If you buy an investment property, you will soon find out the challenges of trying to be in two places at once. The reality is this: You can’t do it. As a landlord, you can try to manage the property yourself, but it’s probably wiser and more effective to hire a property management company to help. Property management companies can be a real boon to your business, but what do they actually do? Is hiring one right for your business? Let’s explore what property managers do.
In essence, property managers act on your behalf so you don’t have to be on site. They deal directly with prospects and clients, performing tasks such as promoting rentals, collecting rent, addressing maintenance and repair issues, serving as the liaison for tenant complaints, and executing evictions. A good property management company will, in essence, give you peace of mind to know that your property is being taken care of even if you can’t be there.
If you’re debating whether to hire a property management company, keep these factors in mind. If these criteria apply to you, it’s probably a good idea to hire a property manager.
Factors to Consider When Hiring a Property Manager
1. You have several investment properties and/or rental units. The more properties you own, the more you’ll have to juggle, and the more you’ll likely benefit from the services of a property management company.
2. Your rental property isn’t located close to your home. There may be a situation where your personal residence and your investment properties aren’t close to one another. When that occurs, it can be very inconvenient to travel back and forth between the two to deal with onsite issues. A property manager can be onsite all the time or can be onsite quickly as needed.
3. Managerial skills aren’t your strong suit. Just because you have the means to buy an investment property doesn’t mean you necessarily have the skills (or the inclination!) to be an effectively manager. For some landlords, the tasks of finding the right tenants and “putting out fires” as they arise is one of the perks of the job, but for others, owning an investment property is just that: an investment. If that’s you, you’d probably be well served by hiring a management company to do the work for you.
4. You don’t have the time. Even if you would love to be a hands-on manager, the reality may be that you just don’t have the time to do that, especially if being a landlord isn’t your full-time day job. If you hire a manager, you can focus on the other aspects of growing your business.
5. You don’t want to be an employer. If you hire an onsite resident manager or someone else to help manage your property, you become their employer. That means you’ll have to deal with all of the paperwork and other considerations that comes along with that. A property management company isn’t your employee; they are an independent contractor.
6. You can afford it! If you have the means to hire a property management company, go ahead and do it!
Hopefully this helps to serve as a guideline for you when it comes to making the decision whether to hire a property management company.
