There are some very good reasons that landlords and property investors decide to use a property manager. We know that many Do-It Yourself landlords don’t realize that, by owning a rental property or investing in residential real estate, they are running a business. When trouble arises, they realize they need help, that’s when they hire a manager, a competent Cape Cod property management service to run the business.
Here are some of the issues that DIYers find themselves in and then start looking for an actual property manager:
Rents Not Being Paid
Many landlords don’t live in the same town, state or even the country which is why rent collection can become an issue. When should a landlord start the eviction process? They all know that the resident occupying the property is such a nice person(s). Poor tenant screening more than often leads to evictions. What is the cost?
The real loss comes with the loss of uncollected rents and not the eviction process. Nonpayment of rent eviction will most likely be less than $2k. The process is 3 to 4-month times $1800/mo. rent, which equals a loss of $7200.00. The loss is the cost of no rent. There will also be a cost of moving the resident out, storing their stuff, cleaning and, putting the property back onto the market. Our property management Middleborough MA company knows that the loss/cost is easily around $10k.
Managing the Rental Process
There are numerous free websites to advertise your property. Not having the time to interview the leads, show the property, review the application, get credit reports, interview the past landlords, interview the employers, check work history, do a criminal check and observe the Fair Housing laws will cost a lot if not done. Landlords can only blame themselves if the above was skipped and they will end up in the Rent Not Being Paid situation.
State and Federal Regulations
There are some benefits if the landlord lives in the building. A property manager continuously stays on top of the changing laws. These laws relate to occupancy, maintenance, lead law and Fair Housing. As a leading residential property management company in Cape Cod, we are always ahead of the curve.
Communication
If you don’t want to do this, hire a manager. Most residents deal with their day-to-day lives. There will be complaints to deal with. These can be storm related, plumbing issues, facility issues, and many others. Managers can keep these situations away from property owners making the owners life more hassle-free.
Market Analysis
Do you know what rent to charge? Doing a good market analysis is helpful in establishing rent prices. Once the rents are determined, is the rent achievable in a timely manner? In some areas, rents above $2000/mo. is achievable in 3 months of marketing while you could have had it rented for 3 weeks at $1975/mo. This is realistic.
Other Business
A lot of time is spent managing the above situations. Do you, as a Do-it-Yourself landlord, want to be spending your time managing these issues or do you want to be looking into expanding your business and looking at other opportunities? There are many benefits of using a property manager to run your holding as a business. For more information, please contact us or call us at 508-509-4485.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
