Owning property is one of the most stable, long-term, and lucrative investments that one can make. In North America, renters occupy 42.58 million housing units. Since buying a house is financially out of reach for a large number of Americans, the number of renters has been rising steadily over the years. This is promising for property owners as they are assured of more rental income from their investments. However, just like any other business, there are a number of challenges that may derail your rental income. The best way to ensure that you get the best out of your property is by hiring a property manager. The majority of property owners work hard and invest for years to own rental property. As such, most are usually in their late 40s or 50s and they may not have the energy to properly deal with the hurdles that come with property management. Why work for all those years to own property, then have it stress you out?
In the U.S., most property owners in residential communities belong to a homeowners association (HOA). HOA acts in the best interest of its members taking up the roles of property management. However, if you are not utilizing homeowner association management services, you will find it more suitable to hire residential leasing services. Although some of the landlords are adept enough and have the capacity to manage their real estate, most of them prefer to use residential property management companies. Your home association management or property manager will handle the following.
1. Managing Your Rental Income
As the property owner, ensuring a steady rental income is your biggest concern. Your real estate manager will have the responsibility of collecting, setting, and adjusting the rent. You will be surprised how much rental income most landlords without managers lose to unpaying tenants or due to charging less for rent. However, excellent property management will ensure you get the best price for rent while also making it more stable and regular.
2. Finding and Keeping Tenants
It is the duty of the property manager to take care of the interests of the tenants. This involves handling complaints, updating individual rental records, collecting the details of a tenant, looking for new clients and issuing eviction orders to defaulting tenants. Most landlords indicate that dealing with tenants is the most delicate part of the business, especially when communicating less desired news like a rent increase or issuing eviction notices. A property manager will take charge of all the responsibilities involved and use the authority delegated to deal with all tenant matters conclusively.
3. Handling Repairs and Maintenance of the Property
The manager must ensure that all repairs are done in a timely manner and supervise regular maintenance. Your residential management company should ensure that everything is running smoothly by carrying out regular checks on the property.
4. Dealing With Property Laws and Landlord-Tenant Laws
The property manager represents the property owner in all legal matters and also ensures all clients understand tenancy agreements. These include managing security deposits, updating and terminating leases, ensuring compliance to Property Safety Standards, performing background checks on a tenant, and handling evictions.
5. Managing Other Employees and Paying Property Taxes
It is the duty of the real estate manager to supervise and manage other employees that are on the landlord’s paycheck. Since the manager handles the income of the property, it is his/her duty to process salaries for the employees and make sure they’re paid in good time.
Property owners should scout for real estate services with efficient property management systems. The benefits of hiring a property manager substantially outweigh the disadvantages. However, landlords should perform exhaustive background checks on a residential management company before getting into a contract. That should be easy because companies like pioneer property management have been trusted for years by many property owners in North America. A good property manager will help you raise the return on investment (ROI) of your property.
