One of the best ways to diversify your investment strategy is to join the ranks of investment property owners.
Of course, it’s not something to do rashly since the stakes are high. While you can invest in stocks for a relatively small sum, you’ll be tabling hundreds of thousands for a house. But if you shore up your finances, save up for a downpayment, and decide to buy a rental property, something to consider before taking the plunge is how you will manage the property.
You can be the landlord and handle everything yourself, but another option is to hire a property management business that can make owning an investment property less stressful. Going this route can also make you more money since tenants are likelier to renew these leases if landlords are responsive and take proper care of the properties.
If buying a rental property may be in your future, or if you already own one but don’t have a property manager, consider three reasons why getting that sort of help can be a godsend.
1. You Need Help Finding Tenants
One of the main reasons people buy investment properties is to enjoy rental income. However, before you can get to that point, you must find tenants who will pay on time every month. That’s where property managers excel. They have processes to find the right tenants for you.
The process includes, among other things, asking would-be tenants to submit to background checks, credit score checks, and even proof of employment checks. The odds of getting good tenants are better if you get help from a property manager than if you try to do everything yourself. Making the tenant search process a DIY affair means you might hand the keys over to applicants who won’t make good tenants over the long term. That can be a nightmare.
You can also count on a property manager to launch a tenant-search process that complies with all the laws and regulations applicable to your neck of the woods. That means you won’t have to worry about a rejected candidate taking out their frustration by launching a legal challenge.
2. You Need Help With Customer Service
Yet another reason it makes sense to hire a property management company is if you need help with customer service. Even if you’re outgoing and love talking to and dealing with people, you can gain a lot by hiring a service provider to offer dedicated customer service. Tenants can be a fickle bunch. They might call you late at night or early in the morning to report any problems and concerns. Even if you want to provide courteous and timely service, it might be hard to always be on call to meet tenants’ needs. In fact, it can be impossible to do so.
But you won’t have to be on call around the clock if you hire a property manager to help. The property manager can be the point of contact for your tenants. You won’t have to worry when a property manager is handling customer service. Good customer service is necessary to keep good tenants around, so consider hiring a property manager.
3. You Need Help Keeping Your Property in Good Shape
A property manager can also help to keep your rental property in great shape. Unless you want to spend your weekends tending to maintenance and repairs, get some professional help. If you try to do things yourself, you might not even know what types of things need to be done or how to do them. A property manager can create a maintenance and repair schedule that ensures your property is taken care of and that your tenants are satisfied with the condition of the place.
You can see there are some good reasons to consider hiring a property manager. Owning a rental property doesn’t mean you also have to be the landlord. You may not even want to handle the landlord side of things. A property manager can make being a rental property owner easier and more enjoyable.
Whether you hire one or not is up to you. But weigh the benefits so that you make an informed decision.