If you have owned any rental property for any length of time, you know that the management aspect of it can be time-consuming and take a lot of effort. A property can be a financially rewarding investment, but it requires you to commit to working up to several hours a week to properly maintain the overall condition and value. A good property manager is able to help you grow your portfolio at a much faster rate, and keep you on the road to financial freedom.
Property managers have the job to make passive real estate a possibility for you by handling the day-to-day tasks that take up a lot of your time, as well as bringing their expertise and experience into the mix. A property manager is who can keep a buffer between the tenant and the landlord, your investment is a business, and hiring a property manager facilitates the ability to have a hands-off experience.
Having a rental property managed by a professional property management company brings several benefits to the table.
After obtaining management rights to your property, they will look into setting the right rental rates, generally basing it on their thorough research into the local rental market. Finding out what other landlords are charging allows them to ballpark your rent price, making sure you keep a perfect balance between minimizing the vacancy rate and maximizing the monthly income.
When it comes to choosing the right tenants for your property, a good property management company will know exactly the right choices. They take care of all the details by thoroughly verifying employment, credit reports, previous landlord references, and performing security and criminal record checks. Through experience with dealing with lots of rental applications, they can generally spot red flags early on.
A professional property management can help to keep strong relationships with tenants, however as the property owner you can decide to be as involved with the rental space as you want. You have the option to communicate with your property manager as often as you would like. Their job is to make sure that your business is successful. This includes ensuring that the payments from your tenants is collected efficiently and to maintain the payments to be on-time to maintain your cash flow. By ensuring timely rent collection and minimizing vacancy, your property management tea provides a more stable source of income for you. Property management companies are also responsible for ensuring that you are in compliance with property laws and housing regulations. By doing so, they are helping to mitigate risk by ensuring your property is legally compliant with regulations.
Another major advantage to having a property manager is the responsibility they take on in terms of maintenance. Not only does proper maintenance keep the tenants happy and safe, it can also help increase the value of the property over time. The property manager will handle a combination of routine and emergency maintenance, and take care of any issues that arise and not only will your property manager address the urgent situations immediately, they will also get you the best work at the best price. Property management companies have relationships with maintenance workers, contractors, suppliers and tradesmen and know which ones are reliable and trustworthy to perform the needed maintenance work. The benefit of having these types of professional relationships is that they are able to find the best prices for taking care of urgent matters and avoiding expensive emergency calls on weekends or after-hours when there are no contractors available.
When choosing a property management company, be sure to choose a reputable company and understand the costs involved. Most property managers charge a percentage of your property’s monthly rental rate, or a set management fee for their services. It is often averaged out to be cheaper to pay the monthly fee to professionals rather than handling everything alone.
Always ensure you understand the costs involved, including commissions and management fees, and to review the terms and conditions of the management agreement to ensure the company you have chosen has the same outlook and expectations for your goals.