Important Reasons For Novice Landlords To Hire A Property Management Company

23 November 2015
 Categories: Real Estate, Blog

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Do you own a couple houses or a set of apartments? Are you trying to get them ready to be rented out to tenants? If you're new to the experience of being a landlord, you may be starting to feel overwhelmed by everything you have to do. Here are some reasons why it may be better to hire a property management company to handle things for you:

Saves time

Getting a house or apartment ready to rent out can consume a lot of your time, especially if you live on the other side of the city. If you are currently employed, it may eat up so much of your time that you're unable to do anything on the weekend. It may start to feel like you have no time off at all and you could start feeling a lot of stress as a result. Instead of dealing with all this, let a property management company take care of meeting with contractors and delivery people. Have someone else wait for the plumber to show up while you're at work or otherwise taking care of more important matters.

Saves money

If you're new to being a landlord, you probably don't yet know what the going rate for various goods and services are. You may think that you found a good price on an electrician to install new hardwired smoke detectors in every apartment, but they may not have the best or lowest rates. Since property management companies work with so many houses or apartments, they may be able to have access to deals that wouldn't be given to the average person. When a tradesman or tradeswoman knows that he or she will receive a relatively steady supply of work in the future through the property management company, they will be more likely to offer the lowest price possible. The management company can connect you with this type of contractor, allowing you to save potentially significant amounts of money.

Fewer legal hassles

Different states have different ideas on what constitutes a habitable dwelling. If you live in an area where it snows, you may be legally obligated to provide a working heater but there may be nothing on the books about a cooling system. In a hot or desert climate, the opposite may be true. A property management company will know exactly what is and is not needed to get your house or apartment ready to rent out. In addition, once you have a tenant, do you know what to do if they become late on the rent or engage in legal activities? Eviction can be a complicated process. If not done according to your state's laws, you could be sued by your former tenants. Instead of having to worry about a potential court summons, the property management company can handle the situation for you.