Vantage Property Management
Better Qualified Tenants.
Less Time on the Market.
Higher Comparable Rents.
Hire A Professional Property Manager, Or Do It Yourself?
Today we want to spend a little bit of time answering some inquiries from owners of investment properties as to "Exactly what can a good property management manager do to actually enhance the investment property owner's return on investment".
Well, let's start from right at the beginning, with the tenant credit and other background history screening process.
It's amazing the owners who take the approach that, "Everything will be just fine. After all, I know him from work; or, we go to the same church; or. she is a friend of a friend; or relative. Therefore, I sure that they are going work out just fine as a tenant.
I assure you that nothing beats a good professional screening process, conducted by a third party professional. Think about it. How do you go about explaining to your buddy from work, or church, or your brother in law that "You do understand that "I'm going to run a full credit and criminal background check on you, just to make sure that everything checks out O.K."
This situation will work out much comfortably for both the landlord and the tenant if there is a third party professional management company overseeing the credit report, a nationwide criminal background check, a civil court background check from the tenant's home state and lastly a Nationwide sexual predator background check.
What's the next thing that a professional property manager can do to make the rental process go more smoothly? How about a strict property inspection schedule. This starts our with an in depth, inside and outside inspection of the property just prior to the new tenant's taking possession of the home.
This is followed up with routine inspection visits to the property at least every six months throughout the lease term. These routine written reports will provide the property owner valuable input on how well the tenant is taking care of the property and, just importantly, information concerning owner related repair and maintenance items.
Lets talk a bit about maintenance and repair items. I can pretty much assure you that a professional property management company can arrange for almost any maintenance/repair item more efficiently and more cost effective than is otherwise possible for the typical property owner.
Here at Vantage Property Management, with over 30 years in the management business and 300 properties under management, this puts us in a very strong position when it comes to dealing with all types of contractors, from the simple handyman items, right up through painters, plumbers, electricians, heating/air conditioning contractors, etc.
Should the property manager be making money by way of additional fees charged to the property owner for overseeing maintenance/repair items? Some management companies think so.
At Vantage Property Management we don't think that "mark ups" on contractor invoices are a good business practice. You are already paying us a percentage of the monthly rent for our services. Why should we then be expecting you to be paying us any additional fees for just doing our job. Our cost is your cost. There will never be any type of ad on, mark up, etc. from us.
Lets take a moment to discuss the business side of property management. Many property owners don't seem to realize that when they make the decision to place a home into the rental market, they are now actually running a business.
The main reason for anybody to want to become a landlord is for the long term appreciation of the property and continuous monthly rental income. Of course, along with the rental income, comes those pesky expense items such as real estate taxes, insurance, condo/HOA fees, routine maintenance, realtor fees for obtaining the tenant and the property managers fee for overseeing the whole operation.
What the new landlord sometimes tend to overlook is that not only can most of these expense items be deducted from the monthly rent income, for tax purposes, in many cases these "losses" can be deducted against the owner's other income, for tax savings purposes. Come end of the year, you will need to provide your tax preparer with a whole lot of information.
A good property management company will be keeping a record of all rent income and, just as importantly, tracking every expenses item right down to the penny, in order that the property owner won' miss any of these possible tax "write-offs".
You should expect that your property manager will be able to provide you with monthly Income & Expense statements, along with copies of any expense invoices, etc. At year's end you should then be provided with an annual recap statement of all income/expenses for the past year, along with the Federal Government Form 1099. Everything that you, or your tax preparer, will need for tax filing purposes.
The modest monthly fee that most management companies charge is almost totally offset by the value of the bookkeeping services that will be compiled on your behalf.
Hopefully these thoughts have been helpful if you have some questions I'll feel free to contact us here at Vantage Property Management
1120 Benfield Blvd.
Millersville, MD 21108
Vantage Property Management
410.729.2770