What does property management entail?

Managing a property isn’t a walk in the park. Listed below is a list of the duties and responsibilities of a property manager’s role. After reading this you can decide whether to do it yourself or hire the appropriate team to do it for you.

Marketing and advertising

A marketing  and advertising plan for your property is one of the most important elements when you consider leasing your property. You identify the profile of your prospective tenants and then come up with strategies as to how to market your property. There is usually an average time on the market when setting a price and listing a property, but as long as you have a sound marketing and advertising plan in place, you’re good to go.

Screening suitable tenants

Once you put up your advertisements about your property for rent, you’ll start getting enquiries from interested clients. Checking their current employment status, rental history, and screening for the best tenants is time-consuming but also necessary. Conduct open houses, talk to their declared contacts for character references, and enquire about their employment and finances.

Handling your rental income and expenditure

Like any business, your rental income serves as your passive income. It depends if you’re renting out full-time and it’s the main source of funds or if it’s just a side-hustle, it is important to be involved in how you would manage the income and expenses with enough leftover for your personal needs or savings. Managing tenants, whether they are single-family or multi-family homes, requires a system when you collect payments to make the task easier for you as it’s very repetitive.

Property maintenance

One of the constant expenses that your rental property requires is the maintenance and repairs. Leaky roofs, broken windows, creaking doors, and cracked walls; those are your constant battles not to mention maintaining the general area clean and safe especially during harsh weather conditions.

Paying bills and taxes

On top of the expenses in maintaining your rental property, bills and taxes are other tasks that you need to familiarize yourself with. Be constantly aware of deadlines so as not to incur penalties.

Administrative work

This is very important especially to property owners who have multiple properties that they are renting out, be it commercial or residential. Making sure that all the documents that record the transactions for your rentals are on point and are followed through to the letter by both parties is essential. Single properties may not require as much, but the amount of paperwork is still necessary, especially for short-term rentals like vacation homes and the like. Regardless of different management styles, it is important to always update paperwork for your properties.

Communication channels

Although it is nice to keep everything professional between tenant and landlord, it helps build trust if you also try to develop a friendship. You are entrusting these people with your property so your communication channels should always be open.

Representation

In cases of disputes and other legal issues, representing the landlord’s side is on you. You have to know everything about what’s being disputed so you’ll know how to answer it and eventually, agree to a resolution that would work best for both parties.

Tenancy laws

The legalities of real estate properties (The residential tenancies act) is one of the most complex documents in any industry so you need to be knowledgeable about it. There are tenant laws put in place by the government so it’s best that you are aware of it.

Related: Rental Law Changes: 5 Most Important Things You Should Know

Should you decide to hire a property manager or opt to do it yourself, being familiar with the tasks and duties of a property manager is essential.