What is the cost of hiring a property Manager?
As a property manager I am often asked why would I hire you when I can do this myself.
It’s a good question. You could argue there are many things in today’s society that have become easier for everyone due to technology. I would argue in the past we did more things ourselves before utilising a paid service.
Growing up my parents’ idea of detailing their car was making me wash and clean the car. Kids would buy old cars and fix them up. Repair the body, change the oil, spark plugs and many other car repairs. Now that is a lost art, due to technology and the cars being more complicated. In today’s world of technology all services are being marketed as easy to perform.
When you are hiring anyone performing a service for you, you are hiring them for the expertise they provide, not just the tasks they perform. When hiring a property manager you are asking them to perform tasks which when done correctly are very time consuming. Renting your property and selecting a tenant can be a very exhaustive process, and if you are working full time and trying to manage your property on the side, are you performing the required tasks with the full attention it needs?.
When I hear and read stories of a negative tenancy experience, there are often telling signs of missing basic tasks or efforts to properly screen or search for a tenant. Common traits of poor tenant selection include, “they appeared to be very nice people”, “I thought the number they provided was the landlords”, “ the information they provided was fake”.
All of the above are things that are easily missed if you don’t read between the lines, and some basic ideas can help you understand these issues better. When I hear someone say that they appeared to be nice, I cringe. Remember that saying “never judge a book by it’s cover” It works both ways, people may look good on first impressions, but don't let that cloud your judgement on the information they provide. You still must check out all the details.
How do you confirm the number provided belongs to the landlord?. This is a bit easier than you think in today’s world due to technology. What is that phrase, “don’t believe everything you read”. Before making the phone call, do some research online to verify the address of the property, try to look up the phone number. The internet gives you a look at the neighbourhood of the house and things around it. When speaking to the landlord, ask them to confirm the address by purposely giving them the wrong street number of the address, or describe things in the area. This will sometimes trip up a person who was asked to lie for someone as they might not remember the correct address. A real landlord of the property will know the correct address.
I have heard some landlords have allowed tenants to provide a credit check they provide with their application. You must assume any and all information a prospect provided may be inaccurate or fake. Even if they provide a credit check, perform your own credit check to verify the information.
Performing all the above tasks can be very time consuming and take many different calls to the numbers provided in the application. By hiring a property manager you are hiring an expert who can perform these tasks in a timely and effective manner. Property management is still a business which is people oriented. Relying entirely on technology to perform your due diligence will almost always result in a negative tenancy for the landlord. The cost of a negative tenancy often turns into a very expensive result for a Landlord, with unpaid rent, damage to the property and eviction costs. If you want a positive tenancy hire a property manager to help you through all the stages of managing a rental property. The cost of a property manager will be less than the negative tenancy.
If you need assistance managing your rental property, Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
