DIY or Hire A Property Management Company

salinas property managementSome property owners become landlords out of necessity, such as if you are unable to sell your property due to market conditions and are waiting for a more optimal time to list. Other property owners become landlords to take advantage of the great benefits associated with owning rental properties. After all, they can provide you with cash flow, equity appreciation, tax benefits and more. For all property owners, however, there is the important question of whether you should hire a property management company or manage the property yourself. The fact is that hiring a management company does have an expense tied to it, but you may discover that this expense is well worth paying for.

 

Selecting the Right Tenants

One of the most significant factors that will impact your stress level, your property condition and your income as a property owner relates to the individuals who you choose to lease your property to. Some landlords will unfortunately have a rather lenient screening process, and their main goal may be to select the first individual who has the financial means to pay the rent. However, a professional property management company will review the individual’s background thorough, typically by hiring a tenant screening company to facilitate with the effort. Through this process, you can learn more about if the potential tenant has issues with holding a job, causing damage at previous places he or she has lived and paying rent late. These are just some of the many factors that you need to know about before you select a tenant, and a property management company will help you to ensure that best tenants are selected for the property.

Collecting and Processing Rent Payments

Even when the best tenants are selected, there will inevitably be several times when a tenant pays their rent late. Some property owners are not comfortable approaching tenants with a demand to pay or with giving them delinquency letters. The fact is that there are laws that must be followed with regards to collecting rents as well as with evictions. A skilled property manager has the knowledge and expertise to collect rents in difficult situations, and the property manager also is a professional who will work within the area of the law to protect your interests as a property owner in the event of a delinquency or failure to pay situation. In addition, the property manager will handle all aspects of processing payments, including deposits and deposit refunds. It can be challenging for busy individuals to keep track of these details, but your property manager will do the work for you.

Handling Repair and Maintenance Issues

Whether you live in the same city as your rental property or in another state, it can be a costly challenge to respond to all repair and maintenance requests that tenants have. Some tenants may call with a repair issue numerous times a month, increasing your time demands with the property. Of course, if you want your property to remain in great shape, you need to complete the repair and maintenance requests in a timely manner and in the most cost-effective way. A property manager has years of experience in this area. He or she will respond to all of the inquiries on your behalf and will screen out the issues that do not need to be addressed. He or she will also contact service providers to complete repair work as needed. In addition, the best property managers will periodically inspect the property to ensure that it remains in great condition even when tenants do not call with repair requests.

Completing the Make-Ready after a Move-Out

After a tenant moves out, there is typically a significant amount of work that must be completed to prepare the property to be leased to a new tenant. This may include painting, cleaning, replacing light bulbs, professionally cleaning the floor and other related tasks. It may take many hours of your time to contract all of the professionals to handle these tasks for you, to let them have access to the property and to ensure the work is done right. These are all tasks that your property manager will assist you with.

The best property management company will contact you when a major problem arises without bringing you into the stresses of day-to-day operations. This means that you can enjoy the benefits of real estate ownership without having to deal with the stresses. As you can see, there is benefit associated with hiring a property management company.

Coast & Valley Properties Inc proudly serves the Salinas, Monterey County area. If you’d like to know more about our services, please don’t hesitate to call our office at 831-757-1270, or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you!