What You’re Really Paying Your Property Manager
What do you think is the reason why many people invest in property? Simplicity. Yes, it is simple and very straightforward. You buy a property and make money out of it from rental income. Not only that, do you know what else makes property a good investment? Capital growth. Properties have the potential to increase in value over time, depending on how it is managed and taken care of. What is even better is that your rental income can cancel out your bank loan by means of negative gearing, hence lowering your overall tax bill.
You have an option to hire a property manager to supervise your property and its tenant/s. They will be in charge of everything from looking for the right tenant to handling issues involving the tenant and the property. Your property manager will be your representative which means that they will be the first person-in-contact when it comes to taking care of issues with the tenant/s.
However, whilst having a property manager has its advantages, it does not guarantee the success of your business. It has some potential downsides too, depending on how your property manager handles your investment. Finding the right property manager is an extremely important step
Here is a list of what you are really paying for when you hire a property manager:
Dealing With Tenants
This is, by far, one of the biggest elements of what property managers mainly do on a daily basis. Part of their responsibilities is to market the property, carry out inspections, screening prospective tenants, handling start and end of tenancies, dealing with complaints, rent collection and sometimes representing you at court. A good property manager knows their way around the legal aspects of the rental property industry, particularly the rights of both landlord and tenant, and should be well-equipped with the skill of dealing with unforeseen problems.
Handling Paperwork
This is another advantage of having a property manager that most landlords are really happy about. They get to escape the task of having to deal with an insurmountable stack of paperwork (especially when there is a vast portfolio of rental properties), which includes screening tenant applications, doing background and credit history checks, establishing lease agreements and the accounting of the rent and expenses. Of course, this does not mean that you don’t get to have your own share of paperwork entirely but imagine the amount of workload and time a property manager can save you.
Overseeing Repairs and Maintenance
If your property is newly built, of course, it would be reasonable not to expect that there would a need for frequent repairs and maintenance. On the other hand, if you have an older property, do not be surprised if you get frequent calls for issues regarding the property. And more often than not, these calls also entail expensive repair bills.
The task of coordinating maintenance and record keeping can be very time-consuming and requires more effort than you can imagine. By hiring a property manager, you can delegate the work to them and have them oversee repairs and maintenance under a certain budget.
Deciding whether to hire a property manager or not depends on how necessary you think it would be for your investment to flourish. If you wish to provide quality service but cannot commit enough time in order to supervise your property and its tenant/s, then there is no doubt that employing a property manager would be your saving grace.
