Maintaining profitable rental properties requires a coordinated effort. You not only have to manage your holdings physically, but you also need to administer your finances and stay on top of bills and the changing laws.
Being profitable isn’t just about collecting rent. One wrong move in violation of landlord-tenant law can set you back drastically.
But when you have a property manager take care of your investment properties, you can have an easier time staying profitable. Here’s why.
1. Property management services save you time
You’ve probably noticed how much time is necessary to maintain your investment properties. Even if you own just one, it’s still like having a full-time job.
The truth is, the more time you spend fussing with minutia, the harder it is to stay profitable. It’s possible you’ll need to own more than one property to build a profitable investment portfolio.
Property management companies offer a variety of services that are all designed to make your life easier as a real estate investor and give you back more of your time. For example, San Antonio property managers from Green Residential perform rent collection, tenant screening, eviction noticing, and maintenance services for their clients.
These are services typically included in property management service packages.
The more free time you have, the more you can pursue additional investment opportunities, work on your existing properties, and enjoy your life outside of real estate.
Also, if you happen to run another business, outsourcing your property management functions will give you more time to develop that other operation into something profitable.
2. Property managers know the law
Getting sued by a tenant can be a nightmare for your business. Much of the time, the court will side with the tenant; the odds are not apt to be good for you.
The court system won’t be very lenient even if you’ve made an honest mistake. Tenants have rights and you can expect to pay for even innocent errors.
The scary part is, it’s all too easy to make costly mistakes by accident. For example, if you serve an eviction notice incorrectly, your case will be thrown out and you’ll have to start over from the top.
If you perform any self-help eviction actions, such as changing the locks, you’ll likely lose your case entirely. How confident are you in your knowledge of the law?
If you’re not completely sure of yourself, you probably need a property manager. Nobody knows landlord-tenant law better than professional property managers. If you want to stay profitable and avoid expensive and damaging lawsuits, take advantage of this service.
3. They perform repairs and maintenance
Repairs and maintenance are two of your most important duties as a landlord. These are crucial because if you don’t maintain your property, it can start to fall apart.
For instance, if you don’t repair a leaky roof, the water could drip into the walls and rot the wood from the inside out. Likewise, if you don’t maintain the yard, it might become overgrown and create a home for insect pests and rodents.
When vital repairs are left undone, and become worse over time, the damage may be extensive. One small leak in the roof can turn into a huge repair job in which you’ll need to remove the entire roof and replace it, including the drywall.
When a property management company takes care of your repairs and maintenance, you don’t have to worry about anything getting left undone. As long as your tenants report their needs, issues will get handled quickly and done correctly the first time around.
4. They’ll keep your units filled
Vacancies kill profits, but it’s not always a simple matter to keep your units filled. If you have other obligations, you’ll have to clean and prepare your unit to be shown between those other responsibilities.
That can be tough, and may extend the amount of time your property remains vacant. When you hire a property management company, they’ll work hard to make sure your vacancies are filled as quickly as possible. They’ll have a professional go in and clean the unit to perfection and put it on the market as fast as possible.
You lose money every day your unit is vacant. A property management company will help you maintain profitability by keeping your vacancies to a minimum and filling your empty units quickly with desirable tenants.
5. They’ll choose better tenants
It’s hard to know which prospects will make the best tenants, but property management companies have enough experience to get it right, typically. If you want to be profitable, you need good tenants. A property manager will hold all applicants to high standards and pursue only the best applicants.
Staying profitable takes a team
Maintaining a profitable rental property requires a team effort. Fortunately, you can hand off most of the hard work to a property management company.
