What Does A Property Management Company In Salt Lake Do

What Does a Professional Property Management Company In Salt Lake Do?

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Many property owners do not know what a property management company does, which can leave them wondering if they need to hire one. In this article, I’ll be going over all of the services a professional property management company in Salt Lake provides and how it benefits you as a landlord.

What Does A Property Management Company In Salt Lake Do

Rental property owners who do not wish to have the hands-on job of managing their own properties hire property managers or property management companies to oversee their properties for them. Property management companies will charge on average around eight to twelve percent of the property’s monthly income. Some management companies charge a flat rate and that usually will depend on the size, location and value of the property.

A property owner can opt to hire an individual to manage a property for them, however any background checks or bonding would have to be done by the owner themselves to ensure the individual would be trustworthy when dealing with such a large investment. Rental property managers usually make an annual salary of around 30K to 80K.

There are many reasons a rental property owner might want to hire a third party to manage their property. If there are multiple properties to deal with or the owner lives far away from the rental properties, third party management is basically a necessity. Some owners do not have the time or simply do not want to manage their own properties.

Property management companies eliminate the need to hire employees such as managers and maintenance staff and groundskeepers. If the property is part of the affordable housing program or some other type of subsidization, a property management company is very helpful with filing paperwork and making sure all requirements for eligibility are met.

Property management companies handle the day to day management of rental assets and face to face interactions with tenants. Some of the things a property management company or property manager are responsible for are:

  • Property managers collect monthly rent, issue receipts, and maintain records of the payments.They can deal with defaulting tenants that are behind in rent. Some property managers will even go to court in place of the owner during eviction proceedings. 
  • Property managers can manage maintenance requests, issue maintenance orders, contact and hire contractors and otherwise address maintenance problems.
  • Property managers can market a property to limit vacancies. They can also perform open houses and home shows and screen potential tenants. Property management companies also take care of move in and move out procedures, including the documentation of the condition of the property as well as the signing of leases. 
  • Property managers will act as record keepers, keeping detailed records of everything pertaining to the property. They will maintain copies of all leases, move-in and move-out reports, monthly rental payment ledgers, and maintenance and contractor costs and contracts.

Effective property management companies and property managers are worth their cost, in a lot of cases, many times over. They take the headaches out of property ownership and allow owning rental properties to be truly passive income. For home owners associations, property management companies alleviate a lot of issues that arise from conflict of interest and generally decrease disagreements and drama. 

You should consider hiring a property management company or property manager if you want someone to mitigate liabilities, shorten periods of vacancy, recruit quality tenants, better manage maintenance and get you better reviews.

Best Tips For Handling Maintenance Requests Quickly & Efficiently In Your Rental Property

Best Tips For Handling Maintenance Requests Quickly & Efficiently In Your Rental Property

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Wondering how the best property management companies in Salt Lake City handle those maintenance requests that come in? Read more to learn about our process here at Advanced Solutions!

The process starts with the tenant making a request. When this happens, we are notified immediately and the owner is also notified. The property owner does not need to do anything, but we like to make sure they understand a request has been made. On our end, it’s very important that we take action on those requests. You want to make sure your tenant has an easy and effective way of reporting these requests to you. You want to know immediately when a faucet is leaking so that does not lead to a bigger problem for you and your property.

Once the request comes in, an owner needs to decide if the maintenance request makes sense. If a tenant asks for a new roof and fresh paint for the whole house, that’s probably not reasonable. However, if the request is that a leaky toilet be fixed or notification that there is water under the sink or a problem in the basement, these are reasonable and it is important to get these things taken care of quickly. You don’t want your asset to deteriorate over time because of leaky pipes or standing water in the basement.

We always move quickly to take care of reasonable maintenance requests. Nine times out of 10, the requests are in fact reasonable. Once you have approved a work order for something your tenant needs, make sure you have a qualified technician go and take a look and do the repairs. We have multiple vendors who we work with on a regular basis. They do enough work for us that we get a volume discount which keeps costs low for our property owners. As a landlord, you need to have someone you can rely on who will fix the problem expertly and efficiently, and bill you correctly. You want someone you can trust to do the work and you want to pay a fair price for it.

Once the repairs are done, we submit the work order to the owner of the property. We want everyone on the same page and aware of what was done and how the problem was taken care of.

This is how we handle maintenance for our property owners and tenants. If you’re looking for a SLC based property management company, check us out! We’d love to see how we can help manage your rental property.

Buying The Right Investment Rental Property In Salt Lake- What You Should Know First

Buying The Right Investment Rental Property In Salt Lake: What You Should Know First

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If you’re looking to buy a rental property, there are several things to consider before you make a purchase. Here are five tips that will help you make the right decision!

Buying The Right Investment Rental Property In Salt Lake- What You Should Know First

1. Find a property that won’t lose value

One of the biggest advantages of rental properties is that they can be a good way to diversify your investment portfolio. If you find a property that won’t lose value, then you should be able to rent it at a relatively low cost and still make money on it.

Rental properties can also help boost your credit score by providing stable income and showing that you can manage multiple streams of income at once. This is important because many lenders look favorably upon people with strong credit scores when evaluating loan applications; therefore, purchasing a rental property could also help build wealth over time!

2. Find a location with the right amenities

Find a location with the right amenities. You can’t afford to buy a rental property in an area without any schools, parks or other amenities. A property without such things will be difficult to rent out and may not sell for its full value when you want to sell it later on.

Make sure there are plenty of shopping centers and restaurants nearby. Tenants who like to go out on weekends need places where they can do that easily, so look for neighborhoods where there’s easy access to grocery stores, restaurants and cafes as well as entertainment venues (such as movie theaters).

3. Decide what type of space you want to rent out

Decide what type of space you want to rent out. The first step is deciding whether you want to rent out a single-family home, a condo, or some other type of property. This will help determine how much the property is worth and how much it will cost you in terms of maintenance costs and repairs as well as the amount of time and effort necessary for finding tenants who will pay their rent on time every month.

4. Factor in all costs when determining the rent you can charge

When determining the rent you can charge, factor in all costs. These should include:

  • Repair and maintenance costs
  • Insurance rates
  • Utility costs (electricity and water)
  • Property taxes (property tax is often factored into a monthly payment rather than paid annually)
  • Advertising and marketing expenses, if any are necessary for attracting tenants.

If you will be hiring a property management company in Salt Lake to manage your rental property, factor in these fees as well.

5. Do your research before making a purchase

Do your research before making a purchase. Before buying rental property, you need to know what the market is like and how much it’s going to cost you. Get all of your ducks in a row:

Research the rental market in the area. You should know what other properties are renting for and at what price point they’re being rented out at. This is critical because it will help guide your decision on how much rent you could ask for and whether or not it’s worth buying property in this area.

Research the property itself. Look into any potential issues with the property that might impact its resale value—such as repairs needed or anything else that would affect its ability as a rental unit or investment opportunity—and make sure those problems are taken care of before making an offer on this particular piece of real estate.

The more you know about rental properties, the more likely it is that your experience will be successful

Buying a rental property is an excellent way to build wealth, diversify your portfolio and start building equity in real estate. But it can be tricky to figure out how to make the best purchase decisions. Here are five tips that will help you make the right choices with your rental property investments:

  • Understand what type of investor you are
  • Make sure you have enough money to cover all of your expenses
  • Calculate how much rent you can charge
  • Do not take on too much risk or debt

 

Buying a rental property is a great way to build wealth and passive income, but it’s not all about the bottom line. You must also be willing to invest in yourself by doing your research and understanding the market. The more you know about rental properties, the more likely it is that your experience will be successful.

Utah Rental Property Accounting Bookkeeping Tips

Rental Property Accounting & Bookkeeping: What Investment Property Owners In Utah Should Know

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In Utah, the finances involved in a rental property and the recording of money in and money out have to be handled in a specific way.

It is very important that landlords follow the procedures in place.

A professional property manager should be able to understand these procedures, so when you begin talking to people you might hire to manage your property, one of the questions you ask should be about how the money associated with your rental property is going to be handled.

At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we collect rent on a monthly basis and deposit those rents into an operating trust account managed by us.

All of the money going into that account is either directly deposited by the tenants using ACH, or by a check that is written out to the company (never an individual) and deposited.

All of the money your property earns goes into this operating account.

The tenant security deposit must be held in a non-interest bearing account that is regulated by the state of Utah.

Any time we receive a security deposit from a tenant, we put the money into the trust account and we leave it there.

You have to remember that deposit is the tenant’s money.

It’s not the owner’s money and it isn’t our money.

It must be safeguarded in that non-interest bearing account, and then upon departure if everything is in good shape, the tenants will get that money back.

Pretty much all of the money coming in on a regular basis is rent.

Any expenses are paid from the same operating account.

So, if you have a property management and maintenance issues on the property that needs to be paid for or someone cuts the lawn and sends a bill or management fees need to be paid, those charges are made and deducted from the rental receipts.

Owner draws are usually sent out by the 15th of each month.

Each property manager has a timeframe.

We collect rent by the 5th of the month, process that rent and then the money is in our owners’ accounts by the 15th.

Most important is the financial statements you will receive from your property management company.

We will provide detailed financial statements of accounting down to the last cent.

You will be able to see all of the money that came in, all of the money that went out and where you stand financially with your property.

This helps you to manage that financial asset from the correct level.

How to Increase the Rental Price of your Investment Property

How to Increase the Rental Price of your Investment Property

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At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we manage rental properties in the Salt Lake City area.
Today, we’re talking about refurbing rental units. All rental properties get to a point where it’s time to put a little love and care (and a little money) into them to get them back up to where they need to be.
When is the best time do this, and and how do you refurbish a property?
Some people have rental properties where they don’t ever put anything into them, and pretty soon rent slides and you’ve got the lowest rents in the neighborhood.
So we need to understand where the rental market is, and what you should be getting for that unit.
You can do a little comparison shopping in your neighborhood, or wherever your rental units are, and you’ll look at number of bedrooms and square feet, and then see what your neighbors are renting their property for.
If you start seeing that you’re below the average, or you’re at the low end and you’re having a hard time renting out your property, it might be time for you to put some money into it.
Obviously, you shouldn’t just dump money into it, because that’s not the name of the game. You should be going for a return on investment.
Start by prioritizing what needs to be done, and then put a cost estimate on it.
If your kitchen is dated, with an old stove and fridge, then nice stainless steel appliances and slate flooring can make a world of difference.
Once you have a list of updates to make, the next decision to make is to find a contractor that you can trust to make these updates.
At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we have a list of trusted contractors that we use time and time again.
They are accountable to the work quality, and they do a great job because they know we’ll call them back for future projects.
Once you have the project completed, that’s when it’s time to get the rent up!
Start identifying what similar properties in your community are renting for.
How to streamline the tenant move-out process

How To Streamline The Tenant Move-Out Process

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Let’s discuss the move-out process, so tenants can avoid some of the most costly mistakes that we at Advanced Solutions Property Management in Salt Lake City often see.

Tenants obviously want to get their security deposit back. Having repair work and clean-up during turnover costs time and money associated with having vacant units, and this is compounded by having unhappy tenants who were not sure what was expected of them at move-out.

The best case scenario is to have a unit ready for rent when we do the exit inspection.

This is less work, less cost and less headaches for everyone involved.

We highly advise you to get your move-in inspection report that you conducted at lease up.

This will tell you what you are responsible for, and not responsible for at move-out.

Remember that the owner requires we subtract any costs associated with cleanup and repair, and during move-out I think we can all agree that the owner should not pay for cleaning or repair of the rental unit.

We have put together this video to help you, the tenant, avoid costly mistakes that we see time after time.

Make sure you return any keys and all garage remotes to the property.

Remotes can run anywhere from $100-$200 a piece.

Yards are always forgotten by tenants. If you live in a rental unit where you were responsible for yard care, the yard must be in good shape at move-out.

You will not be charged for a few weeds or less than perfect lawn care, but what we are not able to overlook is dead or very overgrown grass, heavy weeds or pet waste being present in the yard.

Inside the rental, the most common issues we find in the kitchen are grease still on the range hood, items left in the cupboards, and greasy or dirty baseboards.

In the living and sleeping areas easily the most common mistake tenants make is not hiring a professional carpet cleaning company.

Just vacuuming and running a rented carpet cleaner over the carpet is not enough! We require a receipt from a legitimate carpet cleaning company.

Turning in a handwritten receipt with carpet cleaning written on it will not be accepted.

The bathroom is another area where we see many issues.

We understand that nobody wants to really clean a bathroom, but bathroom cleanliness is paramount for the next tenant.

You will not be charged for wear and tear issues.

Wear and tear is the normal use of a property, but what you could be charged for is damage.

Examples of damage are tears in the carpet, burns on a vinyl floor, and nail holes in a wall.

These will need to be repaired and possibly replaced, which may be very expensive.

Another issue we see quite a bit is tenants not reporting a maintenance issue that has caused more damage.

This can be considered tenant cause, and may come out of the security deposit.

Changing the physical character of a property is another problem, and the largest example of this is painting.

Your favorite color will not be the favorite color of the tenant moving in, and you will be responsible for the repainting of the affected area, and that includes supplies and labor.

State law requires that we process and send out security deposits within 30 days of move-out.

The more work we have to do in a turnover, the longer this process will take.

We want you to receive your deposit as quickly as possible, so if you have not received your deposit by the 20th of the month after you moved out please contact us to find out the status of your security deposit.

If you’re a residential property owner, and would like to discuss having Advanced Solutions Property Management manage your rental property, click here to get in touch with us.