As a landlord, one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is whether to hire a real estate management company. While it’s not uncommon for landlords to manage their rental properties on their own—perhaps with the help of an employee or two—that often turns out to be a challenging and unsustainable path, especially as your business grows to include multiple rental properties.
Real estate management companies offer a lot of resources, and there’s a significant advantage to relying on pros for all the more challenging and time-consuming aspects of owning rental property. Here’s what professional real estate management companies can do for you.
What Do Real Estate Management Companies Do?
Real Estate Managers wear many different hats. Handling everything from maintenance to rent collection, they essentially oversee all the day-to-day and long-term tasks associated with running a rental property. For landlords, there are many advantages.
- Marketing your property. Real Estate management companies craft finely-tuned property listings with professional photography on a variety of platforms, helping fill your units more quickly.
- Tenant screening. Thorough background checks and screening processes (including pet screening) ensure that you don’t get stuck with problem tenants.
- Full-service leasing. Leasing services include drawing up rental agreements, as well as collecting and holding security deposits.
- Property maintenance. For most landlords, one of the biggest time-savers offered by professional property management is overseeing all the maintenance required by a rental property. This includes routine seasonal maintenance and landscape care.
- Emergency repairs. Management professionals have vendors on call any time an emergency repair is needed, and tenants can contact your property managers any time to report an emergency.
- Legal protection. Your real estate management team will stay up to date on all landlord-tenant laws, protecting you from unnecessary lawsuits and fines.
- Property inspections. Property managers can conduct inspections to ensure the condition of your property. This includes move-in inspections prior to a new tenant moving in, as well as move-out inspections to make sure everything is as it should be when they move out.
- Rent collection. Landlords no longer have to worry about late or missed rent payments, thanks to streamlined rent collection processes and an easy online payment option that encourages tenants to pay on time.
- Overseeing evictions. No one wants to have to evict a tenant, but property managers are here to enforce the terms of the lease and ensure that evictions, when necessary, are carried out fairly.
When Should You Hire a Real Estate Management Company?
It’s always hard to know when the time is right to take your business to the next level. As a landlord, you should consider professional property management if any of the following are true:
- You own multiple rental properties or units.
- You don’t particularly enjoy the day-to-day responsibilities of hands-on management.
- You live far away from your rental properties (or your rental properties are located far from each other).
- Your time is limited.
- Your business has quickly grown to the point that you can no longer keep up with maintenance and other chores on your own.
- You have a hard time maintaining a healthy work/life balance while managing your property on your own.
- You can afford the cost of professional property management.
At the end of the day, the rewards of working with a property manager are different for everyone. A conversation about whether your rental business is in the right place to hire a property management company is always worth having.
Contact us today to learn more about how property management companies help landlords take their property rental business to the next level.
