Owning real estate can be an effective way to make money on a monthly basis. However, managing your properties can take a lot of work. If you don’t want to be responsible for taking care of repairs in the middle of the night or chasing after tenants who haven’t paid their rent, it may be a good idea to hire a property manager.
What Type of Services Can Property Managers Provide?
A property manager’s website generally lists all the services that they provide. Examples of services provided include helping with all matters related to finding tenants and making sure that they adhere to the terms of their lease. This may include crafting the lease documents themselves, screening tenant applications and collecting rent. Property managers may also be able to receive maintenance requests and schedule service as soon as possible. If a tenant fails to pay rent, property managers may make attempts to collect the past due balance before beginning eviction proceedings.
Property Managers Are Ideal for Those With Large Portfolios
If you own more than one or two properties, it is unlikely that you will be able to meet the needs of your tenants by yourself. This is especially true if you own homes or apartment complexes in other cities or states. The reason why most people buy real estate is to collect passive income on a monthly basis while they go about living their lives. With a property management service, you get to spend more time looking for your next investment and less time worrying about pleasing your tenants.
Property Management Firms May Keep Maintenance Costs Down
It is possible that the company managing your property has relationships with maintenance professionals in the area. Therefore, they may charge lower rates than what you could find on your own. Furthermore, since a good maintenance professional takes steps to find and remedy minor issues quickly, the odds are lower that you will need to make major repairs to any of your properties. It should also be pointed out that letting a professional handle plumbing, roofing or electrical work may be faster and more effective than doing it yourself if you aren’t handy.
Property Management Fees are Reasonably Priced
A property management company will charge roughly 10% of your monthly rental income to keep an eye on your homes and apartments. If you charged an average of $1,000 per month per property in rent, that would be roughly $100 a month in fees. That would be on top of other expenses that the company may incur, but you will recoup some of that money as it would likely be a tax write-off.
Buying a rental property can be one of the best investment decisions that you can make. Since real estate prices are generally not influenced by stock or commodity prices, they can go higher even during times to recession depending on local market conditions. Therefore, you provide yourself with a buffer that makes it easier to preserve your financial security today and in the future.