Are you looking to maximise your investment on a property? Do you want the best yields, but without the added time and effort? If so, then you need to find a professional property manager.
The engagement of professional property manager takes all of the hassle out of maintaining your property whilst maximising the potential for returns. Below, we give 9 reasons you need a professional property manager.
1. They Can Minimise Periods of Vacancy
Rental income is the lifeblood of any investment property. To go without it for even a short period may have an adverse effect. The key to ensuring “blood flow” and not “blood loss” is to minimise the period where the property is without a tenant paying the rent.
When an investment property becomes available for lease a property manager will often have a clear sense of current levels of demand. Any reputable professional manager would have a database of currently active tenants. These are genuine tenants who are in the market to rent right now looking to rent. This becomes invaluable for prospective tenants that can be matched by the property manager when other tenancy agreements within the agency’s portfolio are due to expire and are soon to be available to lease.
Professional property managers are adept at finding the most suitable quality tenants to rent your property. This search for a new tenant starts with managing the vacate process of the outgoing tenants whilst showcasing and letting of the property in a way that ensures the period of time without income is minimal, or even better eliminated.
2. Source Quality Tenants
A bad tenant is often as bad as no tenant at all. Late payments, evictions, and damage to property all end up in cost that is passed on to you. Tenants that care for the property and are on time with bills and payments is the goal.
Professional property managers will have a robust vetting process that will help find the most suitable tenant. Often tenants within the agency portfolio are looking to up or down size and are able to move to other properties with the portfolio and their rental history is well known to the manager..
3. They Save You Time
Managing a property takes time, actually it takes a lot of time! In fact, unless you have a number of properties and do it full time, management of a property will actually have an adverse impact on your work and family commitments.
A professional property manager will ensure that your property is properly maintained, collect both the rent and any other accounts that fall due and, with due care, expediently fill any tenancy vacancies. This then gives you the time to Get on with other important things in your life knowing that your investment property is working properly for you.
4. A Property Manager Can Get You Better Rates
Maintenance costs money. If a part goes wrong in your property, you have to pay for the replacement then fork out for someone to install it. Depending on the part and job, this can get expensive very quickly.
A professional property manager with have proper commercial relationships with trades people and service providers. This will ensure quality of workmanship, the ability to get a return visit (should something not be done right) and at the most affordable rates.
5. They Ensure on-Time Rental Collections
Occasionally, you will have tenants who pay ahead of schedule for their rental fee. However, you may often have tenants who, for some reason, are unable to pay their rent on time . This can mean a little uncertainty to your regular monthly income.
Professional property management companies will ensure that rent is paid on time so that it gets deposited into your bank account as you have arranged. Most property managers will now have a digital payment facility, making it even easier for tenants to pay their rent on time.
6. They Can Lay Down Ground Rules
Ensuring a tenant understands not just their obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act but also any rules associated with a property that they will be asked to adhere to, such as no smoking or a no pet policy, is critical. However, as it is often difficult to ensure compliance on a day to day or week to week basis, this is where the careful completion of routine inspections is so vital. Inspectors that know what to look for. There aren’t there to check if the bed has been made, they are there to look for small tell-tale signs of how the property in being lived in and cared for.
7. They Can Manage Maintenance Schedules
One of the best ways to keep your property in good condition is to introduce regular maintenance schedules. They keep you on top of any problems and replacing and maintaining parts allows your systems to function better and more economically over time. However, to stick to a maintenance schedule as a single landlord can be time-consuming.
Residential property management can maintain air conditioning systems, water heating systems, gutters and down pipes, electrical safety switches, lawns and gardens as well as any other work that may not be so regular, suvh as painting or decorating.. This preventative maintenance will help reduce any unexpected breakdowns.
8. They Know the Rental Market
For the service they provide property management companies take a percentage of your rental income as their main payment. Whilst there may be other smaller fixed charges or payments the majority of their fee will be based on the rental received and this means it is in their best interest also to get the best rent possible for your property.
As they have their finger on the rental market pulse, they will understand when rents should go down to attract tenants. This may be in a time when there is an abundance of properties and few renters.
They will also be able to do the opposite, pinpointing times when there are few properties and lots of renters. This means that the rent will be able to go up. However, to do this you need the inside knowledge that often only they have in advance of this becoming more common market knowledge.
9. Advertising Networks
Finally, advertising a property for rent can be expensive and time-consuming. If you pay to put it on decent websites, you are spending more money. Place it on cheap ones, and you will attract the wrong type of tenants. And there are those websites, like realestate.com.au, that unless you are an agent you cannot access as a private landlord.
Many property management companies will have their own websites that they use in conjunction with the main real estate web portals. They may also have access to print media, and can also market the property using targeted social media posts to get the property being spoken about through the community
Find a Property ManageR Agency
Once you are convinced about a property manager, you just need to find a good one. Look at online reviews or ask other landlords you know to provide recommendations.
If you are searching in the Perth area, then Vivid Property Management should be your first stop. We can assist with all types of residential management.
