How to Know When to Hire a Property Manager

When should you hire a property manager? It’s hard to know exactly when is the best time to get help, but if any of these are true about you, it’s probably time to start finding someone to help manage your property.

You don’t have enough time

This is what makes most people realize they need to hire someone and need a change. If all the work you have to do to manage your property becomes too much and you don’t have the time to do it, you need help.

You can afford the fees

Property managers aren’t that expensive, with most of them costing less than 10% the cost of rent. It will definitely cut down on your profit margin, but if you can afford these fees, then you should be looking into getting a property manager. If you have trouble parting with that money, just think about all the time that you’ll get back not having to handle everything.

Trouble keeping up with laws and taxes

How well can you handle all the federal, state and local laws associated with renting out your property? What about all the taxes? Even if you manage it yourself, it takes a long time and can be done better by professionals. If you’re struggling to keep up with everything you need to do, then you may need to get some help.

You want to manage remotely

Whether you want to move or want to buy properties further from where you live right now, it’s hard to manage the property from a distance. Getting help from a management company will make that much easier, as they can handle almost everything while you can manage them remotely.

You don’t want to be an employer

An alternative to hiring a management company is to have some people you hire to help you. This can work, but then you have the commitment of being an employer. If you’d rather not do that, contracting it out to a property manager keeps you from having to deal with the difficulties and paperwork of being an employer.

You have trouble working with residents

Not everyone is a people person, which can be a real hindrance when working with residents. If you find it awkward or difficult to chase down late rent, evict someone, deal with resident complaints and maintenance requests or anything else that requires difficult conversations, then having a property manager to help can save you from those difficult conversations.

You’re willing to give up control

If you’re a control freak, a property manager might not be for you. If you’ve reached the point that you’re willing to give up control over things, then you can get help with the property.

You’ve lost interest in management

Maybe you liked managing the property at first but things have been changing recently. If you’re finding yourself less interested in the day to day of management, it’s probably time to hire someone else to handle it, especially the parts that you find the least interesting.

You’re part of an affordable housing program

If your building qualifies for Section 8, Section 42 or similar housing programs, you’re going to need to handle a lot of rules and regulations. It’s like trying to deal with taxes and laws, just to an even great extent. If that’s the business you’re in or want to get into, you should probably skip over managing it yourself and go straight to professional property managers who have much more experience with those programs.

You’re willing to deal with the liability

This is easy to overlook, but you can be held responsible for what the property manager does with your property. This is where you need to make sure your screening process is good so you don’t end up facing Fair Housing Act or other violations because of what your property manager does.

Managing your property is a lot of work and you’ll probably need help with it. By knowing when to get help, you can do more and spend your life less stressed out, a combination it’s hard to find in many businesses.