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Your clock registered 3:15 a.m. The phone is ringing and you scramble to wakefulness desperately searching blindly for the receiver. Surely, it is something terrible for anyone to call at this late hour. The voice on the other end of the phone is your tenant complaining, no whining, and no squeaking about a possible home invasion by something big, furry, and possibly canine in origin. Then again, it might just be the rental property settling on a windy night. She’s not sure. She has barricaded herself in her bathroom, dragging the cordless phone with her, and she has called you. You begin to question the value of buying real estate rental properties.

You are relieved that the world will go on another day and annoyed that Helena has awoken you from a sound sleep yet again. As the landlord, you are probably all too familiar with the nervous Helena, whiny Erwin and house wrecker Sam and his college buddies. What does this all mean? Welcome to the world of do-it-yourself real estate management. Many eager property investors step into something they were just not ready for - how to efficiently and effectively manage a property, not to mention a growing portfolio Helena’s and Sam’s. Investment properties and their management is a reality that many people aren’t ready to deal with.

Unexpected problems arise that new property owners have no idea how to handle, and all the glossy brochures about making money in real estate failed to mention the night calls, sudden disasters and lousy tenants who destroy hard won investments. At this point, investing in the stock market doesn’t sound that bad. What a property owner generally discovers is that many of their problems will disappear with the addition of a good property manager. If they can figure that out before they give up, they have made the first step to an easier existence. A good property manager has the knowledge and skill to ask the right questions, fill out forms and solicit as much information from a prospective tenant as possible prior to renting to them. Avoiding just these mistakes can save a landlord literally thousands of dollars per year.

Good property managers know the right questions to ask, forms to fill out and information to glean from the prospective tenant. Mistakes in this area cost the average landlord thousands of dollars every year.

Good communication is the second most important facet of managing rental properties. Good communication keeps tenants happy and eliminates misunderstandings that grow to big problems if left unattended. In order to prevent a high rate of turnover and keep the best tenants it is important that you stay in contact and maintain a scheduled visitation for upkeep.

Sudden disasters at the property that require the landlord’s attention seldom occur at convenient hours. Many property owners invest their money without regard to the maintenance issues and find themselves torn between their income producing job and their investment property. Vacations become a thing of the past when adequately trained short-term replacements are hard to find.

Alleviation of the annoyance of tenant phone calls at all hours of the day and night only comes when there is a property manager to field communications and establish regular, scheduled visits and upkeep which takes care of many disasters prior to them happening. Property managers also have the skill to see major problems in the making because of their experience in dealing with properties.

Another large aspect of property management falls under dealing with tenant and tax laws. Reading and keeping up with the ever changing rules and regulations is part of the property managers’ job where they assist the property owner to avoid costly mistakes that could wind up in the thousands of dollars of fines, penalties and fees.

There are a number of qualities to look for when shopping around for a property manager. A veteran property manager will have a good knowledge of the changes being made in real estate law. They will be able to interpret the complex rental rules and regulations. They will communicate with both parties on a regular basis - property owner and tenant. Sudden repairs as well as long term maintenance will be handled and a step-by-step plan will be implemented for scheduled maintenance and inspection to eliminate high repair costs later on. Good property managers return phone calls efficiently, and are proficient at handling arrearage in a way that is both professional and effective.

Professional property managers tend to operate in a manner that generates a comfortable workload, reducing heavier workloads by increasing efficiency levels and maintaining a balance. It is important to get enough property managers to handle the number of properties you have: 85-110 properties per manager is about average before levels decrease.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 6:34 am and is filed under Business.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.