What exactly does a property manager do?

By Peak Property Management

Property management involves the caretaking of either residential or commercial real estate properties by a professional organization or firm. Investopedia defines a property manager as an individual or company that is hired to oversee the day-to-day operations of a unit of real estate.

What a property manager does is perform daily work on a property with the ultimate goal of keeping the property leased and occupied. But what exactly does a property manager do?

Is a property manager worth it?

The property manager performs tasks agreed with the landlord that focus on keeping the property in good condition while generating income .

If you own a rental property but feel uncomfortable collecting rent or receiving calls from distressed tenants a property manager can be invaluable.

If you are an investor and you have several properties to manage but you do not have the time or the motivation for it, a property manager would be a good solution.

Indeed, as you keep on purchasing more properties, the time reaches when it becomes impossible to continue adding any more without using the services of a property manager.

What is included in property management services?

Here below are ten key tasks that property managers do regularly

Marketing the property

A property manager will list your property in various online platforms for maximum reach while monitoring and following up with leads.

Vetting potential tenants

Once a client applies to lease your property, the property manager ensures that you are getting a good tenant. If you are letting for the long-term, the property manager does a credit check, employment and income check as well as criminal history check. If you are letting for the short-term, the property manager can check guest reviews and any special preferences you may have.

Help navigate property laws

Each locality has its own laws and regulations that can be quite lengthy. Property managers help landlords by guiding them around laws that can range from the state level, county level, city level to community level.

Preparing leases

Leases are legal documents that specify what the tenant and landlord can do with the property. This is one of the key functions of a property manager.

Determine and collect rent

The property manager will help you to determine the optimal rent for your property based on your location and season as well as do the actual rental collection and follow-up so that you do not have to.

Manage repairs

When something breaks in the property, the tenant will call the property manager to fix it right away instead of the landlord having to do it.

Helping with tax filing

When that time of the year comes and you need to prepare and file taxes, the property manager is at hand to help. Some property managers have an in-house accountant specialized in this area. They will help you determine which tax deductions to claim so as to reduce your tax burden.

Do property inspections

To keep tabs on the actual condition of the rental property, the property manager does quarterly or half-yearly property inspections to make sure that things are just right and that there are no major damages.

Prepare monthly reports.

Property managers help with the preparation of monthly income and expenses reports so that the landlord can be on top of things.

Manage lease terminations and evictions

When a lease comes to an end or In those unpleasant circumstances when tenants have to be evicted for whatever reason, a property manager comes in handy as they will handle the process for the landlord as well as the transition period of looking for another tenant. Property managers help shorten the time it takes to transition to a new tenant.

Take away

For these services, landlords pay a monthly fee based on rental income generated by the property. The greatest reason for hiring a property manager is that it gives you an opportunity to earn more income and still keep your peace of mind. You can buy two or more properties in different locations and let property managers take proper care of them.

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