A highly skilled property manager is a highly desirable position in the property investment business. But how many people really know what the work of a property manager entails? What exactly do they do, and how can you tell if one is doing a good job or not?
If you’re hiring a property manager, here’s what you need to screen for:
A Property Manager is an individual who coordinates and supervises the business affairs or rental function of a given property. A highly trained PM will become a trusted professional in your life that can run your property for you, without needing to speak to you, as the owner,on a daily basis.
The longer you work with the right manager for your property the more you will start to trust that they can handle all situations that arise from owning an investment.
These are the key areas that you should be looking for when selecting the best property manager for you and your property.
Setting the Market Rent
The property manager will research the rental market in your area and ensure that try and secure the absolute highest price in the market at the point in time. Too often the rent doesn’t get reviewed and the same price is just re-listed.
That is just downright lazy and it’s time to change managers.
Just as house prices increase and fluctuate, so does the rental market. Look for a property manager that is on the ball and always attempting to get the rental amounts on the upper end of the market.
Highly skilled and motivated Property Managers can oftentimes fill vacancies faster, negotiate higher rents and better terms, or even find you more money-making opportunities than you can on your own.
Skilled at Reaching the Highest Number of Tenants.
A highly skilled Property Manager is the key element to having the right tenants placed into your property. Whilst you can make all the phone calls and write all the ads, someone still needs to find those tenants, negotiate for you, and having that local, on-the-ground knowledge, is paramount to getting this whole process right.
The Property Manager uses their connections, knowledge of other property owners and capitalizes on word of mouth advertising through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.
It’s not quite as simple as listing your property on www.realestate.com.au or domain.com.au. You need a skilled individual to debate and attract the right outcome from each prospective tenant that shows interest in the property.
Once you get enquiries, screen them to make sure they’re right
Property Managers also have to do some background checks on the tenant. It’s important because a Property Manager can collect valuable information that may indicate if a potential tenant is creditworthy or not, and then negotiate with the prospective tenant to meet your needs.
Highly skilled Property managers will go above and beyond this step by even going as far as finding out what type of person they are – their habits, attitude, personality, financial position, changes to their current and former work/life, to ensure that we understand the tenant and how they will be to work with at this current point in their life.
Situations change, and moving into a new property can be a result of a change of one’s circumstance, so it’s critical that, as a good property manager, we understand all the factors before approving the first application that may come along.
Retaining good tenants
Nothing will remove your profits quicker than having an empty property. Managing tenant concerns on your behalf and communicating the process effectively to the tenants is one of the areas where a PM business receives the most complaints. The tenants have paid fair market value to reside in your investment, but it is their home, and ensuring that the property is in good working condition and always kept in the manner in which they rented it will cut down on the vacancies and be a sure-fire way to retain those good tenants.
Technology / Platform efficiency
Ensuring that, as a landlord, you are claiming all of your tax deductions and expenses that relate to each investment starts with having all the information kept on a platform or an easy-to-locate system so that you can forward all the relevant information to your accountant at tax time. At Locate, we use managed cloud-based software that is easy to access, tech-friendly, and easy to export to your accountant when the time comes. When you choose the property manager that is right for you, interview them about their ability to use and implement technology so, when it comes to tax time, you have an easy-to use system
Conduct Regular Inspections
There is no better way than to physically inspect the property on a regular basis to ensure that the landlord’s investment is being cared for as if it was the tenant’s own home. It’s one thing to assume the tenants are playing their part in the princess irts another to see that they are.
Managing Day To Day Affairs Like A Ninja
A good property manager won’t be the on the phone to you each and every day with every little thing, and there should be little or not communication about how and when the rent is being paid. This should be an automatic process where the money just appears and the system / emails / statements spell it all out for you.
The focus of a good property management business are relationships and ensuring that all parties know what is happening with the property at all times whatever the issue may be