right local property manager is licensed in Florida, has a real office you can drive to, screens tenants against written standards, publishes a fee schedule you can read before you sign, and tells you in advance what happens when something goes wrong. The wrong one is vague about all five. Ten questions separate them, and you can ask every one of them in a single phone call.

This applies whether your rental is in Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Lakewood Ranch, North Port, Palmetto, Parrish, Ellenton, Osprey, Nokomis, Siesta Key, Port Charlotte, or Englewood — the three-county Gulf Coast market we have worked in since April 2012.

Why This One Decision Carries So Much Weight

Hiring a property manager is not like hiring a lawn service. You are handing someone the keys to an asset worth several hundred thousand dollars, the authority to sign a binding lease on your behalf, and control of the money that flows through it. A good manager quietly protects all three for years. A poor one costs you a bad tenant, a missed notice deadline, and a repair bill you never approved — and you usually find out months later.

Florida adds its own wrinkles. Landlord-tenant rules here are specific about notices, deposits, and timelines, and the penalty for getting a step wrong is usually paid by the owner, not the manager. Hurricane season runs a third of the year. Snowbird demand pulls the market in one direction while year-round demand pulls in another. Someone managing your home from another state, or managing it as a sideline to selling houses, is not positioned to handle any of that well.

Our broker of record is John Michailidis, MSIRE, JD. He holds a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and a master’s degree in international real estate from Florida International University, has been licensed in real estate since 1989, and is a past president of the Sarasota/Manatee chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers. Our company license is CQ1040998; his broker license is BK3460033. Both are public record, and you should look up any manager you are considering the same way.

10 Things to Ask Before You Hire

Ask these in order. The first four tell you whether a company is competent. The last six tell you whether their interests are actually aligned with yours.

1. Are they licensed in Florida, and is the license local?

Managing rentals for someone else in Florida — collecting rent, negotiating leases, showing units — requires a real estate license. Ask for the company license number and the broker of record’s name and license number, then verify both with the state. Also ask where the office is. A local address means someone can be at your property this afternoon; a national call center cannot.

2. Who answers the phone, and how fast do they respond?

This is the complaint behind most manager firings. Ask what their response standard is, in writing, and what happens after hours. Ours is a reply within one business day, every time, with a maintenance line staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — because a burst supply line at 2 a.m. does not wait for Monday.

3. How do they screen tenants?

A vacancy is expensive. A bad tenant is far more expensive, and much harder to undo. Ask for their written screening standards and whether they apply them consistently to every applicant. Credit, income and employment verification, criminal background, prior rental history, and eviction history should all be part of it. Consistent written standards are also how a manager stays on the right side of fair housing law.

4. What is their plan for hurricane season?

Ask what happens before a named storm and what happens after. There should be a specific protocol: tenant communication, securing what can be secured, and a post-storm inspection with photographs so you know the condition of your property without flying in. A manager who has not thought this through in Southwest Florida has not been paying attention.

5. What happens when a tenant stops paying?

Every manager will say they handle it. Press for specifics: who files, who appears, and who pays the cost. An eviction commonly runs 750 to 1,000 dollars once you add filing and legal fees. On our Premier Plus plan, eviction protection is included at no extra charge. On our other plans it is available as an optional add-on. Whatever company you choose, get the answer before you need it.

6. Can you see the entire fee schedule before you sign?

“Transparent pricing” means nothing unless the numbers are published. Here are ours, in full:

• Leasing Only — 100% of the first month’s rent, no ongoing monthly fee. We find and place the tenant; you manage from there.
• Leasing + D.I.Y. Landlord Support — 80% of the first month’s rent, then $99.50 per month for back-office support while you self-manage.
• Blue Ribbon — 80% of the first month’s rent, then 9.9% of rent collected, and $70 per month while the property sits vacant.
• Premier Plus — 70% of the first month’s rent, then 11.9% of rent collected, and nothing at all during a vacancy.

Premier Plus is what roughly 70% of our owners choose. Note that it carries the lowest leasing fee and the highest monthly fee — because the incentive we want is to place a good tenant who stays, not to churn placements. Full inclusions for each plan are on our pricing page, and if you are weighing placement against full management, lease-only versus full service walks through the trade-off.

7. What happens if the tenant they placed leaves early?

Ask who absorbs the cost of re-leasing when a placement does not last. Our Re-Rent Guarantee covers 90 days on Blue Ribbon and the full 12 months of the lease term on Premier Plus — if the tenant we placed leaves inside that window, we re-lease the property without charging you another leasing fee. A company unwilling to stand behind its own placement is telling you something.

8. Who holds your money, and when do you get paid?

Rent goes into a designated account, not an operating account — that is a licensing requirement, and you can ask how it is handled. Then ask the practical questions: what day of the month do owner disbursements go out, what does the monthly statement show, and what is the repair threshold above which they must call you first? Ours is a $500 maintenance reserve, with your approval required for anything above it. You should never learn about a four-figure repair from a statement.

9. Can you see your own property data whenever you want?

You should not have to ask a person for information a system already has. We run AppFolio, which gives every owner a portal with financial statements, maintenance history, and leasing activity, and zInspector for documented inspections with photographs. Semi-annual interior and exterior inspections are part of both full-service plans, with a $150 inspection fee. Ask any manager to show you a sample owner statement and a sample inspection report before you sign — if they hesitate, that is your answer.

10. What are they actually on the hook for if they get it wrong?

Accountability is the difference between a promise and a policy. As a Neighborly company we stand behind the Neighborly Done Right Promise: if it is not done right, we make it right. We are members of the National Association of Residential Property Managers, the National Association of REALTORS, Florida REALTORS, and the REALTOR Association of Sarasota and Manatee, we hold an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and we are among the most reviewed property management companies in the Sarasota area. Ask any manager what recourse you have when a mistake costs you money, and listen for whether the answer is a document or a shrug.

What We Do, and What We Do Not

Being direct about the boundary saves everyone a phone call. We manage residential property on annual leases: single-family homes, individual condo units, townhomes, and small multi-unit buildings of roughly two to eight units. We do not manage commercial property, and we do not do seasonal, vacation, or short-term rentals of any kind.

Our service area is three counties. In Sarasota County: Sarasota, Siesta Key, Osprey, Nokomis, Venice, and North Port. In Manatee County: Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, Parrish, and Ellenton. In Charlotte County: Port Charlotte and Englewood.

If you own ten or more rental properties, our Wealth Optimizer asset-management service adds portfolio-level analysis for $150 per month. It requires a portfolio of that size to be worth the money, and we will say so if you are not there yet.

Keep Reading

• The Ultimate Guide to Property Management in Sarasota FL — the long-form overview if you are starting from scratch
• How to Choose a Property Manager Without Getting Burned — the warning signs, in more detail
• Seven Reasons Full-Service Management Boosts Your ROI — the economics of paying for management
• About our owner — full credentials and third-party references

Frequently Asked Questions

Ask Us the Same Ten Questions

We would rather be interviewed than pitched. Call and put every question above to us, and if another company is a better fit for your property, we will tell you that. Start with a free rental evaluation: what your property should rent for in today’s market, what it needs to be rent-ready, and which plan actually fits your situation. No cost, no obligation.

We also offer a bonus for current and retired military, first responders, healthcare workers, and educators — tell us when you call.

Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee
8586 Potter Park Drive, Suite 121, Sarasota, FL 34238
941-225-8183