You know the property, but how well do you know the landlord?

8 questions every property manager should be asking.

You probably know the weekly rent.

The lease expiry date.

When the last inspection happened.

Maybe even the maintenance history off the top of your head.

But how much do you know about the person who owns it?

• Do you know what they want from their investment?
• Whether they own other properties?
• If they’re thinking about buying again?
• Or what they actually want from you as a property manager?

It’s easy for landlord conversations to become very property focused.

There’s a repair to approve, a lease coming up or an inspection report to discuss.

You deal with what’s in front of you and move on to the next thing.

Fair enough, property managers are busy.

But every now and then, asking a different question can uncover something useful.

You might find out a landlord is worried about their returns, confused about part of the management process, or quietly thinking about buying property number two.

Here’s eight questions worth asking.

1. What do you want this property to do for you?

It sounds simple, but the answer tells you a lot.

One landlord might be focused on keeping a steady rental income.

Another might be holding the property for the next 20 years.

Someone else could be hoping this property helps them buy their next investment.

Once you know the goal, you have much better context for future conversations.

A rent review becomes more than a new weekly figure.

Maintenance can be discussed in terms of protecting the property long term.

You can also start sharing information that matters to that particular owner.

You don’t need to ask this every three months, either.

Goals change.

A good time to revisit it could be during an annual review or when something significant changes with the property.

2. Is there anything about the property management process you’d like us to explain?

There are things property managers deal with every day that a landlord might deal with once every few years.

Routine inspections, arrears, emergency repairs, compliance, lease renewals, bond processes.

What feels obvious to you might be completely new to them.

Asking this question gives landlords permission to say, “Actually, I don’t really understand why we do that?”

There’s a much easier conversation to have early than after an owner becomes frustrated because something didn’t happen the way they expected.

It can also save you from explaining the same thing five times over.

Always a win.

3. How do you like to keep updated?

Some landlords want details. Lots of details.

Others would happily never receive a phone call unless the house was on fire.

Hopefully, that particular call never comes.

Find out what works for them.

Do the prefer email or phone?

Do they want regular updates?

Would they rather check information themselves when they need it?

You still need to follow the right processes and keep owners informed, of course.

But understanding how someone likes to communicate can make the relationship much easier for both sides.

4. Are you happy with how the property is performing?

There’s plenty of information sitting inside a property management system.

Rent, vacancy, maintenance costs and other property data can all help paint a picture.

The interesting part is what you do with it.

Ask the landlord how they feel their investment is performing.

Their answer might open a conversation about rent, upcoming maintenance, improvements to the property or something else they’ve been thinking about but haven’t raised.

This is also where your knowledge as a property manager becomes really useful.

You see rental properties every day.

You know what tenants are asking for.

You see what rents quickly and what can sit vacant.

Sharing that experience can help an owner make a more informed decision.

5. Are you thinking about buying another property?

Just ask.

Seriously.

It can be easy to assume that if a landlord wanted to buy again, they’d tell you.

Maybe they would. Maybe they’re already spending their evenings scrolling through property listings and haven’t mentioned it to anyone at your agency.

You won’t know unless the conversation comes up.

There doesn’t need to be a sales pitch attached.

A simple question about their future plans could tell you whether they’re growing their portfolio is something they’re considering now, five years from now, or never.

All three answers are useful.

6. What’s stopping you from buying again?

If they are interested in another investment, this is where the conversation gets more interesting.

Maybe they’re worried about interest rates.

Maybe they don’t know where they’d buy.

Maybe the deposit is the issue.

Or perhaps their experience with their current investment has been harder than expected and they’re not sure they want to do it all again.

You don’t need to have every answer.

There are also clear lines around financial advice, and a property manager shouldn’t suddenly start pretending to be a financial advisor, mortgage broker and buyer’s agent rolled into one.

What you can do is understand what’s holding the landlord back, share relevant property information and point them towards the right people when they need specialist advice.

Sometimes being useful simply means knowing who can help.

7. Do you own any other investment properties?

Here’s an interesting one.

You could know almost everything about the property you manage and have no idea that the owner has another two properties down the road.

Ask about their wider portfolio.

Where are the properties?

Who manages them?

How are they performing?

Is the owner happy with how they’re being looked after?

This isn’t an invitation to immediately launch into a pitch for the other managements.

Nobody enjoys feeling like they’ve accidentally walked into a sales meeting.

Get curious first.

Understanding the full picture can help you give more useful advice.

And yes, if they’re happy with the service you’re providing, it may eventually create an opportunity for your agency too.

8. What could we be doing better?

Probably the question that’s easiest to avoid.

It’s also one of the most useful.

You don’t want to find out a landlord has been unhappy for six months when they send through their notice to leave.

Ask while you still have the chance to do something about it.

The answer might be tiny.

They want clearer inspection reports.

They’d like an update after maintenance is completed.

They don’t understand something in their statement.

Small frustrations have a habit of becoming bigger when nobody talks about them.

Give landlords an easy way to tell you what’s working and what could be better.

You don’t need to ask all eight tomorrow

Please don’t call every landlord on your rent roll with a clipboard and eight questions.

That might get weird.

Instead, look for the moments where these conversations naturally fit.

A new landlord coming on board is a good time to talk about expectations and communication.

A rent review can open a wider conversation about performance.

An annual check-in could be a chance to ask about their goals.

A landlord mentioning the market might give you the perfect opening to ask whether they’re considering another investment.

Over time, those conversations help you understand the person behind the property.

And that can make you a much more useful property manager.

Want to take your landlord conversations further?

We’ve put together the PM Growth Bundle, with two free practical guides for property managers.

Help Landlords Help You looks at landlord education, setting expectations and building stronger relationships.

Help Landlords Build Bigger Portfolios goes further into property performance, growth conversations and helping owners think about their next move.

If better landlord conversations are on your list this year, there are plenty of ideas in both that you can start using straight away.

Download the free PM Growth Bundle.

And if you want to see how Reapit PM can help your team put better communication, property information and landlord processes into practice every day, book a personalised demo with our team.