The Direct Answer
Expect a written scope, a clear approval process, reliable property records, and reporting that lets you understand what happened and what needs a decision. Compare management proposals by responsibilities and controls before comparing the fee.
Define the scope before reviewing the price
Ask the manager to identify exactly what the engagement includes. Rent collection, tenant communication, accounting, maintenance coordination, leasing, major projects, and asset strategy may be treated differently. Request a responsibility schedule rather than relying on “full service.”
Bingham’s published commercial management scope includes leasing oversight, tenant relations, maintenance, financial reporting, and property enhancements. The actual engagement should specify responsibilities, authority, reporting, and compensation for your property. See source 1.
Ask to see the reporting package
Request a sample with personal and sensitive information removed. Ask how the manager reports collections, delinquency, expenses, budget variances, tenant requests, and cash balances. Establish the delivery schedule and the person responsible for answering questions.
Separate property earnings from cash available for distribution. Review capital spending, debt payments, deposits, reserves, and owner contributions where applicable. Have your accountant explain the reporting basis and how the reports connect to tax and ownership records.
| Report or record | Question it should help answer |
|---|---|
| Rent roll and collections | Who owes what, and what has actually been received? |
| Operating statement | What income and expenses occurred during the period? |
| Budget comparison | Which items differ from the plan, and why? |
| Cash and reserves | What funds are available and what obligations are pending? |
| Maintenance log | What was requested, authorized, completed, and invoiced? |
| Lease calendar | Which expirations, options, notices and obligations require attention? |
Set spending authority in writing
Define the manager’s routine spending limit, emergency authority, bid requirements, and owner approval process. Ask how the manager records approvals and communicates a material issue outside normal hours. Identify the owner’s backup decision-maker.
Clarify who may sign contracts, order changes, and accept completed work. For a larger project, determine whether separate oversight or compensation applies. Make the manager’s authority consistent with the management agreement and any requirements of the ownership entity.
Connect the lease to maintenance responsibility
Have the manager maintain a tenant-by-tenant responsibility schedule. It should identify who handles common areas, tenant interiors, system maintenance, repairs, and replacements under the actual leases.
For reimbursable expenses, ask how budgets, allocations, billing, and reconciliations are documented. A NNN label does not replace the terms. If the manager administers reconciliations, establish which records are supplied to tenants and how disputed charges are handled with counsel.
Make the vendor process visible
- How are vendors selected and their qualifications checked?
- Who verifies insurance and any required licensing?
- How are scope, price, completion and changes documented?
- Are related-party vendors or other conflicts disclosed?
- Who reviews invoices against approvals and completed work?
- Who keeps warranties, permits and maintenance records?
Set the process before an urgent repair occurs. The owner should be able to follow the record from the original issue through authorization, work, invoice, and payment. Ask how the manager will handle a cost that exceeds the approved amount.
Clarify leasing and tenant coordination
Identify whether the management fee includes leasing work, whether a separate brokerage agreement applies, and who negotiates and signs lease documents. Establish the information needed before approving a tenant, renewal, concession, or improvement commitment.
Use a lease calendar for expirations, renewal notices, insurance documents, scheduled increases, and other dated obligations. Ask who checks the actual terms and who confirms that notices have been delivered in the required manner. Legal interpretation and enforcement belong with counsel.
Compare compensation on the whole engagement
Request every proposed fee and the event that triggers it. Ask about management, leasing, renewals, maintenance coordination, major projects, setup, termination, and reimbursed costs. Identify the calculation basis and what happens when a tenant does not pay.
There is no fee quoted here because the property and scope have not been established. Compare actual proposals using the same responsibility schedule. A lower headline fee is not a complete comparison if one proposal excludes work the other includes.
Plan onboarding and eventual handoff
At onboarding, reconcile leases, deposits, balances, keys, vendor contracts, warranties, insurance, owner information, and outstanding issues. Confirm how the manager receives funds and instructions and how records remain available to the owner.
Also read the termination and record-transfer provisions before signing. Ask when funds and records are delivered, which contracts continue, and how open tenant and vendor matters are handed over. A clear exit process is part of a well-defined engagement.
Sources & scope
1. Bingham: property management services2. SEC: Financial Reporting Manual, section 2340Source review: October 2, 2026. Recheck rules, documents, and project statuses before relying on them in a transaction. Checklists and decision questions are editorial guidance; numerical examples are labeled hypothetical.
This is an owner’s engagement checklist. Management responsibilities and fees must be established in the executed agreement.