Is Hiring A Property Management Company Worth The Money?

Is Hiring A Property Management Company Worth The Money?

Many people venture into rental properties unaware of the amount of time and effort it takes to actually manage them.

The truth is that sometimes, we just don’t know what we don’t know.

The larger a property is, or the more properties involved, the more complex, difficult and expensive it becomes to run them.

The main question for most property owners, “Is hiring a Salt Lake City property management company really going to be worth my money?”

Is Hiring A Property Management Company Worth The Money?

There are specific situations where having a property management company overseeing your properties can be a huge advantage for you. This will save you countless amounts of both time and money.

Here are 5 reasons why hiring a property management company makes sense:

1. Decrease Your Vacancies

A property management company can help you by advertising your property, screening prospective tenants, and placing them. But, this is not all.

A property management company makes your property more desirable in other ways, too.

Hands-on care and maintenance management along with positive tenant relations will dramatically help your property’s curb appeal and reputation.

2. Collect Rent and Process Evictions

Collections and evictions can be two of the more uncomfortable and time-consuming responsibilities of owning a property.

Hiring good property management will take those responsibilities off your plate.

Having a streamlined process for making payments and clear and open communication will make collections more successful.

In the case that rent can not be willingly collected from tenants a management company can actually process an eviction for you, saving you the time and hassle of going to court yourself.

If you are a new property owner and not familiar with all of the legalities of the rental and eviction processes, a residential property manager could literally end up saving you a fortune! 

3. Maintenance Management

Depending on the company that you choose and the agreement you make, you may find that some or all aspects of maintenance management can be handled by your property management company.

This saves you, again, both time and money.

Hiring a full-time maintenance person is costly, and that is only after a long search and screening process to find the best-qualified individual.

Hiring a private contractor for each job would not only become tedious, but the cost would certainly add up, too. 

4. Tenant Management

People are not perfect, and not too often predictable, so tenant management is a major component of having a rental property.

If you only showed up once a month to collect rent, you would have no idea what was actually happening to your property.

To be legally and fully aware of what is going on inside your property, it is necessary to have professional move-in and move-out inspections.

The outside maintenance of the property should be checked regularly as well to be sure it is properly maintained. 

If you own several units or an entire complex, tenants will interact with each other.

As much as we would hope it would never happen, tenant disputes do occur.

This is where having a property manager who is familiar with both the property and the tenants makes navigating these types of situations significantly easier. 

5. Retirement

When the time comes that you want to retire or relocate, but you want to maintain your investment property, a property management company is a perfect choice.

Yes, you may need to pay out a little more in expenses, but hiring a management company means that your property will truly become a passive investment.

How To Set The Right Rent Price

To set the right rent price, we recommend researching your market to learn what the fair market rent price is in your area. Pricing your rental at the rent price that makes sense in your location can mean the difference between vacancies and attracting good tenants so you can rent your property quickly. You can also use online applications such as Rentometer to help guide your rental rates.

As you set your rent price, you should keep in mind how it affects your financials. After all, rent payments are your main source of income on your rental property. To compare your rental income to your rental expenses, you should list your fixed and estimated expenses. Fixed expenses are your mortgage payment, property taxes, insurance fee, and HOA fees. Your variable expenses are utilities, repairs, and property improvements. By comparing income to expenses, it’s easier to see how rent price affects your monthly revenue.

There’s no point in setting the right rent price if you have tenants who don’t pay on time, which is why the next tip is critical.