I recommend that you interview at least three. Tell them your current portfolio, your planned portfolio and your time lines. Then ask them the key question
Question #1 `What do YOU think of today`s rental market in ********(town)?
This is a great question to see if they are going to be providing you, the future, with excuses or if they are going to provide you with solutions (i.e tenants). We`re all pretty tired of hearing excuses that the market has `slowed down` or `too busy` The reality is that in any market conditions there are renters (i.e customers for your rental product) their job is to attract those customers not to hope they show up. NO EXCUSES!
Question #2: What is your typical marketing plan to attract tenants. You`re looking for someone who is creative and doesn`t just place a couple of ads in the paper and hope for the best. Ask to see samples of a couple of ads they have running right now so you can see what they do (rather than what they say). By the way, listing it on their own web-site is a bit of a waste unless they get THOUSANDS of visitors per week and they are rated in the Top 10 of google.
Question #3 "What company does most of your renovations and do you have any affiliation with them or do you get a fee from them for the business?" A good way to see if they are going for competitive bids on your property repairs.
I also recommend that you use the Quick Search button (top left of this page) to search for other property manager / property management discussion threads as I know this conversation is also going on elsewhere on this site.
Trust this helps!