Hiring a property manager is a daunting task. REIs around the country are tasked with the idea of trusting someone else with their livelihood, and they are often coming to the decision that it is not worth the risk. However, a good property manager could be the difference between you reaching your fullest potential as a real estate investor. Now, this does not mean anybody is qualified to manage your rental properties. You need to sit down, or call, this person and ask them how they do things. You need to know how they are going to handle a maintenance emergency, or how they handle evictions or even how they deal with other owners when need be. You should not hire a property manager just because they are licensed. You should hire someone who has experience managing your types of units in specific areas. The goal of hiring a property manager is to make your life easier, and to manage your units so you don’t have to. So, here are the 4 reasons you should hire a property manager.

1. Property Managers are experts in local law, so you don’t have to be. Have you ever been in a sticky situation with a tenant and had no idea how to get out of it? Or, have you ever needed legal advice on how to deal with your tenant and had to spend upwards of $500 to solve the issue? With a property manager, they are paid to handle those issues because that is their area of expertise. Property managers know the ins and outs and landlord tenant law, and they can seamlessly handle curveballs from tenants to keep your property cash-flowing and efficiently as possible.
2. Property Managers have more experience than you do. Are you having issues with getting your 1 rental unit filled? There is most definitely an experienced property manager in the area who can get that unit rented and making money. Why? Because they have done it hundreds of times before. A property manager is only as good as the tenants they move-in. A good manager has handled hundreds of interviews, showings and screenings and they know how to get the most out of a tenant. This is one of the benefits of having someone in place who knows the market and knows how to place the right tenants. The vast experience of a property manager is more often a greater pool of knowledge to tap into than you may have in your past.
3. Property managers are capable of handling so much more than collecting rent. Property managers, when you find the right one, can completely automate your investing. Take for example my company, Wisconsin Property Managers. We have investors based out of Utah. He has only been to Wisconsin once, however, he owns roughly 30 units in Wisconsin. He has never set foot in them, he has never spoken with one of the tenants. Yet, he makes roughly 20% returns and gets a check in the mail every month. This is the beauty of using a property manager. This investor enjoys the set up because he can completely avoid the management and tenant interaction side of investing. He is allowed to spend all of his time working at his full-time job, researching deals and doing anything but managing. This is the true appeal of using a full service property managers.
4. They save you time and headaches, and the best ones even save you money. A good property manager deflects all of the problems from the owner. They take the nasty phone calls, they go to court when necessary and they even handle the 2am emergencies. This is extremely beneficial in it of itself. An owner can go to bed every night knowing that their unit is receiving constant attention and is always on the mind of their manager. However, great property managers know how to save owners money. First, a property manager should have connections with local contractors who can work at a discounted rate. This will save you money on any number of maintenance issues. Some management companies will go so far as to even have their own in house maintenance teams. This is the best option to work with for a landlord. The other way property managers can save you money is by being proactive. We inspect each of our properties twice per year. With each of these inspections, we do the common replacement of furnace filters and general walkthroughs, however, we also do preventative maintenance checks. When we are in a unit, we check all things that could lead to greater problems in the future. We check for leaks on the roof and on the sinks. We search for issues that could grow in and become a more expensive fix later on. Following the inspection, we will create a detailed report and send it to the owner. This way, without ever walking through the unit, that owner knows everything that could be costing them money.

All in all, property managers are there to make life easier for you. Most property managers work on a percentage of collected rent, this leads to property managers being incentivized for your property to make more money. Hiring a good property manager, could be the best decision you ever make.

Article Source: https://www.biggerpockets.com