Having Your Property Managed VS Doing It Yourself
Deciding between having your property managed or undertaking self-management can be a tough decision. Landlords and investors want to protect their assets and maximize the return on their investment so they often decide to do it on their own – which can be a little bit more than they can chew. To preserve the value of one’s investment requires a lot of time, energy and effort.
On the other hand, hiring a rental property manager comes with costs and concerns too. How high are their fees, will they really take care of your property, will they work in your best interest or just see you as another client?
So, what should you do? Don’t look for a “one size fits all” solution – some landlords do the job on their own smoothly, some can lose thousands if there isn’t a rental property manager to handle their property.
Before you make up your mind consider all of the things mentioned below – they will provide you with enough guidance to make the right decision.
Are You Willing to Learn About Rental Property Management?
In order to preserve your property’s value, you will need to be capable of handling marketing, law, finance, and maintenance. Being a landlord that keeps tenants satisfied and increases their property value entails having a broad range of skills. Managing effectively demands a set of competences and acquired knowledge that can be learned only through experience.
But, it’s certainly plausible to become knowledgeable in the field of real estate business. You can read blogs and books, follow professionals in the field, develop your marketing techniques and learn about trends in the industry. Be prepared, however – it may take a while to learn the ropes.
Although, undertaking this type of effort may turn out to be worthwhile in the long run. You may turn out to be a very successful landlord and acquire a set of new skills. Some people really enjoy being landlords. They don’t have a problem with going through the screening process and engaging with their tenants, and don’t find dealing with administration and finance tedious. If you can picture yourself doing it – you should certainly go down that route.
But aside from the willingness to learn about real estate business, what you also need to consider is whether you have the time to do it, and, most importantly, whether you want to spend your time acquiring knowledge in this area. If you have a stressful job, ambitions in some completely other area and a family – keeping up to date with constantly changing governmental regulations can certainly stress you out. If you are a person that already has a lot on their plate – learning about the best way to market your property online can be a waste of time.
It’s absolutely understandable if you are just not interested in real estate business and view your property as a pure investment. There is also nothing wrong if you don’t want to spend your time keeping tenants happy and prioritizing their needs over your own. This is the reason why there are a number of professionals out there ready to jump in and respond to your tenant’s maintenance needs – so, you can keep your peace of mind and invest your time and energy where your personal calling is.
Are You Business-Savvy?
One of the reasons why landlords and investors decide to take the job of managing their property in their own hands is because there are so many bad companies out there. The market is saturated with businesses and it’s hard to distinguish which real estate agency will provide you with a rental property manager that will devote enough time and attention to your property.
You will often hear owners complaining that they are prepared to pay the fees and hire rental property management but what keeps them from doing this is a feeling that rental property managers just don’t care about their property. Which is probably true in most cases – some property managers manage hundreds, even thousands of properties. There are many who don’t act professionally and all they care about is filling in properties with tenants and reducing vacancies.
This is certainly a worrying possibility. However, accusing every rental property agency as a waste of your money is a huge generalisation. There is unprofessional behaviour in every industry – and the real estate business is no different.
The other side of the coin is that if you invest enough time interviewing rental property managers, you will find a good professional that will not only take proper care of your property but may switch things in a way that, after years you will end up increasing your income much more than you ever expected.
Every landlord and investor sees their property as their best asset and a good way to grow their wealth. But, there is a difference between seeing the potential in a property and managing that property with a business perspective. A good property manager will understand your investment goals and push them a little further. They will see the potential for increasing value where you didn’t. If they are successful players in the field, they have a developed system of marketing tools and techniques, an established tenant screening method and a way to recognise the best tenants for your property.
Aside from that, experienced rental property managers have already stumbled upon many problems and they had the time to learn from those mistakes, they have colleagues to consult and contacts that can provide quick solutions – so, they can easily find a way around rising problems, which as you are probably painfully aware, managed properties have in abundance.
Managing effectively is a skill that can be learned only through experience. Dealing with maintenance needs, staying up to date with governmental regulations and serving legal notices is not only a stressful job but it can also put you in a position to lose a lot of money.
Rental property managers understand new trends and shifts in the market and they know to recognise opportunities for your property in advance. This is the advantage that comes with hiring a rental property manager, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Your property may score high presently, but you can never know what the future brings. Laying that property in the safe hands of an experienced manager can keep you assured that you won’t stumble upon long vacancies and lose valuable income. Making a decision to cut corners, may at first seem like saving money but it may seriously affect the future value of your investment.
Are You Too Emotionally Involved In Your Investment?
You should definitely consider the levels of your emotional attachment to your property. Maybe you’ve spent loving moments with your partner there, you’ve earned that property from your parents or you worked long years in order to invest in it.
There is nothing wrong with that, but sentimentally can only get in the way of getting the best out of your property. Emotional attachment can only distract you, as you may end up turning down perfectly suitable tenants just because you are anxious around picturing unknown people living in what used to be your home. When you’re emotionally attached to your property it’s hard to see it as a product.
Not to mention that tenants can be tedious, they can call in the middle of the night, cause trouble in the neighbourhood and don’t pay rent on time. They can violate the terms of the agreement and there are high chances you will have to deal with evictions too. If you are not detached from your property dealing with these types of problems can get too stressful and personal. This type of situation will get particularly troubling if you are not a confrontational person by nature.
You can think about rental property managers as a buffer between you and your tenants. They take off the stress and emotion, so you can decide on your own terms how involved you want to be in your property. They can be in charge of maintenance, check tenants and collect rent – so, you can stay completely out of it, have a peace of mind and enjoy all of the advantages of being a landlord. Tenants are going to be managed by professionals and you only need to check your rental deposit every month. This will definitely reduce your stress and protect you from overemotional reactions when problems arise.
All things considered, this is an important decision for your income so you really need to devote some time to consider all the facts before you make up your mind. Whether you choose to hire a rental property manager or decide you want to do it by yourself, it’s important to remember that you’re not tied down by your decision. You can always switch things around if the route you choose doesn’t seem to show results.
