Whether they own one property or multiple, landlords have a lot of tasks to handle daily. Whether it’s maintenance, collecting rent, or screening new tenants, the duties can quickly become overwhelming. That said, many landlords decide to hire a property management team to help mitigate some of these daily jobs. However, before you decide on a company to hire, it’s essential to learn the benefits of what they offer. Keep reading as we go over the benefits and questions to ask a property management company before hiring them.
5 Benefits of Hiring Property Management
If you are on the fence about hiring property management for your rental business, you’ll want to know the benefits before deciding if it’s right for you. Luckily, property management poses many benefits for landlords with busy schedules. Here are some of the top benefits:
- Less Vacancy
- Quality Tenants
- Lower Costs of Maintenance
- Reduced Landlord Liability
- Less Stress
Less Vacancy
One of the most important things as a landlord is keeping your rentals occupied at all times. That said, a good property management team has the resources to keep your properties filled with great tenants. In addition, your property managers can help you prepare the unit for new tenants, determine optimal rental rates, and market your property so that you don’t experience long periods of vacancy.
Quality Tenants
You wouldn’t want just anyone to occupy your rental home. Instead, you want tenants to pay rent on time, report damages or maintenance issues, and take care of the unit just as you would. So, hiring a property management team to do tenant screening can help ensure that the people occupying your rental unit are respectful and trustworthy.
Lower Costs of Maintenance
Handling maintenance requests promptly is a large part of owning a rental property. When landlords own multiple rentals, it can be costly and time-consuming to find maintenance help for each one. So, when you have a property management company by your side, they can assist you with finding professional maintenance and a network of experienced contractors.
Reduced Landlord Liability
When you own a rental business, following Fair Housing Laws is mandatory. That said, professional property managers understand landlord-tenant laws and know how to navigate legal situations to save landlords time, money, and stress. Similarly, property managers can help facilitate evictions, lease issues, and rental registration.
Less Stress
Rental property owners undeniably have an overwhelming amount of tasks to accomplish each day. However, with the help of a property management team, landlords can stress less and have more time to themselves. Similarly, with a great group of professionals handling your properties, landlords can live wherever they want without worrying about regular inspections, maintenance emergencies, and collecting monthly rent payments.
8 Questions to Ask a Property Management Company Before You Hire
Before you hire a team to manage your properties, you’re going to want to ask them specific questions to figure out if your expectations align with their services. After all, you’ll want to know precisely what you are paying for, how the company runs, and what you need to do to accomplish your business goals. So, to get the most from your rental business, here are the questions to ask a property management company before you hire them.
What Services Do You Offer?
Understanding the services that each property management company offers is the first step to finding one that aligns with your goals. Most companies, such as Bay Property Management Group, offers:
- Tenant Screening
- Move-In and Move Out Reports
- Rental Registration
- Rent Collection
- Maintenance
- Eviction Services
- Monthly and Annual Financial Statements
What is Your Past Experience?
Knowing a management company’s experience is a vital factor in considering them for your rental business. If they’ve never managed multiple rentals before, it’s possible they will not be able to meet your rental business goals effectively. Similarly, you’ll want to learn about their reputation and success with other rental properties to see if they are right for you.
How Many Rentals Do You Manage?
If a company manages just a few rentals, it could indicate that they’ve lost clients or don’t have experience in managing multiple rentals at once. That said, if they manage too many rentals, there’s a chance that your expectations may be swept under the rug. Take the time to learn about their rental experience and how many properties they manage before hiring them for your rental business.
What are Your Management Fees?
Before you hire a company to manage your rentals, it’s essential to understand what fees you’ll pay each month. Some management companies, like Bay Property Management Group, some management companies offer competitive monthly prices that can vary drastically depending on how many rentals you own. For example, some owners pay 3% while others pay 10%. Talk with your prospective company to learn how they determine their management fees.
How Does Your Company Structure Look?
Having a good understanding of the company structure is another crucial part of choosing a rental management team. For example, you should ask if they are active real estate investors, how many employees they have, and how they work together to accomplish client goals.
How Do You Typically Market Properties?
Similarly, learning about a rental management company’s marketing strategies is another consideration for landlords to think about. Are they going to market your properties to attract quality tenants effectively? Again, look at the companies past marketing strategies and ask them about their success to fully understand if they’re right for you.
What is the Tenant Screening Process?
Finding quality tenants who will pay rent on time, take care of your property, and report issues immediately has proven difficult for some landlords. Therefore, when you hire a company to find tenants, they have a rigorous screening process before allowing anyone to occupy your rental. That said, find a company that will screen prospective tenants for:
- Prior Evictions
- Bankruptcies
- Criminal History
- Sex Offender Registry
- Credit Worthiness
- And More
How Do You Determine Rental Rates?
Finally, a good property manager will understand the current market and how to determine reasonable rental rates. Similarly, they’ll factor in unique aspects of your rental property, like if you have a pool or other desirable amenities. Having competitive rental rates is a great way to attract new tenants and keep loyal tenants in your rental units.
Think You Would Benefit From Property Management?
If you think you would benefit from comprehensive property management services, look no further than Bay Property Management Group. When you hire our hard-working team of management professionals, you won’t have to worry about the day-to-day tasks of owning multiple rental properties. Instead, you can take a deep breath and know that we’ve got you covered.
Bay Property Management Group offers full-leasing services, including everything you need to successfully run your rental business. We thoroughly screen prospective tenants, perform maintenance, ensure compliance with all Fair Housing Laws, and much more.
So, if you need rental management services in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, or Maryland, contact us today to learn more about how we can help you get the greatest return on your investment.
