Why hire a Property Management company.

Few investment options have the long term income potential of a rental property. But as that investment grows to include additional properties, the day-to-day management of such an investment can become onerous. When dealing with properties, tenants and the myriad issues that property ownership can present there comes a point where it’s no longer fun. That’s the time when a professional property management company becomes the most sensible option.

By engaging the services of a property management firm such routine issues as screening potential tenants, collecting rents, ongoing maintenance and onsite repairs and the occasional removal of unwanted tenants can be handled by an impartial and professional third party. When working with a property management company such as Widsten Property Management, all of the ‘hard part’ of owning rental properties is taken care of for you – leaving you free to enjoy your investment.

Typically a property manager is the individual who interacts directly, on the owner’s behalf, with tenants and rental applicants. Advertising and marketing the availability of the rental properties also typically falls under the manager’s list of responsibilities. This should also include everything from meeting with prospective tenants to hosting property showings, collecting rents, looking after all related banking and being responsible for ongoing repair issues. A property manager is also the individual who is tasked with responding to tenant complaints and under the worst case scenarios would also be in your corner in the event of an eviction.

There are a number of factors that come into play when considering making the significant investment of employing a property management company. Chief among these is the number of rental units included within the property portfolio. If the owner has a stable of two or three units then in all likelihood they would be well able to look after their investment on their own. However when that number of rental properties increases to five or more, it makes sense to turn the challenge over to a professional. This is especially important if the owner still has a full time job.

Another important consideration is the location of the rental units. If the properties belong to an absentee owner the hiring of a property manager might be the only realistic course of action. If you live out of town or across an ocean, you should consider talking to a local Property Manager who operates in a closer proximity to your rental units.

The personal skills set and aptitude of the owner is another element that could influence the decision to hire a property management company. Not every property owner has the handyman talents of a Mike Holmes, or wants to be called at 3:00 AM when a toilet backs up. These are the sort of tasks property managers tackle as part of their routine workload. If you’d rather not have to engage with your properties in such an intimate manner then a manager might be the answer.

The list could go on, but in a nutshell, once owning rental properties become more work and worry than enjoyment, then that’s the time to consider hiring a professional manager.