Professional Property Management Vs Do It Yourself (DIY)
Many property owners think that they can manage the properties themselves, and they absolutely can. However, in most situations, they cannot.
Property management can seem like a breeze.
Yet don’t be misguided. It is not a piece of cake. Looking for tenants to rent out the houses, chasing rental payments, and handling the maintenance factor can be nothing short of time-consuming, if not overwhelming.
If you are a property owner, you have two choices when it comes to property management.
You can either DIY (self-manage) the property yourself, or you can hire a property management company (property manager) to care for your real estate properties
To best tackle this question, perhaps it would be nice to outline the key differences with each, then leave the final decision to you.
Market Knowledge and Experience
Managing property is what property managers do all day, every day. They know what’s going on and what’s going to happen and they network with plenty of people in the industry.
State and federal laws are continually evolving.
Many of those laws revolve around the relationship between landlord and tenant. To protect yourself, and your property, you need to know them.
And, if you can’t keep up with the laws, and don’t understand what’s going on in the market, you could probably break a law and get into trouble.
For such reasons, property managers have an upper edge since they are well versed with the latest laws and market trends.
DIY Increases Stress
It can be stressful to own and manage a rental property particularly if you own more than one.
You have to be prepared at all hours of the day and night to respond to the tenants and their needs. Maintenance calls can occur in the middle of the night or over the weekend.
You may need to chase out late rent and deal with tenants who don’t pay rent or breach the terms of your rental agreement.
Property managers take all the stress out of your property.
With a knowledgeable property management company, when there is a leak in the middle of the night, you won’t have to think about who you will be calling.
You will not have to appear in court for an eviction hearing or face the fines and penalties of failing to correctly return a security deposit. If you carry over the management duties to a specialist, in exchange, you get a lot of peace of mind.
Return On Investment and Costs
Hiring a property management company costs money. Nevertheless, if you look at your total return on investment in your property, this is a deductible sum and a fairly low one.
Without a property manager, you may be overpricing your property because you don’t know what the rental market seems to be doing. In doing so, you risk getting your property on the market sitting longer than it needs.
The duration of the vacancy will cost you money. And when you look at it, what you pay in a service charge is low compared to the money you would save by hiring a good property manager.
Which Is The Right Option For You?
When comparing professional property management with DIY property management, even though it may cost to hire a property manager, hiring a professional comes with more benefits and provides you more value and return in the long run as discussed above.
You may be the property owner, but that doesn’t mean that you have to do it all yourself. Make the most of your time and you’ll have more success.
Whether you’re ready to talk about property management services or you’re simply looking for additional resources, please contact Kanga Property Management in Florida.