Who Identifies with This Story…
One day you said to yourself, “Hey, property values are rising. I think I’ll buy an extra property and then rent it out”.
Then, owning said rental property turned out to be a nightmare. You had a hard time finding tenants. Your tenants were full of drama and disaster. They couldn’t make payments, so you had to kick them out. Or, your property or properties suddenly need large numbers of repairs. Some landlords live far away from their properites and find their weekends becoming a full-time job of maintaining something that was supposed to help them and free them up.
Whatever the reason, it just didn’t turn how you want. On my other blog for house sellers,
www.bigstatehomebuyers.com, I wrote an article about how to get rid of a property when you are tired of being a landlord. However, not all landlords are at the point that they are even considering getting rid of a property.
Property management may seem like overkill to newer landlords, but many find themselves in a position to really benefit from hiring property managers. While they can be expensive, they are also huge assets. If you have one or two rental properties and you live fairly close to the properties you own, it might not be a big deal to respond to a call at ten o’clock at night about a clogged toilet. But, that’s not the case for many landlords.
What do property managers do, anyway? They work with tenants, collect rent, handle maintenance and repairs, pursue evictions, and they act as independent contractors so that you do not have to act as an employer. Your payments to property managers are even tax deducible. (nolo.com)
Why Would I Want to Hire a Property Manager?
There are several reasons that you might consider hiring a property manager. Property management would be a good option for you if you
Own lots of properties.
Live far from the properties you own and rent.
Don’t want to manage the property hands-on on your own.
Have limited time to devote to maintenance, dealing with tenants or legal issues.
Can afford it.
Are inundated with management activities, either because you have so many properties or if your properties are higher maintenance.
Don’t want to be an employer (of a manager for your properties).
Own a property that is a part of an affordable housing community (this can be really high maintenance).
How They Save You Money
Even though many people “meet the qualifications” above, they have a hard time justifying the cost of hiring a property management company. Well, here is the bottom line: it can actually save you money. .
There are several ways that hiring a property manager can actually save you money. They advertise the property for you and can do it cheaper than you can. They are constantly advertising for you so you are able to get people in the property more quickly. You can charge a little more for rent than an individual landlord when you have a property manager. There is also a higher probability that your property will be successful when you utilize these professionals as opposed to trying to manage it by yourself.
No one is calling you asking you to un-clog the toilet. They are calling the property management company. The company probably manages many properties, so they usually get a huge discount for the large number of maintenance services they require.
Many people also find that having a property manager can help them with potential or real legal issues. Rather than downloading a free form from the internet, the property management will take care of the contracts and other paperwork. They will also deal with the security deposit and with rent. You won’t have to hunt tenants down or worry about potentially penalizing them or even serving someone an eviction notice. The property manager will handle that.
As you can see, there are benefits to spending the money to hire a property management company, and it can actually save you money. Let us help you justify your need for a property management company! ;o) Looking for a property to add to your portfolio? Visit our properties page.
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Real estate investor and entrepreneur, Brian Spitz, has become one of Houston’s leading real estate investors. Brian’s company, Big State Home Buyers, has helped hundreds of sellers to avoid paying a commission to a realtor and clean up their property. He has also given assistance in situations where a home is inherited and not wanted. Brian provides professional service to anyone who may need to sell a home fast and is always willing to provide a free estimate. He also specializes in seamless real estate investing and is well known for his quality service to investors as well. Contact Brian at Big State Home Buyers for more information.
Listen to Brian every Monday on KTEK 1110 Business Radio between 7-8am with Kevin Price on the Price of Business.
