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While many hands-on landlords manage rental properties on their own, some choose to hire a property manager to handle some or all of the landlord responsibilities. Use this guide to decide if hiring a property manager is right for you and what steps you can take to find a property management company in your area.
What does a property manager do?
Property managers essentially save you time and ease the stress and worry that can come with landlording — such as marketing the rental, managing tenants, collecting rent, responding to maintenance requests and handling legal issues. They are often employed by a company that rents your house for you in exchange for a property management fee, which is typically between 7% and 10% of the monthly rent.
Why should I hire a property manager?
You should consider hiring a property management company if:
- You have multiple properties to rent.
- You feel overwhelmed with property management tasks.
- You live far away from your rental.
- You’re not interested in hands-on management.
- Your time is limited or more valuable than the cost of hiring a property manager.
If you’re interested in becoming a DIY landlord, you may be able to find a property management company to handle a portion of the landlording tasks while you handle the rest yourself. In that case, they may charge you a lower property management fee.
Do I need a property manager?
Whether or not you need a property manager depends on how much time you’re willing to spend on rental tasks or if you’d rather just pay a property management fee than handle everything yourself. Here are some reasons why you might choose to take on some tasks yourself or why you might have a property manager handle everything.
Hiring a property manager to handle some of the landlord responsibilities will:
- Free up some of your time — you won’t have to answer tenant calls about emergency repairs or deal with evictions
- Potentially save you money on property management costs
- Provide you with an experienced person who can handle large matters like litigations and maintenance
- Still allow you to have control over landlord responsibilities of your choosing
Hiring a property manager to handle all landlord responsibilities will:
- Free up the time you would spend on landlord tasks
- Ultimately cost more money — but this is a trade-off that many property owners accept
- Provide the comfort of knowing experienced professionals are managing your rental property
How to find a property manager
If you haven’t bought your investment property yet, research whether any property management companies in your area are willing to manage a single rental. If you currently only have a single residential home for rent, some companies may not be interested — many only want to deal with people who own multiple properties or apartment buildings and complexes.
Here are some steps to help you find and hire a property manager:
- Ask for referrals from friends, family or your real estate agent.
- Check reviews online or with a state or local apartment association.
- Make a list of a few companies that may fit your needs.
- Compare the fees of each company.
- Check each company’s licenses and certification.
- Read each company’s property management agreement.
- Inspect properties currently managed by the companies you’re interested in.
- Organize interviews with a few companies to see which one is the best fit.
For more articles, tips and trends about property management, property maintenance and being a landlord, visit our Rental Resource Center.
Source: zillow.com