Is it Time to Hire a Property Manager?
There are hundreds of thousands of landlords managing tens of millions of rental houses and apartments across the US.
And with increasing pressures from many sources landlords have been discovering that at a certain point, professional managers and technology might be needed.
Most landlords bravely manage a small number of rentals properties, of 10 to 50 units, on a do-it-yourself basis. Yet when work and costs rise, industry rules change, and tenants begin to be late with rent payments, your rental business starts to wobble, and your wealth is in jeopardy.
When this becomes too much, you begin a search for the right property management company to take over. These firms could save you a lot of time, expense, revenue loss, and avoid legal risk. And their expertise and services do add value. Generally, this is a decision to ramp up your business and improve profits by leveraging other’s skills and resources. And it might give you your weekends back!
Why, when, what, who, are the 4 questions that press landlords.
How Will New Technology Make a Big Difference?
If you’re still using paper and spreadsheet style management as many are, you’re going to need help to deal with increasing regulation, late rent payment, more tenant demands, struggles to maintain service response levels, and keep staff stress down.
Today’s best software, such as ManageCasa, streamlines tasks, automates accounting and administration, and synchronizes communications and maintenance. Any decision you make will likely lead to upgrading to ManageCasa because service companies use it too.
Read more on how to select the right property management software.
When we investigate potential providers, we need to be certain they’re using the right software, which isn’t usually industrial, commercial grade solutions.
You Have 2 Options
Costs, rent payments, tenant management, rental maintenance and accounting all have to be simplified as property portfolios grow and staff remain the same. 2023’s economy will push you.
There are two choices you have:
- adopt a powerful, yet usable SaaS property management platform to automate your business yourself
- hire a property manager who uses these same powerful tools and has extended capabilities
SaaS software takes power, cost and convenience to best levels, and it may solve your challenges. However, when the physical challenge of maintenance is added, it may indeed be time to outsource.
What do Management/Maintenance Firms offer that you don’t possess?
- more staff to handle workloads
- can scale up for more properties
- expert management skills for tenants
- specialized contractor service skills/expertise/licenses
- equipment and contractor fleets
- comprehensive range of service capabilities
- digital automation of services
- professional accounting skills
- rent collection, legal and eviction capabilities
6 Signs it’s Time to Hire a Property Manager:
Here’s 6 Indicators that let you know it’s time to hire a professional property manager:
- day to day maintenance – lawn cutting, plumbing, handyman work, tenant communications, and rent collection becoming too time consuming and major repairs are too much to handle alone
- you own out of state property – owning property in one out of state zone is part of many portfolios but commuting and long-distance communications does seem to be working for those tenants
- your portfolio is reaching an unserviceable quantity — a normal evolution as you build your property management business or try to establish just the right income
- overall work is increasing too fast — it’s not one task, but an endless stream of property management tasks that are wearing you down. You need a firm with the staff, management strategy and capability to cool all of that down and make it look easy — so you can protect your cash flow, leases, and asset values.
- you don’t possess the management talent — the work is becoming too complex and tenants are demanding a different relationship than you want to provide. From digital services to tenant communications, a management firm seem to have this solved already.
- evictions, rent default and legal troubles are worrying you sick — management firms understand the latest legal requirements, building codes, housing codes, federal, state and local laws, bylaws, and HOA/Community Association guidelines and how to collect rent and fees efficiently.
Those are the 6 common challenges that force landlords to consider hiring a property management company or a property maintenance company. Your challenges are unique of course, however, a professional management service could indeed straighten out your company’s future.
2023 Will Put You to the Test
As we enter an economic slowdown however, the need for reliable management solutions is pronounced. While some landlords might believe that sharpening up rent collection pressure and reducing service will solve their problems, the real solution is via digital technology, what’s known as SaaS software.
Management firms often specialize in specific rental property types including single family, apartments, retail/mixed, multifamily. Single family rentals require different equipment, training and skills than apartment building management. See our series on apartment management.
See our hiring tips for choosing the best property manager and more about the management tools they use.
How To Find the Right Property Manager
Sources you might use to find the right property managers include:
- Linkedin – professional level resource that aids with finding credible, experienced talent
- Google – searching specific geographic regions for talent with the right skills and service mix
- IREM – Find certified, trained managers via IREM’s membership
- NARPM – Search NARPM’s database of 6000 member property managers across the US (and globally) and via their local associations
- ManageCasa’s Directory – List of companies in select major cities
The question then becomes when to consider hiring a property manager and which skills/resources are needed to manage your portfolio.
Keep Up to Challenges, News, and Innovation
The rental real estate sector will continue to evolve, and changing economic conditions will affect your tenants behavior and perhaps result in increased churn.
Read more about property management companies and property maintenance services you might require here on the ManageCasa blog. Maintenance services and automation are definite value adds. These companies have been through these issues before and they’ve already chosen a modern, SaaS software platform as their foundation. Ensure they are using a professional level digital management solution.
Certification of managers by NARPM or IREM can help give you confidence you’re hiring a provider who has taken the time and effort to ensure they have thorough and modern training.
It has to be said that whatever your software can’t do, your property manager will have to.
Review ManageCasa’s amazing service features and pricing now.
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