Why You Need a Residential Property Management Company
According to Apartment List, median rent prices rose by about 18 percent within a year in the Raleigh metropolitan area and by 22% in the Durham metropolitan area. If you own a mid-size or larger rental home, now could be the perfect time to take advantage of the hot rental market.
But it can be hard to navigate changes as drastic as these. Luckily, a residential property management company can help make sure you get everything you can out of your investment property.
Let’s take a look at some key property management benefits that you can take advantage of.
Comply with the Law
Property managers know the laws that regulate rental properties and working with tenants. A good property manager will be able to ensure that you comply with all state and federal laws that are applicable.
A commonly tricky situation is evicting a tenant. There are efficient ways to do so, but there are also a few laws that you need to follow when doing so. In a similar way, avoiding discrimination in choosing tenants and screening them is also critical to avoid potential legal issues.
Some properties are part of affordable housing programs. If yours are, a property manager can make sure you meet the guidelines for these programs.
If you were to infringe on a tenant’s rights, even unknowingly, they could bring a costly lawsuit. Even if you win the case, you’ll still end up paying thousands of dollars in fees.
A local property management company can set up contracts and policies that will protect you while complying with laws that protect your tenants.
Understand the Local Rental Market
The rental market in the Research Triangle is different from the market in any other area, even within North Carolina. A property management company with years of experience knows the unique challenges facing your local area.
They will be able to navigate the market and adapt strategies as it changes, generating higher investment returns for you. Understanding the local market can also make it easier to reduce vacancies, ensuring a consistent stream of income.
Increased Profits
In general, most quotes for property management services are based on a percent of your rental revenue. But even though you need to pay the company you hire, many times you’ll be able to actually see an increase in profits.
A good property manager will be able to find you good tenants and decrease vacancies. Having good tenants can potentially decrease costs associated with maintenance. Decreasing vacancies ensures that your properties are constantly generating income.
A good property manager will also know what the optimal rental prices for your units and area are. Knowing these helps you avoid pricing out tenants by charging too much or losing money by charging too little. In essence, this knowledge helps you maximize your income.
Even being able to handle all of your tenant and vendor relationships in a streamlined way can help you save money. A property manager knows who to call that can handle maintenance and emergencies while staying within your budget.
Save Your Time
A key element of all benefits from a property manager is saving time. This is obviously helpful, as the old adage “time is money” applies to almost any line of work.
It’s not uncommon for property owners to have a full-time job or a family. Adding the management of a rental property onto this can become a challenging balancing act.
Property management can be time-consuming, but if you hire a property manager, you can make it more manageable. Outsourcing your property management responsibilities can ensure your property is taken care of without neglecting your other responsibilities.
You can choose which services your property manager will handle. You can even choose for them to handle everything, saving you a ton of time if you are not interested in hands-on management.
Less Stress
Managing your rental properties involves taking care of a lot of different tasks. If you’re doing it on your own, you’ll need to handle everything from finding tenants to maintaining the property. It can get overwhelming, especially if you are new to property investing.
If you own multiple properties, the stress can be even higher as you juggle the different properties and tenants. In addition, if you don’t live near your rental property, you may worry about handling any issues that arise and how you can deal with them from afar.
A property management company can help reduce your stress by taking care of all of the different tasks that need to be done. This allows the process to be streamlined and allows you to have the peace of mind that everything will be taken care of.
Manage Growth
If you own multiple units and you manage your properties yourself, eventually you’ll hit a wall when it comes to growth. Eventually, the job simply becomes too much for one person to handle. This would turn ownership into a full-time job and may even require hiring additional help.
Hiring a management company will allow you to offload the management tasks, allowing you to purchase and rent out additional properties. It also prevents you from needing to hire employees to help manage these other properties.
Becoming an employer comes with legal and financial requirements that can be a whole other burden to deal with. However, a property management company is considered an independent contractor.
Reduced Location Dependence
Owning a property often ties you to that location. It can be quite difficult to manage your investment property independently if you don’t live nearby.
This is because most requirements are on location. You may need to visit the property to show it to potential tenants, do inspections, and even just handle routine maintenance.
If you let a property management company handle the property you can live far from it and still know it’s being taken care of. Plus, your tenants will feel safe knowing that someone is nearby to help them whenever it’s needed.
Let Your Residential Property Management Company Make Life Easier
If you are a real estate owner, hiring a residential property management company can help save you time and increase profits, while ensuring everything about your property is handled correctly and efficiently. The benefits of property management are well worth the investment.
Schedule a consultation MLSullivan Property Management to see just how much better a residential property management company can make your life.