One of the biggest challenges when using in a buy and hold type property investment strategy is finding a good property manager or property management company to look after your investment. In fact your whole outlook and attitude to owning property can be shaped by the experiences you have with managing a property.
Generally there are two options for looking after your properties – manage your property yourself or have it managed by someone else. There are some people who manage their own properties and both enjoy and find the experience positive. For others though, the hassle of finding tenants, conducting inspections, chasing up rent and so forth is just more effort than it’s worth and the money you pay for management company to look after your property is money well spent.
But what about the situation where you have appointed a manager to look after your property investment but that manager is not doing the job well? Some examples of issues that are common with property managers are: Lack of communication Not keeping on top of the rent Not keeping on top of inspections Not following up on maintenance issues
There are some strategies you can put in place to help you deal with these issues: Establish your expectations with your rental management company upfront regarding communications, rental, inspections, renewals and maintenance. Have a process where you record own rental income, inspection dates, lease renewal dates and setup email reminders for yourself and the manager of your property related to inspections and renewal dates. Don’t let issues go by without addressing them with your manager, communicate regularly, be brutally honest and put requests in writing.
The main lesson here is that you need to think of your property investments as a business and your property manager as an employee. Sometimes you’ll need to manage that employee and sometimes you may even need to replace that employee. Good property managers find great tenants, report back to you regularly, conduct business efficiently and ensure you make as much profit as possible. Of course, if you find a good property manager – let them know that you appreciate their work and hang on to them! They are worth their weight in gold!
