A good property manager is worth their weight in gold. This is especially true if your goal is to save money managing your rental property. While paying someone else to handle the daily management tasks may seem counter-intuitive, it can actually pay off in the long run. The secret is to avoid the pitfalls that can come with doing it yourself, or by working with a property manager that does not have a successful reputation.
Well-Vetted Tenants
A successful property manager will have a well-established application process that ensures a credit/background check, calls previous landlords for references and makes sure there are no obvious red flags about future tenants. This can end up saving you on things like maintenance. While it can be expected that your rental property will need some forms of maintenance, tenants who do not respect your property can often cause unnecessary damage to your property for the duration of their stay there. A good property manager will have both the processes in place and the experience to choose the best tenants possible to live in your rental.
Shorter Vacancy Cycles & a Tighter Rent Collection Process
Beyond just finding great tenants, another key way that a successful property manager saves you money is by ensuring that you have a steady stream of rent coming in. A good property manager will ensure that your property has less vacant periods. Property managers work with a team to advertise, market, and fill vacancies as quickly as possible. Vacancies are one of the main ways that you can lose money with a rental property. You do not want to be in a position where you are paying the mortgage on your rental property, yet have no money coming in.
Additionally, once you have a tenant selected, a property manager will help with the logistics of getting that money to you. This will help you avoid collecting rent payments late, which may hurt you if you are trying to pay your bills on time.
Established Vendor Relationships
As previously mentioned, some level of maintenance will always have to be done to your rental property. You want to continue to keep the big picture in mind and properly care for your property so that tenants do get upset with maintenance issues. By recognizing that you will need to work with a number of maintenance vendors throughout the lifetime of your rental, a good property manager will save you money by using their vetted list of vendor partners. Rather than choosing someone at random, a good property manager can take the guesswork out of it and use vendors that they know from experience are licensed, do quality work at the best price, and the property manager will take care of the coordination with the vendor and tenant so that you can rest easy.
Your Personal Bookkeeper (Almost)
Regardless if you’ve actively chosen to invest in rental property or whether you just happened upon it, hopefully you are making the most of all the benefits available to you – including reducing your taxes through property depreciation. While having a property manager is not required for being able to depreciate the property itself or capital expenditures (that new refrigerator you bought this spring, or the new driveway you’re putting in next year), working with a property manager is really like working with an entire team that includes a salesperson, marketing coordinator, maintenance person, and bookkeeper all rolled into one. A successful property manager can help you keep track of what money you’ve re-invested in your property so that your records are up to date when tax season rolls around. Your tax accountant will be thankful that you did this, and so will your bank account when you maximize your tax write off. Your property manager will keep records of all income and expenses that you always know how your investment is doing.
How Much is Your Time Worth?
Beyond the tangible benefits that lead to more income, there is also another very real benefit to partnering with a property manager. If you have ever had experience being a DIY landlord, you are well aware of how time-consuming and unpredictable it can be. As a property owner, you may not also want to be the emergency contact when there’s a maintenance request at two in the morning! You don’t want to risk giving up your time off or your nights, weekends, and holidays to deal with tenant issues. Even if you enjoy working long hours – how much is your time worth? There are almost certainly better things you could be doing.
Work with a Reputable Property Management Company
A reputable property manager may not seem like the cheapest option at first glance; however, in the long run, they will save you money. By using their success to your advantage, they are your best ally for maximizing the benefit you receive from your properties. Reach out to find out why we are the best at what we do and how we can help you more effectively manage your rental property.
If you are interested in having your property managed by Real Property Management Metro Detroit, have more questions, or just want to speak to one of our team members, then contact us online or call us directly at 248-808-6550 today!
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