Hiring a Property Manager vs. Self-Managing: What’s Better?

If you’re a property owner with a growing portfolio, it can be beneficial for you to regularly reconsider your management options. While property management help can seem intimidating or expensive, self-management can cost you extra time, money, and stress.

Let us review the duties of a landlord to help you decide the best long-term option for managing your rental space.

Maintaining The Rental Property

To maintain your property’s value, regular inspections are crucial. Being consistent in these checkups helps you spot potential damage and rectify it immediately, as well as giving you the opportunity to mend any damage caused by regular wear and tear.

Home systems play a vital role in creating a habitable space, so these must also be checked regularly to limit tenant inconveniences. Be prepared for emergency maintenance so when unforeseen circumstances occur, they are ready to handle urgent matters beyond the regular business hours.

You should also strive to create a safe environment to reduce liabilities and build trust with your tenants. If there are maintenance requests submitted, it is recommended to be prompt in handling them. They are likely to renew the lease and become long-term tenants over the long run when they notice that property maintenance is your top priority.

By conducting routine tasks, such as cleaning the gutters and inspecting the HVAC system periodically, you will also relieve yourself from future stress since this leads to fewer tenant issues.

Handling Vacant Units

When you have vacant units, you can suffer from financial loss. You’ll need to make strategic marketing decisions to attract quality residents. You must also prepare your rental property for scheduled showings with potential renters.

It is a must to reduce vacancies as much as possible to limit maintenance costs. However, tenant screening is vital to ensure you welcome the right occupants. You must conduct a background check and verify their source of income to ensure that your lease will be respected and rent will be paid.

Consider marketing online, such as spreading the word through social media or popular online listing sites. Additionally, offline marketing can be done by putting up signage, handing out flyers, joining community events, and placing ads in the newspaper’s classifieds section. You can also ask for referrals from friends, family members, and existing tenants.

Collecting The Rent

While it sounds easy in theory, collecting the rent can require effort when mailed-in checks get lost and renters pay their rental payments late. Considering these challenges, you need to implement a reliable rent collection system.

Late rent payments can disrupt a landlord’s schedule, especially if they have a mortgage to pay off. You can enforce a late payment charge for delinquent tenants to minimize delays in paying the rent while earning extra for the inconvenience.

You can also consider eviction for those who habitually pay late. Make sure to review the proper eviction procedures to avoid running into legal issues. Send the right notices and keep all your documents to provide evidence that you followed the right process.

Before deciding to evict a renter, however, talk to them first to find out why they keep delaying the rent payments. There may be other solutions available and alternative options of payment rather than going through an exhaustive court battle.

Managing Tenant Relations

Another tough task for landlords is dealing with tenant issues. It is always a good practice to build a good landlord-tenant relationship for a smooth tenancy. This also helps you learn and respond to tenant needs to provide better living conditions and win their loyalty over the long term.

Checking in with tenants regularly helps you gain critical feedback to improve your services better. You can get to know them and find suitable solutions to manage issues and prevent future conflicts.

Enforcing The Lease

Landlords must ensure that renters adhere to the lease terms and conditions. Otherwise, it can lead to conflicts with other renters, property damage, or legal trouble.

If a violation is committed by a renter, you must handle it quickly by issuing a verbal warning. You can follow it up with a written warning if the same violation occurs. Finally, if the problem persists, you can consider evicting the renter. Review the proper eviction process in your state to prevent legal problems.

Benefits Offered by Property Management Companies

While self-managing allows you to save on property management fees, there are several benefits available when you partner with property management companies. They have more solid and professional experience in the industry. As a result, they have mastered the best practices of property management and provide ready solutions for every specific scenario.

What Is Best: Self-Management or Property Management

Though you will pay for management fees, hiring a property management company can prove to be most beneficial, since you can focus more on chasing after opportunities to expand your portfolio rather than get tied up with the daily maintenance tasks of your rental.

If you need property management support, contact Evolve Real Estate and Property Management today!