Juggling Too Many Properties At Once…Sometimes There Just Aren’t Enough Hours In The Day. Here’s When (And If) You Should Hire Someone To Help You Handle Your Rental Properties
August 29, 2016
Property managers are a one-stop deal. They collect rent from your tenants, show the house to prospective renters, collect their applications, run the credit checks, and deal with organizing and overseeing repairs. They’ll even deposit money to your bank account.
Do you need a property mangers? When you’re a landlord, it is often very stressful to juggle a lot of properties. More than likely, you’ve got a day job too. This can make it hard to deal with constant complaints, collecting rent, and scheduling repairs You might be so busy at work that you don’t realize its the middle of the month and you still haven’t gotten rent yet; then, you have to spend time chasing around your tenant. Or, how about if the second floor of your apartment building floods the unit below it? Property managers can be a complete savior. They are also expensive.
It depends on what is more important to you: your time, money, or sanity. Many landlords opt to go spend the money rather than be stressed out in the evenings with 30 missed phone calls from complaining tenants. Whether or not you’ll hire one should be based around your needs.
If you have an excellent property manager, you can expect to always be informed about the property, and will barely be called for help. The point of having one is so that you don’t have to worry about your property.
Think about how many homes or apartment buildings that you own. If you own a fair amount and are having trouble keeping up with them all, you might do better hiring someone to help you out.
If you have a unit 45 minutes away from where you live, it is a good idea to find a good property manager. It is also not a bad idea to find trusted contractors, plumbers, and electricians that you can call if something needs to be fixed. You don’t want to be scrambling around to find someone when your tenant calls.
Landlords should be organized. If you’re a scattered person, you’ll be better off paying someone to take on the task of managing your properties. If you are especially busy with other areas of your life, you also should hire one. The lives of your tenants are important, too. Everyone is busy. Not just you.
The bottom line is that if you don’t have the time or organizational skills to manage your units, you need to hire someone to do it for you. If you don’t take care of your tenants, they’re going to break the lease and move. They’ll also be telling people what a horrible landlord you are, and if the property was an apartment building, word will spread.
I hired a property manager one time and he was HORRIBLE. I have a few business associates that own properties and have had great experiences, but I did not.
Hi Carlos. Unfortunately, not all property management companies are good. Landlords looking to hire one should thoroughly check reviews and ask around to make sure that it is a great company. The point of a property manager is to relieve the headache, not cause it.