8 Ways to Know if You Should Hire a Property Manager
- Are you a reasonably tolerant person? Be honest with
yourself.
- Do you have any knowledge and experience with doing
minor maintenance and repairs?
- Are you able to sell and negotiate? You will have to
sell the unit to renters, you'll have to sell the idea of
paying rent on time, and you will have to have the problem
solving and negotiation skills of a salesperson in order to
handle some of the issues that will arise.
- Can you visit the property on a regular basis? You
should stop by at least monthly so make sure it's
convenient and possible to do so. Plus, if you do get a 3am
call that requires you get there right away, are you going
to be able to?
- Are you comfortable and capable of keeping good
records? We're a little weak at this ourselves, and we
likely miss out on tax write offs because of it. It also
takes us several days to prepare our books to send to our
accountants each year because we aren't as organized with
our unmanaged properties as we should be.
- Are you able to diffuse angry individuals and ease any
tensions between them? How do you handle difficult people?
When dealing with a difficult person do you get angry and
frustrated yourself?
- Imagine the busiest possible day, and then imagine
having to handle a call from one of your tenants about a
frozen pipe or a broken door lock. Are you going to be able
to handle that situation?
- Do you have someone that can be your back up if you
take a vacation or go out of town? If there's an emergency
at your property, your tenants need to be able to get in
touch with someone that can make decisions about the
property.
If you answer "no" or "I don't know" to three or more of
these questions then you should seriously consider hiring help.
Property management is a job that requires expertise, skills
and resources. It's possible to do it part time while working a
full time job, but there will be days where it's not easy.
These questions are not exhaustive. There are other things to
consider when you make the decision whether to hire a
professional or not, but spending a bit of time honestly
answering these questions will really help you figure out if
you want to be your own property manager. You may find the cost
of a professional is worth every penny.
Want more on property management? Check
out our articles
Five Ways to Protect Yourself from a Bad Property
Manager and We Were
Robbed by Our Property Manager.
Published January 27th,
2009
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