As a new landlord, or perhaps someone who hasn’t dealt with property management services before, you may be wondering ‘what does a property manager do?’ The easiest way to answer this is to take a closer look at the services provided and what to expect.
But to answer the question for those short on time, a property manager is a person hired to handle the maintenance, everyday running and administration of rental properties on behalf of the property owner.
For those with a little bit of time to spare, we’ll answer the question in depth below.
What is a property manager?
Property managers are specialists in real estate rentals. Unlike sales, their priorities aren’t to sell your property, but to maximise your ability to rent it out at the best rental prices – helping not only protect your investment; but to grow it.
Typically, the bulk of their tasks revolve around:
- Finding and screening suitable tenants
- Marketing the property to a larger audience
- Keeping rates competitive while covering overheads and taxes
- Maintaining the property on the landlord behalf
- Setting and collecting rental payments
- Resolving any tenant issues on the landlord’s behalf
- Covering those all-important rental laws and changes
- Ensuring the landlord’s investment is optimised
What do property management companies do?
A good property management company will be able to rent out your property reasonably quickly. An excellent one will do the same – but work to keep tenants in place for as long as possible. It’s no secret that happy tenants stick around for longer and are often prepared to pay more when they feel comfortable and secure in a property.
In total, there are five key areas that property management covers. Each of them works in perfect harmony with the next to provide a well-rounded service. The aim is to ensure landlords don’t have to deal with managing tenant issues, rent payments and maintenance and tenants are attended to when they need it.
Rental collection
Not only will a property manager perform a survey to understand local rental prices, property types and demand, they will also optimise your listing for maximum revenue. The idea is to discover that golden number. Low enough to attract potential tenants, but high enough to generate sufficient secondary revenue for the landlord.
As part of the process, property managers will also set up a payment system to collect rents as they are due. The payment dates are usually determined by the associated monthly expenses incurred by the property, such as local rates, taxes and insurance, etc. Late fees are often attached, encouraging tenants to pay up on time.
Tenant Screening
In a perfect world, every tenant would have an impeccable credit history and fantastic references. However, the sad truth is that many people don’t. Property managers use modern technology and access to data to verify a tenant’s past rental behaviours – minimising the potential risk of missed rent payments.
Screening also typically included references from past landlords. These give a better understanding of the tenant’s reliability not only with making rent payments on time but also how they treated the property. Chasing unpaid rent can be time-consuming. A property manager will take care of the legalities, helping to keep your finances flowing with as little disruption as possible.
Property maintenance
Property managers are responsible for keeping properties in a habitable and safe condition. They take care of the physical management of the rental property, ensuring that any emergency repairs and regular maintenance are completed properly and on time.
Depending on your requirements, they also include tenant responsibilities into the tenancy agreement. This could be that tenants are responsible for maintaining gardens or communal spaces, outlining who is responsible for what.
You can also expect your property manager to take action in the event of accidental or malicious damage; taking the appropriate steps to resolve any issues with the property itself. It can take a lot of time and effort to find trustworthy and reliable tradespeople and maintenance staff. Let a property manager do it for you so you can focus on other important life events.
Investment protection
Your property is an investment. And every investment needs proper care and attention. Accounting and budgeting are two vital areas to pay close attention to. Firstly, because financial responsibilities such as tax and rates require it. Secondly, because it helps you to see where you can make savings and what can be done to maximise your returns.
It’s for this very reason that any property management company you use should be well versed in proper accounting practices. Failure to do so could see you struggling when the time comes to prepare your books for tax filing or rebates. Everything from income to expenses should be included, including receipts, rental records, insurance claims, repair costs and maintenance costs.
Relationship management
This is probably one of the areas landlord’s dread the most – dealing with tricky tenants and undesirable situations. Keeping pets in a pet-free property, disruptive behaviour, poor property hygiene and late or missed payments can soon escalate into a battle between landlord and tenant.
A property manager understands how to mediate and manage the trickiest situations for the best outcomes all round. When you have a property management company on your side, you can say goodbye to any unpleasant and unwanted conversations should the issue arise. (Proper tenant screening can help prevent these situations from the get-go).
Make the Change – Get Leased
Keeping on top of rental properties can be tricky for many landlords, which is where Leased. comes to the rescue. Our real estate professionals are ready and waiting to turn your empty properties into secondary incomes by finding the perfect tenants, managing the everyday runnings of the property and ensuring everything goes as smoothly as possible. When it comes to property management, we’re the change you’ve been looking for.
For more great info and advice covering rental properties, property management and building your property portfolio, check out our industry insights today! Everything you need to know in one smart little place.
Discover the difference. Make the change and switch to Leased today.