If you are having difficulty managing your rental property, it is sensible to opt for a property management service. Being specialised in this domain, this organisation will safeguard the asset on your behalf and help you gain steady income through good tenants.
Residential property management services perform their work alongside the landlords to make budgets, promote rental assets to locate tenants, collect rent, and look after the property. However, before opting for this service, you should be aware of their responsibilities and how they handle various tasks.
What Are the Services and Responsibilities of a Property Management Company?
Following are the services and responsibilities of a property management company:
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Ensuring Legal Requirements Are Met
Staying updated with the prevailing rules and regulations of property management without any expert assistance can be difficult for you. Thus, hiring a property management company makes sense. They remain updated with the current industry rules and legal standards to ensure their clients and the assets they look after fulfil all legal requirements.
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Managing Rent Collection
Ensuring that the tenants make the rent payments on time and in full is a crucial responsibility of a property management company. They prudently frame the due dates, implement rent collection plans and send notices to the tenants if they default or fail to clear the monthly dues.
To avoid getting delayed rental payments, property management companies charge defaulters late fees. Apart from this, they also accept rent applications and verify the information given by the tenants.
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Keeping Financial Records
Maintaining your financial records is essential to ensure your rental business stays profitable and compliant. Property management organisations are capable of keeping track of all the maintenance expenditures, preserving the receipts, record utility, insurance costs, etc. thereby organising and furnishing the financial statements to you.
By checking a clean record of your finances, you can get an idea of how much profit is generated by your rental property. Besides, property managers perform additional bookkeeping so that you can file your rental property taxes.
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Repairing and Maintaining the Property
Apart from maintaining the owner’s assets properly, property managers also take part in repairing and refurbishing that property to ensure that its value remains intact. Following are some major things they are supposed to do:
- Verifying the plumbing and electrical connections from time to time.
- Making sure that the lawns are well-maintained.
- Checking the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems periodically.
- Get in touch with specialised contractors if any minor repair is required.
- Ensuring that the living space is clean and comfortable.
- Ensuring the premises are secure.
- Resolving any urgent situation in case of emergencies.
However, before taking any decision or making changes to a property, the managers will take permission from the landlord.
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Advertising a Property
When one tenant leaves a rental space and it becomes vacant, the property management company has to locate a new occupant as early as possible. To do this effectively, the property managers use various advertising methods to draw the attention of tenants. They are:
- Forming a property listing
- Refurbishing and staging a fully furnished apartment for rent
- Conducting property showings
- Making a rental unit to be ’available for rent’
- Using their widespread network resources
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Making a Clear Line of Communication
The property management companies provide 24×7 services. As a result, there is no need for a landlord to stay active for 365 days a year and reach out to their tenants whenever required. Tenants get in touch with the property management organisation for assistance in a timely and professional manner. With a clear line of communication, a good relationship will be established among the landlord, property managers, and tenants.
What Questions Should I Ask Before Choosing a Property Manager?
Before hiring a property manager, you need to ask several questions to evaluate their reputation and capability. Some of these include:
- Are you a qualified property manager?
- Do you possess any accreditation?
- What is your fee structure?
- Presently how many assets you are managing?
- How do you convey the reports? Can I get an example?
- Do you take part in managing contractors?
- How are the rents collected?
- Can I see the type of documents you use?
In a nutshell, hiring a residential property management company can give you peace of mind considering that your manager will look after the property and implement various responsibilities accurately. However, before choosing the desired company, you need to consider the above-mentioned factors diligently.