Though at face value it seems like an easy enough job, the truth is that there's more to managing rental property than simply showing up at your tenants' doorsteps and collecting their rent each month.
So what exactly does managing rental property entail?
Property
Rental property managers are usually involved with a number of tasks. These tasks mostly have to do with complying with local building codes, making sure tenants are taken care of and keeping up to date with the local housing market.
Know Your Local Laws
Because of the fact that managing property is more complex than just watching over things, landlords must be knowledgeable with local laws that encompass all aspects of renting and leasing. Among these are ensuring the clarity of the terms of any contract, whether it's a lease or a rental to make sure that there are no ambiguous clauses that would become difficult to interpret.
When drafting leasing agreements, it is also important that a landlord is able to create uniformity for the local area that will enable tenants to lease on a short term or long term basis depending on their needs.
Aside from creating clear and standardized leasing agreements, a landlord must also understand the legalities of eviction when tenants who signed those agreements fail to live up to their end of the deal. Evicting tenants is not as easy as most people think because of the laws regarding eviction that landlords need to follow before tenants can be lawfully evicted. For one, landlords are required to issue formal requests for payment before they can issue an eviction notice. Aside from this, some areas require waiting out a six-weed span between the issuance of the notice and the actual eviction. This is to make sure that the tenant has some time to dispute the notice. Again, since these are local laws, they vary from area to area and city to city.
Maintenance
Another important task that a landlord must be able to do is to maintain the rental property through regular repairs and upgrades. This includes repainting walls whenever a unit gets vacated, refinishing floors and replacement of carpets. Some of these tasks required for general upkeep must be done on a regular basis as a form of prevention, while some are done to address specific concerns regarding the upkeep of the property and are only done when necessary, as happens when tenants complain of maintenance problems in their units.
Some concerns that require immediate attention regarding maintenance are clogged pipes, faulty plumbing, heating and the like. If addressed properly, it will become easier for the landlord to create a well-managed rental property.
Keep your tenants happy
In general, a good property manager will be able to keep his/her tenants happy if they are able to do the aforementioned tasks responsibly and if they respond to their tenants' concerns in a timely manner. Maintaining open lines of communication between tenant and manager will also go a long way in improving conditions within a rental property environment.
How to Manage Rental Property
Compare property management companies by reading independent property management reviews given by landlords and tenants.