It takes a lot of time and effort to maintain an income-producing investment property. By keeping up with your property yourself, you save a lot of money. However, is keeping up with your property demands the best use of your time? It may be time to consider whether it is worth the price to hire a property manager to keep up with your investment property.
Property managers are individuals or teams hired to manage rental units or any other form of property on behalf of the owner. This property can range from homes, condominiums, short-term vacation rentals, shopping complexes, or any other form of property.
Reasons to Hire a Property Manager
According to Zillow, you should consider hiring a property manager or management company if:
- You have multiple properties to rent.
- You feel overwhelmed with property management tasks.
- You live far away from your rental.
- You’re not interested in hands-on management.
- Your time is limited or more valuable than the cost of hiring a property manager.
If you are interested in handling a portion of your property management task, you may be able to outsource the remaining responsibilities to a property management company. By personally handling more tasks, you will end up being charged a lower property management fee.
What are the Responsibilities of a Property Manager?
Managing a property comes with multiple responsibilities. Tasks include handling the day-to-day upkeep, security, and basic maintenance to preserve the well-being of the property. This upkeep may include mowing the lawn, overseeing home improvements, checking-in on plumbing, fixing a leaky roof, cleaning the gutters, etc. Most of these responsibilities are simple, but they are time-consuming.
If you decide to own multiple homes, you may choose to hire a property manager. Oftentimes, these homes are located hundreds of miles apart. For example, a lake house or a beach home could be located in a completely different state than your primary place of residence. Traveling for basic maintenance issues can be costly and waste a lot of valuable time. Hiring a property manager will save time and potentially save money. Their work will help maintain your property value and allow you to be stress-free when visiting your second home.
If your additional property is designed to be a rental property, a property manager will likely have more tasks beyond day-to-day maintenance. For instance, your manager may also oversee managing tenants. These tenants can be long-term, such as an apartment or condo. Or these tenants can even be short-term, such as a weekend vacation rental. Managing tenants comes with multiple different responsibilities including collecting rent/payment, finding renters, answering questions, as well as filling maintenance requests. Because these tasks are time-consuming, you may find it more cost-effective to hire them out.
How to Find a Property Manager
If you have decided it is right for you to invest in a property manager, it is time to do your research. Look up property management companies. See if there are any in your property’s surrounding areas. Compare prices and study a business’ or an individual’s reviews. Make sure the company you are interested in can fill the needs of your property. Many times, companies will only work with clients who have multiple properties or a complex. Other companies may only have the resources to service clients with one or two properties.
Zillow goes on to outline further steps to help you find and hire a property manager:
- Ask for referrals from friends, family, or your real estate agent.
- Check reviews online or with a state or local apartment association.
- Make a list of a few companies that may fit your needs.
- Compare the fees of each company.
- Check each company’s licenses and certification.
- Read each company’s property management agreement.
- Inspect properties currently managed by the companies you’re interested in.
- Organize interviews with a few companies to see which one is the best fit.
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