There are a number of services property managers provide designed to make your life easier as a property owner. Collecting rent, showing houses and performing regular maintenance can eat up a lot of your free time, but a dedicated property manager can take those responsibilities off of your shoulders and handle them more efficiently.

Leasing Arrangements

The process of signing a lease is often more complicated than many landlords realize at the outset. Reaching a successful lease agreement typically means showing the house to multiple families at different times, meaning several separate trips to the house. In addition, the application and screening process takes time as you seek to minimize your risks and ensure low turnover among tenants.

A professional property manager has the resources to collect applications, conduct credit checks, verify rental histories and perform other tasks necessary before a final lease can be signed.

Collecting Rent and Accounting

Experienced landlords know that sometimes tracking down rent can be more complicated than one would hope. Your property manager will keep track of who has paid, make contact with tenants who are running late on rent, and initiate collection or eviction processes as necessary with problem tenants. Documenting all of this information along with your monthly income statements will help you at tax time, but also in cases where collections or suits need to be initiated through the courts.

Scheduling Maintenance and Inspections

When disaster strikes, getting a plumber or roofer to your property in a timely manner is of utmost importance. Your property management team will be on call for tenants who need assistance and can prioritize maintenance based on severity of the issues being reported. They also typically have a list of trusted professionals that they rely on for high quality repairs and maintenance.

In between maintenance calls, your property managers will also be conducting regular inspections of your properties to check for compliance with lease terms. This is often necessary to verify the number of pets or people living in a residence, parking accommodations and other common issues. Inspections will also provide opportunity to look for signs of damage to the property or signs of pests in the house which should be addressed as soon as possible.

The Clean Up

As leases come to an end, tenants move out and leave the house in varying states of disorder. Before you can fill the vacancy, somebody needs to take the time to repaint, clean carpets and restore the house to good condition. Depending on the state of the house the previous tenants left, the clean up process can often take a week or more to complete. A professional property management can cut down on the time it takes to get your house back on the market and ready to show to prospective tenants.

Hiring the Right Property Management Team

Each and every one of these steps in the rental process takes valuable time and energy out of your day. Rental properties take a significant amount of work to maintain long term and finding reliable renters is a challenging task that involves meeting with many families, researching their rental history and arranging for contract signing. A property manager who specializes in handling all of these processes can help reduce the amount of time your properties sit vacant by sourcing good tenants and ensuring that properties are well cared for day to day so that you will have fewer major repairs and expenses over the life of your investment.

At Property Advantage, we help our landlords handle all of their properties with efficiency by keeping a full list of qualified tenants ready to rent, and a team of trustworthy specialists to handle repairs. In addition, we take care to track all of your incoming rent and expenses so that you have a clear paper trail for all of your transactions and tax purposes.

To learn more about property management with Property Advantage, sign up for a free quote and get one free month after sign-up!