Why Should I Hire a Property Manager?

There are many reasons why a professional property manager is imperative to your long term investment. Here are just a few items that should be considered when trying to decide whether you should hire a property manager or self-manage your property. If you look at all these items, there’s a dollar figure that can be associated with each, which can help justify the monthly expense of your property manager.

1. Finding qualified tenants- Most the evictions we have to do are from properties we have taken over and tenants weren’t properly screened. We find that tenants we evict usually have more than one eviction on their record. A property manager is going to find this info out by using proper methods to qualify tenants. See the illustration to the right, a text I recently received regarding one of my properties. I’m guessing this person was looking for an owner managed property because once he/she found out I was a property manager the conversation was over. Why else would someone ask that question? The cost of an eviction can be expensive considering the time with no rent payment, cleaning and repairing the property for a new tenant. Just this expense alone covers the cost of a good manager. We check credit, background, evictions, sex offender list and verify income is sufficient which certainly reduces evictions.
2. Finding qualified tenants quickly- Marketing the property through the proper channels is imperative. We syndicate to all the rental sites and follow up on all calls and leads. If you are an owner that works, can you show the property at 9am and again at 2pm and 4pm? Our team is on it to convert these prospects in to tenants ASAP. Just think, if we can reach more people, show the home more often and lease the property say 2-3 weeks faster than you, how much income would that give you or over the life of the investment?
3. Proper Move-in & Move-out Inspections- We are trained to look at the details and collect the deposits needed to maintain your investment. Holes in the wall, carpet stains, cleaning and so much more. Our job is to keep up on your investment and charge the repairs to tenants when justified. We are able to do this because of the process we go through with new tenants, we take photos and video so we know and they know exactly what the condition of the property is in. This process in many cases saves our clients thousands. Again, lots of self managed properties we get are left run down and in need of lots of work and tenants are long gone, with their deposits.
4. Keep up on market rents- This is another common mistake owners make when managing their own properties. They don’t adjust rent properly at the end of the lease term. A property manager will keep up on the market and adjust accordingly. Again, this is an investment and you need to net the most amount possible on it. This is a business. I have a property that I now manage, that left nearly $20,000 on the table over the last 7 years because the owners inability to raise the rent on the tenant.
5. Dealing with the headaches- This blog would be huge if I itemized every reason why you should hire a property manager, so here are some other items a property manager will do on your behalf. Provide reports for taxes, pay county and state taxes for you, pay vendors for maintenance repairs, deal with HOA letters and problems, collect when tenants don’t pay, evict when tenants don’t pay, evict if there is criminal activity, deal with emergency situations such as fire, floods, AC and heat issues and so much more.

If I can be of any help please reach out. I’d be happy to meet with you regarding your investment portfolio.

AZ Property Management Group with Keller Williams Professional Partners is a full service property management team in the Phoenix metro area.