By Andrew Trim
Author of Real Estate Dangers
Investing can be quite daunting, particularly when you’ve never done it before. Managing your own investment property can quickly become stressful, which is why many landlords choose to hand over management to a property management team. An excellent property management team will provide peace of mind, knowing that your investment is in capable hands.
High quality tenants
High quality tenants are an investor’s dream – they pay on time, stay longer, look after the property and generally less problems overall. Not only can they screen potential tenants, a good property management team is also capable of analysing applications and making executive decisions about potential warning signs. When viewing applications, your property manager should be able to determine whether the tenant is a good fit for the location and property. They should provide feedback on applications before you make your final decision on who the property is leased to.
Regular communication
People often say that no news is the best kind of news, but this is rarely the case when it comes to property management. You should expect regular communication, without being bombarded. Your property management team should call first, email later. Emails are fine to follow up, but you don’t want communication with your property management team to be solely over email. A lack of communication can lead to landlords being unaware of problems that arise in their investment properties.
Regular inspections
Inspections can be legally done up to four times a year – you want a property management team who takes advantage of this. Regular inspections are an important way to keep up to date on the condition of the property and to ensure things are running smoothly.
Peace of mind
At the end of the day, you should feel calm and confident that your investment property is in capable hands. Your property management team should handle all finances, maintenance issues, tenant enquiries and statements. Ideally, the tenant should not have your contact details – if something goes wrong your property manager should be the first port of call for your tenants. If you are constantly stressed about the state of your investment property or find yourself doing half of the work, your property management team is not doing their job correctly.
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