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How to Choose a Property Manager in Metro Detroit

Hiring a Property Manager Is a Bigger Decision Than It Looks

The company you hire will choose your tenants, hold your rent, approve repairs on your behalf and speak for you with the city. A good one protects the property and your time. A poor one costs you both. Most owners only find out which they hired after something goes wrong.

These are the things worth checking before you sign with anyone, including us.

Get a Free Rental Analysis

What to Look For

A Michigan Broker License

Managing rentals for other people is real estate broker activity under Michigan law. Ask for the license and look it up.

Your Money Kept Separate

Rent and other funds should sit in property management accounts kept apart from the company’s own money.

Written Screening Standards

Every applicant should be measured against the same written criteria, applied the same way each time.

A Real Maintenance Process

Ask who takes the call at night, who does the work and when you are asked to approve a repair.

Statements You Can Read

You should be able to see income, each expense and the invoice behind it, without having to ask.

Local Knowledge

Rental registration and inspection rules change from one city to the next. Your manager should know yours.

Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Take this list into the first conversation. A manager who does the work well will have a clear answer to every one.

  • Are you a licensed Michigan broker?
  • Who holds the license?
  • How long have you managed rentals here?
  • Do you manage homes like mine?
  • How do you screen applicants?
  • How do you set the rent?
  • How do you market a vacancy?
  • Who shows the home?
  • Where is my money held?
  • When and how am I paid?
  • What does my statement show?
  • Do I get a year-end tax form?
  • Who handles emergencies?
  • When do you ask my approval for a repair?
  • How often is the home inspected?
  • How do I end the agreement?

How to Compare Property Managers

Three or four conversations are usually enough. This is an order that works.

Before You Call:

  • Check the license. Look the company and its broker up on the state’s license search.
  • Read the reviews. Look for how the company responds to complaints, not only the rating.
  • Look at their listings. The photos and descriptions show how your home would be marketed.
  • Know your own goals. Decide whether you want income, appreciation or a home to return to.
  • Gather the basics. Have the address, the current rent and any open issues to hand.

When You Talk:

  • Ask the same questions of each. It is the only way to compare the answers fairly.
  • Ask for the agreement. Read the management agreement before you decide, not after.
  • Ask what is not included. Every company has limits. A straight answer here is a good sign.
  • Ask who you will deal with. Find out whether you get one contact or a call center.
  • Ask for a rent estimate. A manager should be able to show you how they arrived at the number.

What Michigan Requires of a Property Manager

Michigan regulates property management through its real estate licensing law. These points come from the statute.

What the Law Says:

  • It is licensed activity. Leasing or renting other people’s real property for compensation, under a property management employment contract, falls within the definition of a real estate broker.
  • A written contract governs the work. The broker’s property management duties must be carried out in accordance with the property management employment contract.
  • Client money is kept separate. A broker must maintain property management accounts separate from all other accounts.
  • Records must be kept. The broker must keep records of the funds deposited to and withdrawn from those accounts.
  • You are owed an accounting. The broker must account to the client and remit money in accordance with the contract.

Red Flags:

  • No license, or a vague answer about it. An unlicensed manager leaves you with little recourse if money goes missing.
  • Your funds mixed with theirs. If the company cannot tell you where your money sits, walk away.
  • No written screening criteria. Decisions made case by case invite fair housing complaints.
  • Pressure to sign quickly. A company confident in its work will let you read the agreement first.
  • Promises about results. No one can guarantee a rent amount or how fast a home will lease.

Getting Started with Zamzam

Free Rental Analysis

Tell us about the property. We look at comparable rents and what the home needs.

Prepare and Lease

We get the home ready, market it, screen applicants and sign the lease.

Manage Month to Month

We collect rent, handle maintenance and inspections, and post clear statements to your owner portal.

How We Measure Up

Zamzam Property Management is a licensed Michigan real estate brokerage that manages single-family homes and multi-family units across Southeast Michigan. We screen every applicant against written standards, hold client funds in trust accounts and post monthly statements to your owner portal.

See how we handle tenant screening, maintenance and accounting, or read our owner FAQ. Already with another company? See how switching property managers works.

How to Choose a Property Manager in Metro Detroit FAQ

Yes, in most cases. Michigan’s licensing law defines property management as leasing or renting other people’s real property for compensation under a property management employment contract, and treats it as real estate broker activity.

Use the State of Michigan’s online license search and look up both the company and the individual broker.

The services included, how and when you are paid, how repairs are approved, what each side is responsible for and how either side can end the agreement.

Under Michigan law a broker must keep property management accounts separate from all other accounts and keep records of deposits and withdrawals.

Three or four is usually enough to see the differences. Ask each one the same questions so the answers can be compared.

Be careful with any promise about rent or how quickly a home will lease. Both depend on the home, its condition and the market at the time.

Compare what each company does for its fee, not only the fee. A vacancy that runs a month longer or a poorly screened tenant costs far more than the difference.

Many of our owners have one home. The work of screening, maintenance, rent collection and city compliance is the same whether you own one rental or twenty.

See What Your Home Could Rent For

Request a free rental analysis. It is a good first test of any property manager, including us. Prefer to talk? Call 248-592-7688.

Tell Us About Your Rental:

  • Property address and number of bedrooms
  • Whether the home is vacant or occupied
  • Current rent, if it is rented
  • Any problem you are dealing with right now
  • What you want from the property
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