Why hire a property manager when you rent out your home?
Let me back up a bit,
I have had several friends retire and move away recently. Several more have asked me if they should try to take advantage of this down market to purchase either a smaller home, or to move up to a larger home. Often times, they have enough equity in their current and enough savings to purchase another home without being forced to sell their current home at today’s much lower prices.
I always advise these friends who are moving out of California, NOT TO SELL if they don’t have to. Even though our prices are down, historically we always bounce back, and the places they are moving to, do not typically get the type of appreciation that California does. In general, that makes it virtually impossible to move back here, when they decide in two or three years, that they want to come back. Most of them do move back, but not all.
When people get ready to move, they say to me, I can manage the property myself, it’s not that difficult…and I just cringe inside. Houses and condos need maintenance, and even when they are properly maintained, things break. Water heaters leak, toilets overflow, sprinkler systems go haywire and flood the house, slabs leak…on and on I could go. How are you going to solve these problems when you are 2,000 miles away and in a different time zone? Do you have a plumber on call, 24 /7? Do you have a reputable carpenter or tile guy who can come on a moments notice?
And, oh yes there is this one. “Cindy I just rented my place to a really good friend of mine. No, I didn’t run a credit report, verify their employment, check with their current landlord to see their payment history, they are really nice people, I am sure it will be fine “ That is one scenario that rarely works out…
How about the nice landlord who rents their two bedroom condo for $900 a month, when other similar properties command $1,200 per month. Often times the owners need that income to properly maintain and support the property, which benefits the owner and the tenant.
All these things are reasons why it is a good idea to have someone manage your property for you. We run the ads, put the property into MLS, meet prospective tenants at the property, and check their credit, employment and income. When they call with emergencies, we have a full complement of trades people, whom we work with on a regular basis. We collect the rents, keep an accounting of all the rents and expenses for you. And every so often, do the really hard part of the job, which is to deliver notices for non-payment of rent, hire the attorney to handle the eviction, and go to court as your representative. The last one rarely happens to us, it usually happens when the owner has to get his nice friends out of the property, because they aren’t paying the rent!!!
Property management is something that many people do on the side. I believe the best property managers do it as a business. If you are thinking of upgrading, or downsizing, or just moving away..think about the things discussed in my blog today..