Property management can mean looking after an empty home, coordinating maintenance or running a rental. These are different jobs. A useful agreement names the tasks, the person responsible, the approval limits and the evidence you receive.
01 / Responsibilities
What does property management include?
Owners use “property management” to search for several different services. Home care, rental operations, sales or letting brokerage, and management of shared building areas have different responsibilities. This guide compares those services; it is not a list of services Riviera Pulse offers.
Ask each provider which registrations, permissions and insurance apply to the work you need. Montenegro has specific registration requirements for real-estate sales and lease intermediaries. A service name or company registration alone does not demonstrate that those requirements are met.
Property care
For a home you use yourself or leave empty between visits.
- Typical tasks
- Agreed visual checks, dated photos, arrival preparation and maintenance follow-up.
- Ask before agreeing
- Visit frequency, accessible areas, reporting, authorised access and who responds when something needs attention.
Rental readiness and pricing advice
For an owner preparing a home for rental use or reviewing rental decisions.
- Typical tasks
- Preparation, presentation and pricing recommendations, taking account of the property, availability and the owner's intended stays.
- Ask before agreeing
- Who implements recommendations and who separately handles listings, bookings, guests and payments. Advice alone does not transfer control of a rental account.
Rental management
For a home you offer to paying guests or tenants.
- Typical tasks
- Depending on the agreement: listings, bookings, guest communication, changeovers and payment administration.
- Ask before agreeing
- Who controls the listing, receives payments, handles cancellations and guests, and arranges any required specialist or administrative support.
Building management
For shared areas and systems serving several homes.
- Typical tasks
- Responsibilities assigned to the building’s appointed manager or owners’ assembly, including common areas and building-wide maintenance.
- Ask before agreeing
- Who is formally appointed, what authority they hold, how decisions are approved, and where their duties end at your apartment.
Start with how you use the home
You are away for several months
Start with a care schedule: what is checked, how observations are recorded and what should trigger a call. A cleaner may notice a problem, but that does not mean condition checks and follow-up are part of the cleaning agreement.
You already have a cleaner or caretaker
List what works before replacing anything. You may only need dated reports, coordination of one repair or preparation for your next arrival. Give each person a clear responsibility so a task is not assumed to belong to somebody else.
You want to rent out the home
Ask separately about property readiness and rental operations. Advice on presentation or pricing does not mean somebody will operate the listing, receive guest payments or answer guest calls. Confirm those responsibilities explicitly.
For owners who keep control of their rental, rental-readiness and pricing advice can address preparation and decisions while the owner or a separately appointed operator handles the listing and guests.
02 / A record you can use
Who is responsible while you are away?
If you already use a cleaner, caretaker or rental agent, list the work each person has agreed to do. An observation does not authorise a repair, and arranging a visit does not establish that work is complete. Use a separate entry for each task, decision and unresolved issue.
A visual property check
- Agree before work
- Name the person attending, the accessible areas, the visit date or frequency, and the observations that need to be reported to you.
- Record afterwards
- A dated account of visible observations, relevant photos, unchecked areas and decisions still needed.
Cleaning and arrival preparation
- Agree before work
- Confirm the areas and tasks, the arrival date, who arranges access, and the separate cleaning or preparation cost.
- Record afterwards
- A record of the agreed tasks completed and anything still outstanding before arrival.
Maintenance follow-up
- Agree before work
- Name the supplier and coordinator. Record the proposed work, quote, owner approval and how further costs will be agreed.
- Record afterwards
- The completion record, relevant photos or supplier documents, and any issue that remains unresolved. Attendance alone does not establish completion.
Rental readiness or pricing advice
- Agree before work
- Record the owner-use dates, availability, property constraints and assumptions behind the recommendations. Identify who will make any listing changes.
- Record afterwards
- The recommendations, the owner's decision and the person responsible for any agreed implementation. Keep advice separate from guest and payment operations.
Make an owner responsibility record
Use five fields: task or observation, responsible person, approval and agreed cost, completion evidence, and unresolved issues. The template contains suggested task names and empty fields for your own arrangements.
Download the editable responsibility record (CSV)Open it in a spreadsheet and agree the entries with the people involved. Keep keys, access codes and sensitive owner details out of a shared record. Completing the template does not book a Riviera Pulse service.
How Riviera Pulse uses reviews, plans and reports
Property Review
Records visible observations, relevant photos and areas that could not be checked. It is a visual care check, not a technical survey.
Owner Plan
Sets out separately agreed work, responsibilities, prices and approvals. A review does not commit you to an ongoing plan.
Owner Brief
Reports dated observations, decisions, follow-up and completion evidence. An unresolved item stays separate from completed work.
03 / Costs
How to compare property management fees
A percentage, monthly fee and per-visit price describe different charging arrangements. Ask each provider to quote for the same property and tasks. A lower headline figure tells you little if supplier work, visits or reporting are charged separately.
- The base service
- What visits or tasks are included, how often, and what report follows each visit?
- Additional visits
- How are extra callouts, travel, waiting time and cancelled appointments charged?
- Supplier work
- Are cleaning, repairs and materials separate? Is there a coordination fee or supplier markup?
- The total payable
- Does the quote include any applicable taxes, and who invoices you for work supplied by another company?
- Approval limits
- Which costs need written approval, and what happens if you cannot be reached?
- Rental charges
- If the fee is a percentage, is it calculated before or after booking-platform charges, cleaning fees and refunds?
- Ending the arrangement
- What notice is needed, and how are access, records, unfinished jobs and any accounts handed back?
For Riviera Pulse, scope, availability and price are agreed before any visit. Ask for a written quote showing the recurring charge, one-off work and any third-party costs.
“I own a [property type] in [location]. I expect to be away from [date] until [date]. I need [tasks] and already use [existing arrangements]. Please set out the visit schedule, report, included fee, additional costs and approval process.”
04 / Access and checks
What to agree before handing over access
- Property location, the areas included and any areas that cannot be accessed.
- Expected absences and arrival dates, with the agreed visit schedule.
- Existing cleaner, caretaker, building contact and relevant supplier responsibilities.
- A secure access arrangement, permitted visitors and a backup contact.
- Known issues, approved work, spending limits and decisions still waiting for you.
- The format of the report and how urgent observations should be communicated.
Ask who your agreement is with, who will attend and whether any work will be subcontracted. Confirm what happens if the usual person is unavailable and which observations need a specialist. A visual care visit records what can be seen; it does not establish the cause of a fault or replace a building or safety inspection.
For an apartment, distinguish work inside your home from issues in shared areas. Agree how the provider should contact the building representative. Do not include keys, entry codes or alarm details in an introductory website enquiry.
See the Tivat owner handover checklist05 / Evidence
What should a property report tell you?
“Everything looks fine” leaves you with little to assess. Ask for a dated record that separates completed checks, unresolved questions and work waiting for your decision.
Observation
What was visible, where it was found and when the visit happened.
Evidence and limits
Relevant photos, inaccessible areas and anything that could not be verified.
Decision
What needs your approval, including the proposed scope and separate costs.
Follow-up
Who is responsible, the agreed next step and how completion will be recorded.
For example, a photo of a damp patch records an observation. It does not identify the cause or authorise a repair. The next entry should say whether a specialist visit is proposed, what it would cost and which decision is needed from you.
Our fictional Owner Brief follows this sequence. It demonstrates the reporting format, with illustrative dates and costs.
View the sample Owner Brief06 / Riviera Pulse
Property care and owner support in Tivat
You can ask Riviera Pulse about one visual property check or an ongoing care arrangement, with rental-readiness and pricing advice agreed separately. You do not need to replace an existing cleaner or caretaker to discuss a missing task.
Full rental operations, guest handling and active listing management are not currently offered. Rental payments and deposits remain outside our service.
Availability, responsibilities and the full price, including applicable taxes and separate supplier costs, are confirmed before you commit. An enquiry does not book work or create a service contract.
Tell us what already works, what needs attention and your next arrival date. Read about Riviera Pulse and our company details.