We know that some landlords are content to hand the leasing, management, and maintenance of their rental properties over to professional property managers. They prefer to be completely hands-off, understanding that their management partners have the experience, resources, and technology to ensure that their rental property is profitable, occupied, and protected.
Other landlords struggle with this. They have a strong impulse to keep a tight grip on the reigns, even if they’re working with a property manager. They might like to be involved in minor decisions. They might want to choose their own tenants or fix their own properties when maintenance is needed.
We always encourage rental property owners to take a step back and let their property manager do what they’ve been hired to do.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of low involvement when you’re a landlord, and how you can leverage the expertise of your property management team.
Understanding the Role of Property Managers
You hire a property manager for many reasons. You expect your management professional to take care of the day-to-day operations of a rental property so that you don’t have to be bothered with things like:
- Marketing rental properties and pricing them strategically.
- Screening, placing, managing, and retaining well-qualified tenants.
- Collecting rent on time.
- Handling maintenance issues and repairs as well as vendor relationships.
- Being compliant with local and federal landlord-tenant laws and regulations.
- Managing rental property budgets and generating financial statements and records.
You hire a property manager to do all of these things for you. Allowing us to do what we do best will free your time up so that you can do what you do best. Instead of overseeing the work that your management partner is doing for you, take a step back and focus on the things that really matter, whether that’s your career, your family, your passions, or your pursuit of additional real estate investments.
The Benefits of Professional Property Management
Here’s how and why you want to be as much of a hands-off landlord as possible.
- Time Efficiency
By entrusting a property manager with your investments, you’re not just delegating tasks that you don’t need to be doing; you’re buying back your time – a valuable resource for all landlords, particularly those with multiple properties or full-time occupations. This is a resource that’s hard to quantify. What is your time worth to you? When you have a property manager who is taking care of the showings and the screenings, you don’t have to be a part of that process. You know it’s going to be done expertly. Spend your time elsewhere.
Property management is a 24/7 job that involves emergencies and late-night phone calls. With a property manager, these interruptions are handled for you, allowing you to focus on growth or personal interests. You should never be the point of contact for your tenants, and when you have a management company working on your behalf, you should never be the person managing the logistics of repairs and replacements. Things things do not require your time.
- Expertise and Experience
Unless you’re a full-time property manager yourself, you do not have the experience that your property manager has. Property managers come equipped with expertise and resources. We’ve made all the mistakes already, and we’ve perfected our systems and our processes. Your ideas about how to do things may not be aligned with how we are already doing them based on our years of experience.
Your property manager is busy marketing your property effectively, screening for the best tenants, and negotiating leases. We have been doing this for years, and we know how to get the best results. You hire us to stay abreast of legal requirements, reducing the risk of potential legal issues that can arise from improper handling of tenant disputes or evictions.
This is another excellent reason to be hands-off: you could be welcoming extra liability when you get too involved. Landlords who do not know the Fair Housing Act inside and out should not be screening tenants. If you don’t understand the security deposit law in Florida, you should not be part of the process of returning it.
- Improved Tenant Quality and Retention
Finding the right tenant can be both an art and a science. Property managers have the tools and know-how to screen applicants rigorously, looking into credit scores, rental history, and references, which can lead to higher-quality tenants. We also excel in tenant retention – crucial for avoiding costly turnovers and vacancies.
This is why you hire us.
- Maintenance and Repairs
We have established relationships with contractors and service providers, often securing discounted rates and faster services. We’ve also screened them thoroughly. We don’t want you to show up at the rental property on the weekends to paint, do some landscaping, or check the plumbing. You need to respect your tenant’s privacy and their right to the quiet enjoyment of their home. By remaining hands-off, you can enjoy better preventative maintenance and fewer emergency expenses.
Perhaps one of the more significant but understated benefits of a property manager is stress reduction. The mental peace that comes from knowing that a professional is handling daily issues, tenant complaints, and emergencies, and ensuring your property complies with various housing regulations is invaluable. There’s no need to invite additional stress and frustration into your life by trying to over-involve yourself in the management of your investments.
Entrusting your investment to a property manager is an important first step in improving the profitability and operation of your rental business. However, you need to let your property managers do their work. Don’t let yourself get too hands-on. It’s bad for you, and it’s detrimental to your property.
While some landlords may enjoy being involved in every aspect of their rental business, for those looking for an opportunity to step back, and focus on other personal or professional endeavors with fewer day-to-day obligations, a property manager is a valuable asset. We are here to be hands-on. Not you.
Questions about what this means for your relationship with a Tampa property management company? We’d love to talk about it with you. Please contact us at Hoffman Realty.